Home Power Usage Monitoring
Team Members
Bobby Smallwood << Bobby's Bio >> smallwbo@engr.orst.edu
Beth Dart << Beth's Bio >> dart@engr.orst.edu
Adam Butts << Adam's Bio >> buttsa@engr.orst.edu
Industry Mentors
J.D. Podlesnik JD.Podlesnik@PacifiCorp.com
Ian Hoogendam Ian.Hoogendam@PacificCorp.com
ECE 44x Mentor
Tim Marr marrt@eecs.orst.edu
- Project Overview
As the power industry changes to meet initiatives for the reduction of green house gas emissions, the development of smart grid technology has become paramount. "Smart Grid" is a general term which encompasses emerging technologies intended to enhance power distribution systems (in order to create an intelligent power distribution network). Smart Grid is a combination of technologies from three industries: Power (electricity), communications, and Information Technology (IT).
The majority of energy in the United States is consumed via large industrial users, and commercial enterprises. However, individual homes are becoming more and more the focus of energy conservation. In order to better understand how energy is used and wasted, it is important to understand the amount of energy individual devices use to operate. The goal of this project is to produce a system that can monitor multiple elements within home to better understand a home's energy usage.
The development of Home Power Usage Monitoring systems is applicable to both electric utility companies, and to the end user. For the end user, installing a Home Power Monitoring System will allow for informed electricity consumption. Not only will the consumer be able to see immediate and long term power usage, but he or she will also be able to make consumption decisions for individual appliances. In addition to overall consumption, the data gathered can have parameters such as time of day and pricing. For the utility companies, Home Power Monitoring will allow for intelligent power production and distribution, and will aid price setting, incentives, and power usage controls.
As awareness of environmental issues and the importance of being a good ecological steward become more and more prevalent, utilities are working to provide our cities with enough reliable power, while at the same time creating less of an environmental footprint. Additionally, there is an ever-increasing demand for energy. It is vital that we as users and consumers have more control over our power systems, or home users may find themselves either without power, or with not enough power.
This project contributes to an overall goal of reducing and balancing power usage, which in turn will help to lower reliance on inefficient “peaker” generator units. These units operate to provide service during peak demand. It is our goal that the information gathered as a result of this project will allow utility companies and consumers to make more informed decisions regarding their energy consumption and usage.
Minimum requirements
* The system must be cost effective.
* The system must be very easy to use by the home user.
* The system must be neat and consumer packaged.
* The system must be tested in real environments.
* The system should consist of at least three sensing elements.
* There should be some form of power usage display available to the user.
- Needs Identification and Background Research
- System Requirements and Desired Features
- Design Solutions
- Top Level Block Design
5.1. Breaker Box
5.2. CT
5.3. Breakers
5.4. Peak Detector
5.5. Voltage Detector
5.6. MC Power Supply
5.7. High Level Controller Code
5.8. High Level Controller
5.9. Wireless Transmission
5.10. Monitor Chassis
5.11. Power Supply
5.12. Display
5.13. Micro Computer
5.14. User Interface
5.15. Storage
5.16. Operating System
- Testing
- Project Timeline
- Budget
- Expo Materials
Submitted Documents
Submitted Documents
Reference Links
1 Pacific Power (Sponsor)
2 PacifiCorp (Sponsor's Parent Company)
