SMARTGREENS 2012 Abstracts

Area 1 - Smart Grids
Full Papers Short Papers
Area 2 - Energy-Aware Systems and Technologies
Full Papers Short Papers
Area 3 - Sustainable Computing and Communications
Short Papers

Area 1 - Smart Grids

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 15
Title:

ARCHITECTURE AND PRINCIPLES OF SMART GRIDS FOR DISTRIBUTED POWER GENERATION AND DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT
Authors:

Yonghua Cheng
Abstract: The main goals of smart grids are to provide an interface for fair transaction of electricity and to optimize the power flow in electric power networks with less required extra energy storages, particularly in case of integration of renewable energy sources (e.g. photovoltaic and wind) and the plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Currently, the control principles in smart grids are mainly market-oriented (e.g. agent-based control and event based control), which do not really take into account the constrains of electric power networks. Moreover, the response time of coordination and control via ICT infrastructure might be significant (few seconds to several minutes). Therefore, the architecture and control principles of smart grids have been enhanced and presented. Particularly the concept of virtual agent has been introduced, which interacts the business model of smart grids (e.g. agent based control) to optimize the power flow. Additionally the time shift-able sources/loads of office buildings (e.g. plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) are treated as another means of grid control. The evaluation results verify the architecture and control principles which are presented in this paper.
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Paper Nr: 17
Title:

MOSAIK - SMART GRID SIMULATION API - Toward a Semantic based Standard for Interchanging Smart Grid Simulations
Authors:

Steffen Schütte, Stefan Scherfke and Michael Sonnenschein
Abstract: Simulation is an important method to test and evaluate new control mechanisms for future Smart Grids. To generate sound simulation results one has to use validated and established simulation models. In this paper we present the first two out of six layers of our approach to a modular simulation framework, called mosaik. It will allows to specify, compose and simulate Smart Grid scenarios based on the reuse of existing, technologically heterogeneous simulation models. The layers presented here include a syntactic layer defining an interface for Smart Grid simulators and a semantic layer implemented using a domain-specific language that allows to describe the structure and semantics of the simulator that is interfaced.
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Paper Nr: 29
Title:

SMART INTEGRATION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN AN ENERGY COMMUNITY
Authors:

Ebisa Negeri and Nico Baken
Abstract: With increasing penetrations of renewable distributed generations (DGs) and electrified vehicles (EVs), the volatility of the renewable sources and the huge load of the EVs induce tremendous challenges for the power grid. The two technologies also have considerable synergetic potential to alleviate these challenges if they are intelligently coordinated. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the (dis)charging of EVs could be intelligently coordinated with the production of the local DGs to reduce the peak load on the power grid. We consider a neighborhood energy community that is composed of prosumer households. Three EV (dis)charging scenarios are compared: the dumb strategy where all EVs are charged for the next commute as soon as they return from the previous commute, the centralized (dis)charging strategy where the EVs are managed by a centralized scheduling unit, and the distributed (dis)charging strategy where the households autonomously schedule their EVs while coordination is achieved through providing dynamic pricing based incentives. Our simulation results show that the distributed and centralized charging strategies can reduce the peak load up to 44.9% and 75.1%, respectively, compared to the dumb charging strategy. Moreover, the relative performnce of the algorithms with respect to environmental values.
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Paper Nr: 31
Title:

A STANDARD-BASED SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT ENERGY STORAGE IN DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYSTEMS
Authors:

Vasco Delgado-Gomes, José A. Oliveira-Lima, João F. Martins and Celson Lima
Abstract: Efficient energy storage in distributed energy systems depends on the operation of a set of coordinated devices spread around the power system. These include not only storage devices, but also production and consumption devices. Usually these devices encompass some communication skills and are able to be operated by energy management systems, regarding the status of the power system. However, despite this interaction readiness, most of these devices rely on non-standard communication protocols and some interoperability issues still remain. This paper presents an innovative plug & play approach for the integration of energy storage devices, supported by a standard-based and service-oriented software infrastructure entitled NEtworked MOnitoring & COntrol, Diagnostic for Electrical Distribution (NEMO). This approach adopts the International Electrotechnical Commission’s 61850 (IEC 61850) semantic information model and the Devices Profile for Web Services (DPWS) specific communication service mapping, to perform a seamless device integration and communication of energy storage devices.
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Paper Nr: 38
Title:

SMART GRIDS WITH ELECTRIC VEHICLES: THE INITIAL FINDINGS OF PROJECT REIVE - A Project Funded by the Portuguese Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Development
Authors:

F. J. Soares, C. Gouveia, P. N. Pereira Barbeiro, P. M. Rocha Almeida, C. Moreira and J. A. Peças Lopes
Abstract: This paper provides a general overview of the initial developments in the REIVE project (Smart Grids with Electric Vehicles). The main focus of the project is on smart grid infrastructures for large scale integration of EV and micro-generation units. It is a natural evolution of the InovGrid project promoted by the EDP Distribuição – the Portuguese Distribution Network Operator – and allows the development of seminal concepts and enabling technological developments within the Smart Grid paradigm. This paper presents the management and control architecture developed to allow electric vehicle integration in smart grid operation. Additionally, it presents the major impacts in distribution grids of the simultaneous deployment of electric vehicles, micro-generation and smart grid technologies.
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Paper Nr: 43
Title:

ELECTRIC VEHICLE ROUTE RECOMMENDER SYSTEM
Authors:

João C. Ferreira, Vítor Monteiro and João L. Afonso
Abstract: This paper presents a recommender system responsible for processing information that will help the driver in the daily use of his Electric Vehicle (EV), minimizing the problem of range anxiety through a personalized range prediction and by presenting in real time relevant information about the charging stations that can be reached within the range autonomy. Given the success of recommendation systems on automatic delivery of relevant information in numerous areas of usage, this type of systems can also be applied in the electric mobility scenario, with the objective of maximizing the relevance of the information presented to the driver, which should be the strictly needed data for the driver to make important decisions, filtering out the unnecessary information.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 7
Title:

RELIABILITY OF SMART GRID SYSTEMS WITH WARM STANDBY SPARES AND IMPERFECT COVERAGE
Authors:

Rui Peng, Ola Tannous, Liudong Xing and Min Xie
Abstract: This paper models the reliability of a smart grid system with warm standby spares and imperfect fault coverage based on binary decision diagrams (BDD). In order to meet stringent reliability requirement, it is essential for a smart grid system to be designed with fault tolerance. The Warm standby SParing (WSP) is an important fault tolerance technique which compromises the energy consumption and the recovery time. For WSP, the standby units have different failure rates before and after they are used to replace the on-line faulty units. Furthermore a component failure may propagate through the grid and cause the whole system to fail if the failure is uncovered. Existing works on systems with warm standby spares and imperfect fault coverage are restricted to some special cases, such as assuming exponential failure time distribution for all components or only considering one spare. The BDD approach proposed in this paper can overcome the limitations of the existing approaches. Examples are shown to illustrate the application.
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Paper Nr: 12
Title:

AN EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURE FOR MONITORING AND CONTROL OF SUB-GRIDS
Authors:

Zoya Pourmirza and John Brooke
Abstract: The Smart Grid promises to provide better monitoring and control by incorporating the communication network over the power network. We investigate the monitoring and control of distribution sub-Grids, for example to a local area in a city. We propose a communication architecture to be deployed into a real local area of the sub-Grid to provide a test bed for supporting real-time data and predictive real-time system control. This is one of the main challenges of the Smart Grid. Our system design is aimed at investigating two key issues: firstly, energy constraints in wireless sensor networks and secondly, achieving an appropriate balance between central and distributed control of the sub-Grid. We propose an energy efficient distributed architecture, for control and communication and explain how it will be implemented in our experimental test bed. Also, TinyDB, which is a query processing system for sensor networks, has been extended to collect the real-time data from the environment, and make them accessible by the local control unit. Finally, a visualization tool has been developed to integrate the map view of the test bed, display the real-time data, and send an alert to the network operator for finer-grained control over the system.
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Paper Nr: 30
Title:

ARCHITECTING THE SMART GRID AS A HOLARCHY
Authors:

Ebisa Negeri and Nico Baken
Abstract: The ever increasing concerns for energy security, energy efficiency, and sustainable energy is offering various challenges for the power grid. With increasing penetration of the distributed generations, the electricity power system is facing an era of prosumerization, whereby all stakeholders can autonomously produce, consume, import and/or export power. The classical power grid with top-down organization and control does not fit this dynamics, hence reorganizing the rather old architecture of the system is indispensable. In this paper, we propose a generic architecture of the smart grid that fits the new scenario based on the concepts of holons. The proposed architecture of the system is composed of autonomous prosumers that are organized bottom-up in a recursive manner involving various aggregation layers, forming a dynamically reconfigurable system. A corresponding control architecture that employs a holonic approach to simultaneously capture the autonomy of the prosumers, the recursion and the dynamic reconfiguration of the proposed system is also proposed. We extend our work by proposing a service oriented architecture (SOA) framework to support our control architecture.
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Paper Nr: 32
Title:

VOLTAGE CONTROL ISSUES IN LOW VOLTAGE NETWORKS WITH MICROGENERATION
Authors:

Rui Castro, M. E. Almeida, Célia Jesus, Pedro M. S. Carvalho and Luis A. M. Ferreira
Abstract: In the framework of the so-called microgeneration, small photovoltaic units are being installed in the roofs of the buildings and connected to the low-voltage distribution networks. This is posing some new challenges to the distribution network operators. On one hand, the off-service regulation of the transformer taps must comply with a hard twofold objective: to mitigate the undervoltages during peak load periods and to mitigate voltage rise during peak generation periods. On the other hand, the voltage profile is almost insensitive to microgeneration injected reactive power, which forces control to actuate on active power with the consequent impact on energy produced and also on network security. These two aspects of the problem are addressed in this paper with help from an illustrative test network, on which several case-studies have been built to highlight the main voltage control problems and to test different strategies to overcome such problems.
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Paper Nr: 37
Title:

ALGORITHM FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT AND AUTOMATIC CONFIGURATION OF PEDESTRIAN NAVIGATION SERVICES: SMARTPHONES ON CLOUDS
Authors:

Monir H. Sharker and Hassan A. Karimi
Abstract: Smartphones have been playing a major role as personal navigation aids to pedestrians, among other travelers. Pedestrian Navigation Services (PNSs) on smartphones face challenges such as limited battery power, relatively lower computational speed, limited storage capacities, and varying quality of available networks. Automatic configuration of PNS components is very important to address these challenges. In this paper, we present a novel approach for optimum configuration of components and computations of PNSs between smartphones and cloud platforms. An algorithm is developed based on three models, Minimum Computation (MinComp), Minimum Communication (MinComm), and Balanced Computation-Communication (BalCC), to allow smartphones to operate navigation services optimally in a distributed environment over cloud platforms. Each model was simulated by using various values for each parameter.
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Paper Nr: 39
Title:

THE MERGE PROJECT - Impacts of Electric Vehicles on the Distribution System Steady-state Operation
Authors:

F. J. Soares, P. N. Pereira Barbeiro, C. Gouveia, P. M. Rocha Almeida, C. Moreira and J. A. Peças Lopes
Abstract: This paper describes the main results of the MERGE project relative to Electric Vehicle (EV) charging strategies and the impacts of EV integration on the steady-state grid operation. MERGE is a €4.5m, collaborative research project supported by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The consortium includes utilities, regulators, commercial organisations and universities with interests in the power generation, automotive, electronic commerce and hybrid and electric vehicle sectors across the entire European Union (EU). One of the MERGE project missions is to evaluate the impacts that EV will have on EU electric power systems, exploring EV and SmartGrid/MicroGrid simultaneous deployment, together with renewable energy increase, to achieve CO2 emission reduction through the identification of enabling technologies and advanced control approaches. The work presented proposes three charging strategies, dumb charging, multiple price tariffs and smart charging, and uses EV integration scenarios of adherence to these charging schemes. The resulting scenarios are tested using an algorithm coded with Python and using PSS/E, created within the MERGE framework to study EU grids steady-state behaviour. Additionally, the critical mass of EV adherence to smart charging schemes that brings positive impacts to the distribution grids operation was also evaluated.
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Paper Nr: 42
Title:

SMART BATTERY CHARGER FOR ELECTRIC MOBILITY IN SMART GRIDS
Authors:

Vítor Monteiro, João C. Ferreira and João L. Afonso
Abstract: In this paper is presented the development of a smart batteries charger for Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), aiming their integration in Smart Grids. The batteries charging process is controlled by an appropriate control algorithm, aiming to preserve the batteries lifespan. The main features of the equipment are the mitigation of the power quality degradation and the bidirectional operation, as Grid-to-Vehicle (G2V) and as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). During the charging process (G2V), the consumed current is sinusoidal and the power factor is unitary. Along the discharging process (V2G), when the equipment allows delivering back to the electrical power grid a small amount of the energy stored in the batteries, the current is also sinusoidal. The V2G mode of operation will be one of the main features of the Smart Grids, both to collaborate with the electrical power grid to increase stability, and to function as a distributed Energy Storage System (ESS). The functioning of the smart batteries charger is shown through simulation and experimental results, both during the charging (G2V) and the discharging (V2G) modes of operation. Also in this paper are shown and briefly described the roles of the key concepts related with the Smart Grids in terms of Systems and Functional Areas, Power Electronics Systems, and Electric Mobility.
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Paper Nr: 48
Title:

ONTOLOGY BASED DESCRIPTION OF DER’S LEARNED ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - Managing the Environmental Performance of Distributed Energy Resources
Authors:

Jörg Bremer
Abstract: The current technology’s upheaval in the electricity sector is leading to a need for new distributed control schemes for distributed electricity generation. In order to enable optimization of electricity generation and consumption for global objectives in distributed search spaces, meta-models of constrained spaces of operable schedules are indispensable for efficient communication. In order to qualify for being a green technology, indicators for individual environmental performance have to be incorporated into these meta-models. We here present insight into ongoing work concerning the integration of environmental performance indicators into the distributed control of energy resources. In order to ensure interoperability on the indicators, we will discuss the need for an ontology defining the description of such indicators.
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Paper Nr: 50
Title:

SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC ENERGY STORAGE - A Technological Contribute to Smart Grid Concept Implementation
Authors:

Nuno Amaro, João Murta Pina, João Martins and José Maria Ceballos
Abstract: The urgent need to solve existing problems in the electric grid led to the emergence of the new Smart Grid (SG) concept. A smart grid is usually described as an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all players connected to it in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. Smart grids should be flexible, accessible, reliable and economic, bringing great new challenges into grid management. In order to implement this concept it is necessary to consider the operation of several new devices in the electrical grid. A class of these potential devices is Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) that present, among other features, very fast response times. SMES devices can play a key role in helping to overcome several grids’ faults. In this paper it is described the possibility to integrate SMES into SG, and the advantages of this integration.
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Paper Nr: 55
Title:

DUAL TARIFF CHARGING CONTROL FOR LARGE EV FLEETS
Authors:

Evangelos L. Karfopoulos, Despina Koukoula and Nikos Hatziargyriou
Abstract: In the forthcoming years, a significant deployment of Electric Vehicle (EV) technologies, plug-in hybrid and pure battery EVs, is expected. Uncontrolled charging can affect significantly the normal operation of the power system and result in premature grid reinforcements. Dual-tariff scheme can be effective provided that EV uptake is not high. This paper presents an enhanced dual-tariff distributed EV management approach for handling large EV fleets. The proposed management scheme allocates efficiently the EV charging demand during the low energy price period achieving a “valley filling” affect.
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Paper Nr: 8
Title:

SMART GRID: MONITORING OF CABLE FAULT LOCATION
Authors:

K. V. Suslov, N. N. Solonina and A. S. Smirnov
Abstract: Modern viewpoint suggests that Smart Grid is the network based on “smart technologies”; it is highly reliable, self-controlled, and capable to receive energy from any source and transform it into a final product without man’s participation. Changes that occur in the energy sector require higher speed of receiving and processing the data on current state of power system. At the same time increasingly stricter requirements are imposed on accuracy and validity of measurements of circuit parameters. The paper is devoted to solving the problem of promptly determining the coordinates of short circuit location on transmission line, which can be done by digital processing of information about currents in transmission lines and use of Rogowski coil as a primary transducer.
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Paper Nr: 23
Title:

SMART CONTROL IN THE RUSSIAN ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM
Authors:

Nikolai Voropai, Dmitry Efimov, Victor Kurbatsky and Nikita Tomin
Abstract: The paper describes creation of the intelligent electric power system of Russia on the base of the concept of intelligent energy system with active&adaptive network. Main requirements, goals, and technologies of the intelligent electric power system are listed. The features of the system that appear in the Unified national electric grid are considered. Special attention is paid to the structure and problems of control system. Intelligent electric power system should provide a qualitatively new level of the efficiency of the electric power industry operation and development, improve system security as well as quality and reliability of electricity supply to consumers.
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Paper Nr: 26
Title:

SCENARIOS FOR AN AUTONOMIC MICRO SMART GRID
Authors:

Sylvain Frey, François Huguet, Cédric Mivielle, David Menga, Ada Diaconescu and Isabelle Demeure
Abstract: Autonomic computing is a bio-inspired vision elaborated to manage the increasing complexity of contemporary heterogeneous, large scale, dynamic computer systems. This paper presents a series of scenarios relative to micro smart grids – district-size “smart” electricity networks. These scenarios involve situations where autonomic management approaches could provide promising solutions. They therefore appear as short stories of a possible autonomic micro smart grid, that illustrate the concepts of autonomic computing as well as the potential behind this vision. At the same time, these scenarios reveal open issues as well as novel perspectives on the future of micro smart grids.
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Paper Nr: 27
Title:

THE MICRO-GRID AS A STOCHASTIC HYBRID SYSTEM - Two Formal Frameworks for Advanced Computing
Authors:

Karel Macek and Martin Střelec
Abstract: A Micro-Grid (MG) is an autonomous local energy network that involves various energy generation, consumption, storage, distribution and transfer devices. A MG energy management has to ensure satisfaction of energy demands through the coordination of generation and storage devices. Especially in complex MGs, significant savings can be achieved if the operation is optimized. For proper optimization, the system has to be described in sufficient detail to be used as the input for the optimization procedure. The major contribution of this paper is showing that a MG can be modeled as a Stochastic Hybrid Systems (SHS). Therefore, the usual tools for SHS can be applied here and solve practical problem. This is sketched out at the end of this work.
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Paper Nr: 28
Title:

CONTROL OF INDOOR SWIMMING POOLS WITH POTENTIAL FOR DEMAND RESPONSE
Authors:

E. Ribeiro, H. M. Jorge and D. A. Quintela
Abstract: Buildings with indoor swimming pools are recognised as very high-energy consumers and present a great potential for electrical and thermal energy savings. A building energy management system (BEMS) could be conceived in order to optimize the building energy demand and with smart grid interaction. This paper presents the condition and potential contract-based demand side response in indoor swimming pools context. The BEMS designed by the authors implements control strategies for HAVAC and pumping system in order to reduce the electricity demand during peak hours or in response to a emergency signal from the system operator in critical times. These strategies can carry out a significant reduction on power demand both in HVAC and pumping systems.
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Paper Nr: 33
Title:

POWER MANAGEMENT OF INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS IN SMART GRID
Authors:

Zoltan Varga and Istvan Szabo
Abstract: The paper presents an intelligent building project, located in Dunaujvaros, Hungary, which is intended to be connected to a locally set-up experimental Smart Grid. The intelligent buildings are considered as cells in neural network where the different cells are connected to each other, establishing a real information and power grid. Here, a unique theoretical solution has been proposed.
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Paper Nr: 51
Title:

GOSSIP ALGORITHMS FOR SMART GRIDS - Bibliographic Review
Authors:

D. Koukoula, N. Hatziargyriou, Aris Dimeas and A. Krkoleva
Abstract: Motivated by the need of application of reliable distributed algorithms in modern power systems, we study gossip algorithms. The inspiration of gossiping can be adapted to communication, computation or spreading information needs of power grids related to the control of voltage and frequency, to the load balancing and to every aspect of control and measurement in a power network. A short reference on related applications is the evidence of capabilities of gossip algorithms.
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Paper Nr: 53
Title:

GREEN AGH CAMPUS
Authors:

Tomasz Szmuc, Leszek Kotulski, Bartosz Wojszczyk and Adam Sędziwy
Abstract: Smart grid systems are the response for the growing global energy demand and the environment protection concerns. To obtain all profits from a smart grid solution, its development has to rely on technical issues but also on an active participation of a system end users. In this paper we present an overview of the Green AGH Campus project which is based on advanced technologies tested in other similar projects. Its innovation is combining the role of a fully functional smart grid solution with educational features and the potential of replicating obtained results in other environments. The intelligent lighting system is also discussed as the most developed part of the Green AGH Campus.
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Area 2 - Energy-Aware Systems and Technologies

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 19
Title:

ENERGY CONSERVATION THROUGH SOCIAL COMPETITIONS IN BLOCKS OF FLATS
Authors:

Andreas Kamilaris, Giannis Kitromilides and Andreas Pitsillides
Abstract: Buildings are responsible for a large fraction of the world’s total electrical consumption. Energy awareness of residents, by means of timely electrical consumption feedback through smart metering, aims to reduce the waste of energy. Further savings can be achieved by leveraging social norms and entertainment to drive sustainable behavior. In this paper, we investigate two important pillars in the energy saving initiatives, which are the recreational aspect and the social influence of the neighborhood. We performed a small case study in two blocks of flats, creating a social competition among the flats, to award those with the best energy management. Our evaluation results indicate that energy-related social games have the potential to contribute significantly in reducing the electricity footprint of home residents, engaging them in more sustainable lifestyles.
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Paper Nr: 21
Title:

A DYNAMIC RECONFIGURATION TECHNIQUE FOR PV AND CAPACITOR ARRAYS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY IN ENERGY HARVESTING EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Authors:

Kyungsoo Lee and Tohru Ishihara
Abstract: It is important to maintain high efficiency when using an energy generation source. This high efficiency can be obtained by a high generating efficiency or a high transferring efficiency. Conventional maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques do not consider the transferring efficiency in the multiple load system. This paper presents a generalized technique for dynamic reconfiguration of a PV/supercapacitor array with considering the power consumptions in multiple loads. This technique will minimize the power loss in the converter and charger of the system. The experimental results show that there is 20-70\% power loss reduction comparing with the conventional MPPT technique in our proposed system. This will make the system more reliable to operate in stand-alone situation.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 10
Title:

A USER CENTRIC APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Authors:

Jeroen Stragier and Jan Derboven
Abstract: The development and small scale field trial in Flanders of a home energy management system is presented. During the development, a user-centric approach was used to create interaction between developers and possible end-users in a living lab setting. This allowed actively addressing people’s needs and wants in the development process and testing the system in their homes. The preliminary results of the field trial indicate a high usage during the starting week, which gradually slows down over the weeks that follow. Usage of the different elements in the system varies over the weeks but a consistent “top 3” of elements remains. Dynamic pricing is used by a small but consistent part of the participants. They actively adapt their appliance usage to these prices.
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Paper Nr: 22
Title:

LOW COST FRAMEWORK FOR NON-INTRUSIVE HOME ENERGY MONITORING AND RESEARCH
Authors:

Lucas Pereira and Nuno Jardim Nunes
Abstract: This paper presents a low-cost framework for non-intrusive home energy monitoring and research built on top of Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) concepts and techniques. NILM solutions are already considered low-cost alternatives to the big majority of existing commercial energy monitors but the goal of this work is to make its cost even lower by using a mini netbook as a packaged solution. The mini netbook is installed in the home’s main circuit breaker panel and computes power consumption by reading current and voltage through the built-in sound card. At the same time, feedback to the users is provided using the 11’’ LCD screen as well as other built-in I/O modules. The meter is also capable of detecting changes in power consumption and tries to find out which appliance lead to that change. It is believed that such a system will not only be important as a tool for energy monitoring and feedback, but also serve as an open system that can be easily changed to accommodate and test new or existing non-intrusive load monitoring techniques.
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Paper Nr: 24
Title:

A CASE STUDY OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT LOOP INSTRUCTION CACHE DESIGN FOR EMBEDDED MULTITASKING SYSTEMS
Authors:

Ji Gu and Tohru Ishihara
Abstract: Microprocessors increasingly execute multiple tasks in step with the increasing complexity of modern embedded applications. Shared by multiple tasks, conventional on-chip L1 instruction cache (I-cache) usually suffers a high cache miss ratio due to inter/intra task interferences and is the most energy-consuming component of the processor chip. This paper presents a power-efficient loop instruction cache design for multitasking embedded applications, which is a two-fold technique that can significantly reduce the L1 I-cache accesses for energy saving and reduce the I-cache misses caused by task interference. Experiments on a case study show that our scheme reduces energy consumption in the I-cache hierarchy by 36.5% and I-cache misses can be reduced from 6.0% to 18.3%, depending on the frequency of context switch in the multitasking system.
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Paper Nr: 25
Title:

REAL-TIME NON-INTRUSIVE APPLIANCE LOAD MONITOR - Feedback System for Single-point per Appliance Electricity Usage
Authors:

Tuomo Alasalmi, Jaakko Suutala and Juha Röning
Abstract: External single-point appliance load monitoring gives detailed information about appliance electricity use without expensive or intrusive installation. This is vital for a wide distribution of practical solutions. Current research has focused on improving the load disaggregation algorithms, whereas consumers would benefit most from a good feedback system, even if the energy usage estimates are not perfect. A good feedback system can motivate consumers to save energy from 10% to 15%. In an ongoing project on energy efficient living at the University of Oulu, we have developed a real-time application using a non-intrusive appliance load monitoring algorithm. The algorithm is based on thresholding, kNN-classifier, and on-and-off event matching. Accuracy of the developed system is in line with other similar work and provides a real-time operation. In a test setting, events were detected with 96.1% accuracy and the total energy estimate differed from the actual consumption by 11.3%. With such a solution, consumers can easily see the energy used by different appliances and can make energy saving decisions because they can see the effects of their actions immediately. This kind of technologies will play a key role if ever increasing energy saving targets set by international contracts are to be met.
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Paper Nr: 36
Title:

AN OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR ALLOCATION OF NETWORK USERS IN MACRO-FEMTO NETWORKS - An Approach based on Energy Efficiency and Quality of Service
Authors:

Diego L. Cardoso, Marcelino S. Silva, Adamo L. Santana, Carlos R. L. Francês, Solon V. Carvalho and Nandamudi L. Vijaykumar
Abstract: The femtocell concept aims to combine fixed-line broadband access with mobile telephony using the deployment of low-cost, low-power third generation (3G) base stations in the subscribers' homes. While the self-configuration of femtocells is a plus, it can limit the quality of users and reduce the efficiency of the network, based on outdated allocation parameters such as signal power level. To this end, this paper presents a proposal for optimized allocation of users on a macro-femto network, aiming to minimize the consumption of battery without affecting the quality of service of applications. Markov Decision Process Theory is used to model the system, which is modeled as observed by the user’s side. So, when the user needs to connect to make a voice call or a data call, the mobile phone has to decide in which network to connect, using the information of number of connections, the quality of service parameters and the signal power level of each network.
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Paper Nr: 44
Title:

DEVELOPMENT OF A HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM BASED ON THE MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL OF ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION OF HOME APPLIANCES
Authors:

Oscar Barrios, Roberto Castán, Juan Mercado, J. Martín Gómez and Myrna Franco
Abstract: This article describes a home energy management system that estimates household electricity consumption and costs. The system permits to build a home energy management system by connecting wirelessly smart appliances and smart meters. The system carries out electric measurement consumption, which enables to control the operation of smart appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, electric stoves and other white goods. The system is based on an electronic module capable to communicate with the smart appliances integrated in the system, in order to obtain their consumption and control their operation according to the total household energy demand. Additionally, this module is capable to communicate with an electronic energy meter that supports two-ways communication (electrical utility and consumer) for the purpose of obtaining information regarding the total consumption, and receiving commands and notifications from the electricity supplier.
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Paper Nr: 47
Title:

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL SLIDING MODE CONTROLLED INVERTERS
Authors:

A. Fort, M. Di Marco, M. Mugnaini, L. Santi, V. Vignoli and E. Simoni
Abstract: This paper presents an analysis about the performance of bang-bang controllers used on a static machine for energy conversion (inverter) showing their robustness with respect to some key parameters and to some operating conditions. In particular a quasi sliding mode solution is proposed supported by sensitivity analysis able to allow the choice of proper operative parameters set for in field testing. Moreover a comparison between two different sliding surfaces proposal is presented.
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Paper Nr: 49
Title:

AN INTEGRATION PLATFORM FOR IT-FOR-GREEN - Integrating Energy Awareness in Daily Business Decisions and Business Systems
Authors:

Barbara Rapp, Jan Vornberger, Fabian Renatus and Henning Gösling
Abstract: Political parameters and guiding principles for environmental protection, sustainability and energy efficiency demand for assistance from environmental management systems. Indeed, a high-capacity environmental management system has a need for multiple diverse and heterogeneous data in order to meet the requirements of planning, controlling and assessing versatile environmental tasks within an organization and beyond organizational boundaries. This data has to be provided by so called corporate environmental management information systems (CEMIS) for a goal oriented processing. But, looking into business practice shows that currently implemented CEMIS do not cope with the requirements from the sustainability debate. Current software is mostly used to manage the damage done, hence an energy efficient behaviour can not come to daily business. Knowledge about the energy footprint of a product throughout its life-cycle is currently not properly made accessible to business people, stakeholders or customers. For this reason, we plan a new CEMIS that is able to take into account e.g. ICT for designing, building or selling, product related transport and production processes, as well as web store energy costs for the whole product life.
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Paper Nr: 4
Title:

POWERTRAIN SLIDING MODE CONTROL IN SHEV FOR IMPROVEMENT OF FUEL ECONOMY AND ESS LIFETIME
Authors:

Xi Zhang and Chengliang Yin
Abstract: This paper proposes a powertrain sliding mode control strategy for a series hybrid electric vehicle (SHEV) aimed at improving fuel economy and energy storage system (ESS) lifetime. An ESS charging curve considering positive factors for ESS lifetime extension is predetermined, and two robust sliding mode controllers using the fixed boundary layer technology are designed. One is in charge of engine speed control, and the other is for torque control. Thus the powertrain control system could not only reduce emissions due to engine efficiency enhancement but extend ESS lifetime. Finally, simulation results using ADVISOR confirm validity of the proposed strategy.
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Paper Nr: 6
Title:

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASED DRIVERS FOR EFFICIENT ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND SMART GRIDS
Authors:

Afshin Tafazzoli, Miguel Marco Fondevila, Abel Ortego and Sabina Scarpellini
Abstract: The electric power grid infrastructure that has served us so well for so long is rapidly running up against its limitations and needs to be optimized. Long-term drivers in the energy market are the cause of a current systematic optimization of the energy system. In this article the current position of the smart grid, the issues surrounding it, the challenges ahead, the countless opportunities it presents, and the benefits we all stand to gain by its adoption are discussed. There is a massive challenge to put the global energy system on a sustainable basis to offer less impact on the environment and CO2 emission control. Energy networks and grids have to become more efficient, flexible, reliable, green and decentralized. To address all these drivers, new technologies, public policies, economic incentives and regulations are fundamental to bring the smart grid to full implementation. The transformation from a centralized, producer-controlled network to one that is less centralized and more consumer-interactive is proposed. This empowers consumers to become active participants in their energy choices to a degree never before possible and offers a two-way visibility and control of energy consumption.
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Area 3 - Sustainable Computing and Communications

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 20
Title:

A VIRTUAL MACHINES PLACEMENT MODEL FOR ENERGY AWARE CLOUD COMPUTING
Authors:

Paolo Campegiani
Abstract: We present an energy aware model for virtual machines placement in cloud computing systems. Our model manages resources of different kind (like CPU and memory) and energy costs that are depending on the kind and amount of deployed resources, incorporating capital expenses (costs of infrastructure and amortizations), operational expenses (electricity costs) and data center energy parameters as PUE, also with possibly different service levels for virtual machines. We show that the resulting model could be solved via a genetic algorithm, and we perform some sensitivity analysis on the model energy parameters.
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Paper Nr: 16
Title:

EXTENDING OFDM SYMBOLS TO REDUCE POWER CONSUMPTION
Authors:

André B. J. Kokkeler and Gerard J. M. Smit
Abstract: Existing communication standards have limited capabilities to adapt to low SNR environments or to exploit low data rate requirements in a power efficient way. Existing techniques like e.g. control coding do not reduce the computational load when reducing data rates. In this paper, we introduce differential Extended Symbol OFDM (differential ES-OFDM) which is based on the transmission of symbols that are extended in time. This way it can operate at low SNR. Using differential BPSK modulation, approximately 2.1 dB SNR improvement per doubling of the symbol length (halving the bitrate) is obtained. The sensitivity to frequency offsets of differential ES-OFDM is basically independent of symbol extension. Extending symbols reduces the computational load on the radio modem within the transmitter which is essential to reduce overall power consumption. The differential ES-OFDMreceiver architecture also offers opportunities to reduce power consumption.
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Paper Nr: 40
Title:

A MATURITY MODEL FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN MATURE DATA CENTRES
Authors:

Edward Curry, Gerard Conway, Brian Donnellan, Charlie Sheridan and Keith Ellis
Abstract: Data centres are complex eco-systems that interconnect elements of the ICT, electrical, and mechanical fields of engineering and hence the efficient operation of a data centre requires a diverse range of knowledge and skills from each of these fields. The Innovation Value Institute (IVI), a consortium of leading organizations from industry, the not for profit sector, and academia, have developed a maturity model that offers a comprehensive, value-based method for organizing, evaluating, planning, and improving the energy efficiency of mature data centres. The development process for the maturity model is discussed, detailing the role of design science in its definition.
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