Smart Energy Management System

By: Abdullah Alhaifi, Mohammed Aloraynan, and Murad Baik

Advisor: Dr. Thamer Alquthami
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
WEP
Winter Enrichment
King Abdulaziz University - Jeddah - Saudi Arabia Program

Introduction:
Power demand in Saudi Arabia is increasing rapidly and is expected to
reach very high levels in future years. The country relies on liquid petro-
leum for approximately 60 percent of its electricity generation, mainly due
to heavily subsidized domestic oil prices. This strong dependence results
in a reduction of the country’s oil export volume and earnings.
The Saudi Arabian government aims to eliminate energy subsidies by
2020, which would result in an increase of electricity costs for consumers.
Benefits:
This system optimizes energy used in medium to small buildings (i.e. uses
less energy to perform the same functions). This happens automatically by
the programmed device. The system can also be controlled manually by the
user, through IFTTT technology, which gives the user the ability to remotely
control different devices and appliances. Finally, this is a relatively cheap
system, as its installation is easy and doesn’t require modifications in the
Methodology: building’s infrastructure.

These higher costs are expected to grow the demand for technologies and
products related to energy efficiency.
Proposed System:
This project aims at reducing the energy consumed in medium to small
buildings, whether residential, commercial, or governmental, by utilizing
internet of things (IoT) and machine learning (ML) technologies. It is a
system that can be installed in any medium or small building without deep
retrofits. The components of the system are shown below:
Main control unit Thermal sensor Motion sensor Laser sensor
The sensors are distributed inside the building to collect the data above
that are analyzed by the system. The analyzed data is then used in
pre-programmed algorithms to optimize energy consumed by different
appliances and devices.
The devices are controlled through specific signals such as the infrared
(IR), radio frequency (RF), ZigBee, WiFi, and other signals.
The system also learns and automatically adapts as the life inside the
building and the seasons change, programming itself accordingly.
Since some appliances can only be controlled manually, the
management system includes some components that facilitate the
ability to control them remotely.
Figure 1 briefly illustrates the working principle of the smart energy
management system.
Air quality sensor
Based on study cases of two Building Management Systems that monitor
and control HVAC and lighting, the approximate savings of our Smart
Energy Management System is 40%
Conclusion:
It is hoped that this project will be implemented to optimize the energy used
in small/medium buildings without the need for deep retrofits that are of
higher costs. This would reduce electricity bills paid by the customers, and
contribute to the country’s predicted work towards greater efficiency, as part
of vision 2030.
We have started to implement the system and test the different energy-saving
algorithms. We will then work to allow the user to interact with the system and
customize specific actions. Finally, we will go through the process of integrating
machine learning techniques to make the system smarter.

Light intensity sensor Energy meter Ultrasonic sensor IR thermostat IR power outlet
References:
- Seec.gov.sa. (2017). ‫ﺗﺮﺷﻴﺪ اﺳﺘﻬﻼك اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ اﻟﻜﻬﺮﺑﺎﺋﻴﺔ | اﳌﺮﻛﺰ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدي ﻟﻜﻔﺎءة اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ‬. [online]
Available at: https://goo.gl/3KRe61
Data collected:
- Temperature. - Seec.gov.sa. (2017). ‫اﳌﺒﺎين | اﳌﺮﻛﺰ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدي ﻟﻜﻔﺎءة اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ‬. [online]
- Light intensity. Available at: http://www.seec.gov.sa/ar/buildings
- Number of individuals inside the room.
- Seec.gov.sa. (2017). ‫م | اﳌﺮﻛﺰ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدي ﻟﻜﻔﺎءة اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ‬2016 ‫اﻟﺘﻘﺮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻨﻮي‬. [online]
- Room volume.
IR light dimmer Available at: https://goo.gl/M2NhmJ
- Energy consumer by different devices/appliances.
- Air quality. - Export.gov. (2017). Saudi Arabia - Energy | export.gov. [online]
- Weather cast. Figure 1: The working principle of the smart energy management system. Available at: https://www.export.gov/article?id=Saudi-Arabia-Energy