Secured web services for home automation in smart grid environment

Smart grid aims to empower the current power grid with the integration of two-way communication and computer technology. The smart home contains a network that connects home elements like sensors, appliances and thermostat. In our previous work, we proposed an approach that used web services to remotely interact with smart home elements in a smart grid environment. These interactions include adjusting the temperature or reading energy consumption. We assumed a smart home with a wireless sensor network based on Zigbee. In this paper, we extend the system by including quality of service, security and XMPP (eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). Different levels of access control are provided. Advantage of XMPP is that it provides near real-time communication and security. Secured web services also facilitate selling of energy back to the grid. The performance, advantage and limitations of the communications between user and elements via secured web services are demonstrated here.