Design and evaluation of an architecture for future smart grid service provisioning

The increase of distributed renewable electricity generators, such as solar cells and wind turbines, requires new energy management systems where real-time measurements and communication between end users, suppliers and utilities are vital. To address this need, we propose a common service architecture that allows houses with renewable energy generation and smart energy devices to plug into a distributed energy management system, integrated with the public power grid. The presented architecture facilitates end-users to optimize their energy consumption, enables power network operators to better balance supply and demand, and creates a platform where new market players (e.g. ESCOs) can easily provide new services. This service architecture has been implemented and is currently evaluated in a field trial with 21 users, of which we present the initial results.