A Smartbox as a low-cost home automation solution for prosumers with a battery storage system in a demand response program

On the basis that a processing resource optimally calculates the loads scheduling one day-ahead for those prosumers operating in a demand response program, the question is: who acts the scheduling? This paper presents an electronic device named Smartbox as a low-cost and feasible home automation solution; so, given a processing resource which optimally calculates the loads scheduling one day-ahead, the mission of the Smartbox is receive and act the loads scheduling. The processing resource is in the cloud computing and it calculates the optimal scheduling through the solution of a prosumer problem so to minimizes the electricity bill; such a load scheduling is sent to the Smartbox via Internet. The Smartbox receives the load scheduling and hourly sends commands to local schedulable loads through an existing home automation system. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and the feasibility of the proposed Smartbox, a prototype using an Arduino MEGA 2560 has been realized and tested in the laboratory. Such a prototype has been tested in combination with a) a software application consisting in a Java program which serves the user for input data, b) a prosumer problem solver consisting in a personal computer with Matlab and c) a demonstration panel which represents a private household equipped with a Schneider Electric - Konnex protocol home automation system. The laboratory test demonstrate that the Smartbox prototype is genuinely effective in implementing the load scheduling because duly and correctly the Smartbox manages the switching-on and off of schedulable loads.