Reduce costs and avoid additional power plants.
Renewable energy is being added to local power grids, creating new challenges like reverse power flows. To manage this, homes can adjust their energy use to help avoid costly upgrades. With smart technology, many household devices can now be remotely controlled, making it easier to manage energy flexibility.
We improved an existing building's energy management system by adding a smart control strategy. This upgrade helped reduce carbon emissions from electricity use and made the energy system more flexible. Tests showed a 12.5% decrease in emissions compared to the previous setup that focused on maximizing solar energy use.
With international teams, we look at how buildings can be more flexible with their energy use, focusing on the challenges and gaps in development from planning to operation. It highlights the lack of tools and financing, making it hard to invest in and implement energy flexibility, especially in smaller buildings. The paper also identifies issues with communication, privacy, and the complexity of using these systems, and suggests areas for future research to overcome these obstacles and improve energy flexibility.