A sustainable user-centered application for residential energy consumption saving. (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mostafa, Noha A.; Grida, Mohamed; Park, Jaehyun; Ramadan, Haitham S.
• Is Part Of: Sustainable energy technologies and assessments. Volume 53:Part D(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: Information and communication technology -- Residential energy consumption -- Smart grids -- Dynamic pricing -- Mobile application -- Sustainable solutions; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Energy development -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Electric power production -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Periodicals; 333.79
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seta.2022.102754
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2213-1388

Abstract

Highlights: A socio-technical approach is adopted to deal with residential energy management. A framework was developed for a mobile application based on a survey of 410 users. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and K-means clustering were used for analysis. The proposed solution enables customers to control their electricity consumption. Up to 70% expressed their willingness to use such application. Abstract: Being a significant contributor to energy consumption, residential buildings are now in crucial need to reduce and schedule their energy usage. It was found that the previous research on energy management have focused on the technological solutions without considering the users' needs and requirements. To address this gap, user's involvement is considered as cornerstone in developing a solution. For this purpose, a survey was designed and answered by 410 participants. Statistical analysis was used to identify the significant factors affecting the users' willingness to use a mobile application to manage their energy consumption. Fuzzy AHP was used to analyze users' preferences and behaviors, then K-means clustering was used to rank the various home appliances' priorities according to the users' preferences. Finally, a mobile application framework was proposed to enable a user-friendly tool to schedule home appliances operations. It was found that 70% of the users are willing to use such application as it can save money through managing their energy consumption while considering their preferences at the same time while having a positive environmental impact. Such approaches can change the utility-customer relationship from supplier-buyer relation to an efficient and sustainable partnership with an expected energy saving up to 15%.