ENERGY MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR OFF-GRID APPLICATION

Abstract

The thesis was focused on off-grid energy production and consumption system. Meteoriihi Exhibition is off-grid system, including several renewable energy sources like solar, wind and diesel or biofuel generator. The difference in electricity production and consumption is energy stored in battery and it is meant to be buffered with batteries. Diesel generator can be used if production is otherwise insufficient. Because the battery capacity is not extensive, demand side management is needed to support the variation in energy production. The electricity demand consists of appliances like computers, audio-visual equipment, TVs, radio, refrigerator, coffee machine, for illuminance LED-lighting and heating. Heating is best suited for load control since it uses the largest share of available electricity and is not that time critical. The energy system requires sensors for monitoring energy flow and an adjustable controller for heating elements to control the electricity demand. The energy system requires sensors for monitoring energy flow and an adjustable controller for heating elements to control the electricity demand. The communication and control are handled by an energy management system, which can be implemented using LabVIEW.

The primary goal of the thesis is to implement the monitoring of the energy production and consumption, including the EMS as much as is required for monitoring. The secondary goal is to plan the load control system for heaters to balance the grid. The technologies developed can be applied in cases where electricity is required in areas where grid connection is too expensive.