A framework for home energy management and its experimental validation

With the Smart Grid revolution and the increasing interest in renewable energy sources, the management of the electricity consumption and production of individual households and small residential communities is becoming an essential element of new power systems. The electric energy chain can greatly benefit from a flexible interaction with end-users based on the optimization of load profiles and the exploitation of local generation and energy storage. This paper proposes a framework for the development of a complete energy management system for individual residential units and small communities of domestic users, taking into account both the power system and the final users’ perspectives. All the main elements of the framework are considered, and contributions are provided on the users’ habits profiling, electricity generation forecast, energy load, and storage optimization. Specifically, we propose a linear regression model to predict the photovoltaic panels production, a stochastic method to forecast the home appliances usage, and two optimization models to optimize the electricity management of residential users with the goal of minimizing their bills. The study shows that it is possible to reduce the energy bill of residential users through the electricity optimization driven by dynamic energy prices. Moreover, remarkable improvements of the electric grid efficiency can be achieved with the cooperation among users, confirming that services for the coordination of the demand of groups of users allow huge benefits on the power system performance.     

意大利创意城市:新景象与新项目

《国际城市规划》(UPI)于2009年出版了一辑专刊,介绍了意大利城市规划的相关情况和背景.意大利是一个具有2 000多年文化创造传统的国度,城市在意大利的发展历程中始终发挥着重要作用.作为一个事实上的城邦国家,意大利的城市发展深受根植于当地的市民文化. 1城市新景象 最近几年,从佛罗里达(Florida)和兰德利(Landry)的著作开始,人们对“创意”这一城市竞争要素的反思和实验交织在一起,引发了对其理论与实践的进一步反省,其目的是为了给创意城市提供更宽阔的空间,付诸实际行动,提高实施效果,改善生活品质.     

A framework for formal analysis and simulative evaluation of security attacks in wireless sensor networks

Journal of Computer Virology and Hacking Techniques - When designing Wireless Sensor Networks it is important to analyze their security risks and provide adequate solutions for protecting them from...     

A new test cell for the evaluation of thermo-physical performance of facades building components

How do the new building façade components work under real climatic conditions? The question is especially related to the dynamic behaviour of new and complex components such as the ventilated walls, the Phase Change Material, or others that use nano-technologies and aerogels. One of the objectives of the undergoing research activity, named Abitare Mediterraneo, is the evaluation of their thermal behaviour through the use of an outdoor test cell, in order to reproduce under the real external conditions the performance of these components, and consequently define the main thermal parameters such as the attenuation factor and the thermal inertia, characterising the component; moreover, the results will be used to write new algorithms for dynamic simulation tools allowing an appropriate evaluation of the complex behaviour of the whole building at a real scale condition. The new test cell is realised in Florence, Italy. The design starts from the study of the experience of the existing PASSYS test cells, overtaking the main weakness of the building structure and of the heat-flux sensors.     

A numerical model of light adjustable lens

We model numerically the mechanical effects of UV induced photo-polymerization in elastomeric artificial lens. The elastomer is originated upon cross-linking of a silicone matrix. UV irradiation of one side of the lens polymerizes selectively a photosensitive macromer, causing local variations of its concentration. The subsequent diffusion of macromers from high concentration to low concentration zones modifies the shape of the lens and thus its dioptric power. In vitro experiments on artificial lens showed that the power change is dependent on UV exposure time, irradiation intensity and light pattern. With the aim to define a numerical tool able to predict the dioptric power adjustment as a function of the UV irradiation parameters, we setup a purely mechanic finite element model of the lens, adopting a hyperelastic material model embedded with eigen-deformations. Numerical simulations of axis-symmetric irradiation closely reproduced the experimental results, in terms of both lens geometry and dioptric power, for positive, negative and lock-in corrections.