Energy Monitoring and Consumption Reduction by Automated Branch Circuit Actuation for Tertiary Mainstreet Establishments

With the growing popularity of ratings systems to quantify energy use in buildings, the ability to effectively measure and minimize plug loads has become increasingly important. There is abundant research regarding schemes of the said systems for Homes and Buildings. In contrast, this research is focused on utilizing the said system for application on Micro and Small Enterprise Establishments. These are commercial establishments whose investment does not exceed to 15 million pesos. Almost 99.13 percent of the commercial market establishments are under MSE (Philippine Senate 2016). These establishments typically require minimal spaces. Given the space it usually occupies, it can neither be classified as a home nor a building. With this, the researchers saw an opportunity for potential application of energy saving and monitoring schemes for the said establishments. With the diversity of the establishments under the said Enterprise Classification, the researchers chose a Laundromat for the prototype application. This is advantageous since motor loads and lighting loads can both be simulated, that of which is represented by the dryer, washer and lighting. The research is divided into two schemes: Energy Saving and Energy Monitoring. The energy saving scheme was conducted by eliminating phantom loads. In a time of electronics, the losses due to its inherent phantom load have grown in significance. On the other hand, the energy monitoring scheme utilizes an online platform called ThingSpeak where the energy consumption of the loads is tracked and stored in the cloud allowing personnel to view the said data remotely.