ZigBee Based Optimal Scheduling System for Home Appliances in the United Arab Emirates

In this paper a smart energy management system for home appliances has been presented. Based on hourly load data the system sets an optimal schedule for the operation of the home appliances. The paper is presented in two parts. In the first part a cost function has been derived based on practical data provided by two utility companies. In the second part an optimal scheduling system has been proposed for the home appliances based on the derived cost function.  A wireless system based on ZigBee and LabVIEW has been integrated with the proposed system so that the home appliances can be controlled and monitored according to the proposed optimal scheduling. The simulation results show that energy consumption in a household can be reduced by 30% by using the proposed system. In addition, the system is designed with enough flexibility so that it can support users’ own cost functions.