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Pitch

Empowering every consumer with the tools and knowledge to reduce their consumption and to provide a user friendly energy management solution


Description

Summary

The world has been breaking into paths of innovation and scientific excellence in the past two centuries unchecked. We are growing and developing exponentially. The biggest impediment to fact that we are progressing is the difference in energy consumed and energy generated continues to grow into unacceptable levels. If this major problem is left unchecked it will dampen the progress of mankind. 

Our solution to this great challenge was to try and add more generating units and make a conscious effort to reduce transmission losses. However these two solutions enjoyed limited success only as the onus of energy conservation was on the industrial sector. Our project attempts to tackle this challenging problem in a whole new perspective. We aim to shift the onus on to the individual consumers by providing them accurate and useful data about their energy consumption pattern enabling them to devise custom user friendly energy management solutions. 

Our project is an enabler in its truest sense as it empowers every consumer with the tools and knowledge to reduce and contain their individual energy consumption resulting in cost savings for themselves and energy savings for the energy provider.

The Advanced energy planner provides the user with information about their current energy bill, forecasted energy bill and much more allowing the user to take stock of their current usage pattern effectively.  We look at our project as the first step in any practical real time energy management device


What actions do you propose?

Advanced Energy Planner (AEP), an enabler in its truest sense as it enables every consumer with the vital tools and knowledge to reduce and control their individual energy consumption resulting in cost savings for themselves and energy savings for the community.

1.    AEP will be designed and deployed in home, offices and buildings.

2.    Allows the user to realize his energy bill on a daily basis by calculating the rate of energy consumption frequently. This piece of knowledge is vital for any energy conservation program.

3.    Predict bill payable enabling the user to control the usage and his energy bill.

4.    Sends SMS to the user regarding the present and forecasted bill amounts at predefined intervals.

5.    User friendly keypad allows user to change the tariff and slab in account of changes by the electricity provider ensures the device will never be outdated/obsolete.  

6.    Helps in reducing total energy consumption and therefore reduces energy demand per consumer.

7.    User can interface device with a computer via universal serial port to analyze device performance consistently.

8.  Our innovative self-developed software is well equipped to enable any user to access  the functions menu with ease making it the most interactive appliance.

9.  The use of an optical sensor as an input medium allows the device to be of optimal service to user scenarios where the energy tabulating meter (Energy Meter) is located far away from the location of energy consumption. This feature provides such specific users with means to monitor their energy usage pattern effectively.


Who will take these actions?

The rising demand is the main issue faced by the energy producers. Many studies are going on gap between demand and supply. 1.4 billion people of the world still have no access to electricity.

The state or central electricity board will be keen on implementing AEP which will help them in balancing the critical ratio of energy demand to Supply. 

If a consumer know that he can afford say INR 1000 of electricity expenses for this month but his meter tells him that at the rate of current usage you will end up paying INR 1500..!! He is Provided with enough information to control and optimize his usage benefiting both the consumer financially and the world in terms of CO2 emission. So, industries, offices and every individual consumers worried about their Energy bill.

Every child in a home having an energy planner will learn how to use it and there by learn about our energy crises situation.


Where will these actions be taken?

The AEP is designed as a stand-alone unit.

Flats, Buildings, Industries, offices and residential apartments, where the user do not have any means to analyze his energy consumption AEP will be at his service.


How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?

Reduction in demand in turn reduces the generation of electricity, which in turn reduces the green house gases emission from power plants.

When an individual is concerned about his energy consumption  he will control and optimize the use of appliances which reduces the emission of green house gases.

Studies shows that emissions in a coal based thermal power station are estimated in the range of 0.91 to 0.95 kg/kWh for CO2, 6.94 to7.20 g/kWh for SO2, and 4.22 to 4.38 g/kWh for NO during the period 2001-02 to 2009-10.

Since the major contribution for installed capacity is from coal based power station, saving even a single unit per consumer makes a huge impact on the total amount of emission.


What are other key benefits?

AEP not only helps the user but also the community, when people starts conserving energy the total demand falls when demand falls, required production and cost of energy per unit also falls.

Even If one unit is saved by a single consumer, coal consumption can be reduced to a great extend.

Unwanted energy consumption and wastage of energy can be controlled in a very efficient and precise way.

Helps to build an energy conscious future generation.


What are the proposal’s costs?

Development of AEP will not be a task compared to other energy saving technologies.

MATERIAL COST : INR 1300.00

Production Cost/piece: INR 500/piece (PCB Board design & making, soldering components, Programming Chip & Testing)

Case/Panel Design and Assembly: INR 250/piece

Certification/piece: INR 100

Transportation to different locations: INR 100

 Margin for distributor/Sale & Installation : INR 200

Maintenance & Support : INR 100 

Approximate Cost Expense per Product :INR 2550

Only disadvantage is the very small power consumption of AEP, which is negligible compared to the saved energy. 


Time line

First Phase 1-2 years

  • Testing and piloting using a small community like a University, residential area, flats or school during the year 1
  • Full fledged production and installation during year 2

 

Second Phase 3-4 years

  • Building next level AEP which provides the contribution of individual appliances towards the total energy bill, which results in precise and efficient energy management. 


Related proposals

AEP may be similar to existing Building Management System (BMS).

BMS aims at central monitoring system where else either can only monitor the usage of energy in a building but AEP is a micro device which targets and empowers the consumer to regulate/control his consumption due the threat of upcoming tariff to be paid.

Unlike BMS we employ forecasted energy consumption allowing the user to sacrifice energy consumption at cost of personal convenience to alleviate himself of the heavy forecasted bill.

So what we propose is a device that keeps alerting, forecasting and trusting the consumer with the information.


References

http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/conference/ei20/session5/mmittal.pdf

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=74&t=11

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_India