foreseeTM: A Grid-interactive Whole-home Energy Management Solution for a Clean Energy Future
Abstract:
Today’s appliances make simple, uninformed operation decisions which resulted in over $10 billion in wasted home energy. Smart home technologies are emerging but most of the offerings on the market focus on connectivity instead of intelligence and lack self-customizing solutions to accommodate our diversities. In addition, most existing smart home solutions are not able to fully unlock the potential of the behind-the-meter assets to support electrification and renewable energy deployment. To overcome those challenges, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed foreseeTM, a whole-home energy management solution for helping residents manage behind-the-meter loads and distributed energy resources, save on utility bills, improve thermal comfort, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance energy resilience. foreseeTM can also interact with the electric grid, providing demand response services and supporting renewable energy integration. This presentation will cover various aspects of foreseeTM, including the system architecture, prediction models, optimization algorithms, user preference elicitation, interoperability, and user interface. A few examples of recent deployment of foreseeTM and its potential commercialization pathways will also be discussed at the end of the presentation.
Bio:
Dr. Xin Jin is a senior research engineer in the Building Technologies and Sciences Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He has over 10 years’ RD&D experience on energy efficiency and renewable energy, and his current research focuses on building-grid integration, sensors & controls, smart homes and smart communities, and machine learning applications in buildings. He is a principal investigator of many research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office, Solar Energy Technologies Office, and utility companies. He is the lead developer of foreseeTM, an award-winning whole-home energy management system. In addition to his research role, Dr. Jin also leads the Sensors & Controls Innovation Area of NREL’s Buildings Research Program, managing 10 interdisciplinary projects with over $4M annual budget. He has authored more than 60 peer reviewed technical publications, 10 software records and records of inventions, and 1 granted U.S. patent. He serves as an associated editor of the Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities, and a member of technical program committees at many international conferences. He is a recipient of the 2018 R&D 100 Award and 2017 NREL President Award.