Matching electricity supply and demand using smart meters and home automation

The increased usage of generation sources such as wind-power has introduced an element of unpredictability into the supply of electricity. Smart meters offer a partial solution to this by allowing more sophisticated measurement of consumption and the implementation of real-time pricing. We outline an architecture that can be used to implement real-time pricing in a residential context using smart meters in conjunction with home automation systems that act on these real-time price signals. We describe the various elements of this architecture and outline a scenario in which it can be used to stimulate or constrain user demand while minimizing the energy bill for the end user.