The term Home Energy Management System (HEMS) refers to all smart systems designed to manage household energy use, focusing on the distribution, storage, and utilization of energy to maximize system efficiency.
The ultimate goal is self-consumption—using the electricity generated by a photovoltaic system on-site to meet the household's energy needs.
The primary objectives of HEMS are to minimize electricity costs and increase independence from energy providers, all while enhancing household comfort and enabling automatic energy savings.
Why Choose a HEMS Over Traditional Home Automation?
As previously mentioned, the most effective way to achieve substantial energy savings is by maximizing home self-consumption. Even if self-consumption alone is not enough, there are numerous advantages to using a HEMS:
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Real-time monitoring of photovoltaic system production and consumption, with notifications of energy surplus. This enables the HEMS to calculate available energy and prioritize which energy-intensive appliances to activate or deactivate.
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Management of Distributed Energy Assets (DEA) to ensure Dynamic Load Management (DLM).
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Alerts sent in case of energy surplus or deficit.
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Monitoring of battery storage data, electricity, water, and gas supplies (smart meter installation required).
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The HEMS can set activation/deactivation priorities for systems, which users can adjust at any time.
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Comprehensive consumption tracking via app or browser.
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Ability to connect the household to a broader ecosystem such as Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) or Collective Self-Consumption Groups (CSCs) to maximize financial returns from energy incentives.
Artificial Intelligence in the Management of Heat Pumps and Thermal Regulation Systems
Artificial intelligence, which in recent months has made great strides in every field, has now also arrived in the management of home energy.
Like the MyVirtuoso Home system, for example, an HEMS born in 2011, and thanks to the significant experience developed with more than 3,000 installations, it uses the ZEE (Zero Export Energy) Artificial Intelligence algorithm, with the ability to take control of the photovoltaic system and all energy-intensive elements.
These will therefore be modulated and activated autonomously in order to eliminate energy sold to the grid and maximize the energy used within the home.
Specifically, MyVirtuoso Home ensures that excess energy is used in the management of systems such as heat pumps (automatically adjusting setpoints or modulating the immersion heater), charging stations for electric vehicles, appliances connected to smart outlets, and thermal energy production systems.
