Simulation Tool For Energy Consumption and Production: The development of a simulation tool for measuring the impact of a smart grid on a building

In order to promote adoption of smart grid with the general public it is necessary to be able to visualize the benefits of a smart home. Software tools that model the effects can help significantly with this. However, only little work has been done in the area of simulating and visualizing the energy consumption in smart homes. This paper presents a prototype simulation tool that allows graphical modeling of a home. Based on the modeled homes the user is able to simulate the energy consumptions and compare scenarios. The simulations are based on dynamic weather and energy price data as well as a controller unit of the user’s choice. The results of the simulations can be compared using a dynamic reporting window that allows the user to create custom charts of the data. The application has been designed such that it can easily be extended with additional controller units, price and weather data as well as appliances and other electrical components used in the modeled homes.