distributed renewable energy. Big data analysis
and cloud storage are crucial support technologies that can accelerate the development of the
Energy Internet. In recent years, tech companies
like Google and Alibaba have made inroads into
the intelligent building and smart home industry.
The smart home industry is likely to undergo
rapid growth in the coming years.
As the Energy Internet and smart home systems evolve, the problems that face conventional
energy networks—such as overproduction, low
scheduling accuracy, high energy transmission
losses and poor grid connections for new energy
—will be solved, thus optimising the energy
system, saving energy and reducing environmental impact.
By harnessing energy demand and supply
information, energy providers can implement a
scheduling strategy to make energy flow efficiently. They can also personalise household
energy demand based on the energy consumption
information they have collected. Households in
turn can gain a deeper understanding of their
consumption behaviour from the data.
The Energy Internet will revolutionise energy
demand and make household energy consumption intelligent. When Internet titans can extract
more accurate and richer information from big
data and accurately push that information to
individuals in a relevant manner, the changes in
people’s indirect energy consumption will no
longer be limited simply to convenience.
4.2.2 Changing Patterns in Household
Energy Consumption
In the era of big data, one-way energy consumption will change. The role of residents will
shift from traditional energy consumer to energy
consumer and provider, or prosumer. Energy
consumption will not be a one-way relationship,
dominated by energy companies, but a two-way
interaction.
IT triggers change on a comprehensive scale.
The energy supply, transmission and consumption
system—supported by technologies like sensors,
high-speed networks, mobile Internet, smart terminals, cloud platforms, big data processing and
geographic information systems (GIS)—has
evolved into a new IT-driven energy supply and
retail ecosystem. In the existing energy supply and
retail system, energy production and consumption
are strictly separated. Energy transmission companies (State Grid, for example), are responsible
for supply and demand adjustments through the
one-way transmission-consumption approach.
The Internet and big data extend the concept of the
consumer beyond a mere end user to a partner
across the entire value chain. As the Energy
Internet evolves and the cost of information falls,
both suppliers and consumers will have access to
market information like supply and demand and
the price of raw materials via the Internet. This
opens the possibility of decentralised trading,
driving the shift from centralised to decentralised
resource optimisation and allocation. With continuous deregulation of the power retail sector,
there surely will be more and more trading parties
in the energy supply and retail ecosystem. In
addition, the combination of different trading
parties, decentralised users and diversified energy
sources will also drive the emergence of new
business models.
It will be increasingly difficult to differentiate
producers from consumers in the energy demand
network. Power retail companies, industrial parks,
buildings and even individual residents will have
access to this ecosystem, directly generating
two-way and even multiple-route transmission in
energy consumption. This will strengthen the
position of people as energy consumers. With the
Energy Internet, households can choose from
different energy consumption options to achieve
the same effect. They can build the smallest
energy supply and demand subnetworks through
information sharing to lower their energy costs.
They can build supply and demand models, based
on energy prices and their own patterns of
demand. Broadly speaking, households will not
only benefit from the effects of IT on their energy
consumption, they will impact the entire energy
ecosystem themselves. For example, an electric
vehicle is an interface with the energy ecosystem.
It can be used as a means of transport or as an
energy storage device to counter energy fluctuations. In Germany, surplus power from rooftop
solar PV systems can be fed into the grid.
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and cloud storage are crucial support technologies that can accelerate the development of the
Energy Internet. In recent years, tech companies
like Google and Alibaba have made inroads into
the intelligent building and smart home industry.
The smart home industry is likely to undergo
rapid growth in the coming years.
As the Energy Internet and smart home systems evolve, the problems that face conventional
energy networks—such as overproduction, low
scheduling accuracy, high energy transmission
losses and poor grid connections for new energy
—will be solved, thus optimising the energy
system, saving energy and reducing environmental impact.
By harnessing energy demand and supply
information, energy providers can implement a
scheduling strategy to make energy flow efficiently. They can also personalise household
energy demand based on the energy consumption
information they have collected. Households in
turn can gain a deeper understanding of their
consumption behaviour from the data.
The Energy Internet will revolutionise energy
demand and make household energy consumption intelligent. When Internet titans can extract
more accurate and richer information from big
data and accurately push that information to
individuals in a relevant manner, the changes in
people’s indirect energy consumption will no
longer be limited simply to convenience.
4.2.2 Changing Patterns in Household
Energy Consumption
In the era of big data, one-way energy consumption will change. The role of residents will
shift from traditional energy consumer to energy
consumer and provider, or prosumer. Energy
consumption will not be a one-way relationship,
dominated by energy companies, but a two-way
interaction.
IT triggers change on a comprehensive scale.
The energy supply, transmission and consumption
system—supported by technologies like sensors,
high-speed networks, mobile Internet, smart terminals, cloud platforms, big data processing and
geographic information systems (GIS)—has
evolved into a new IT-driven energy supply and
retail ecosystem. In the existing energy supply and
retail system, energy production and consumption
are strictly separated. Energy transmission companies (State Grid, for example), are responsible
for supply and demand adjustments through the
one-way transmission-consumption approach.
The Internet and big data extend the concept of the
consumer beyond a mere end user to a partner
across the entire value chain. As the Energy
Internet evolves and the cost of information falls,
both suppliers and consumers will have access to
market information like supply and demand and
the price of raw materials via the Internet. This
opens the possibility of decentralised trading,
driving the shift from centralised to decentralised
resource optimisation and allocation. With continuous deregulation of the power retail sector,
there surely will be more and more trading parties
in the energy supply and retail ecosystem. In
addition, the combination of different trading
parties, decentralised users and diversified energy
sources will also drive the emergence of new
business models.
It will be increasingly difficult to differentiate
producers from consumers in the energy demand
network. Power retail companies, industrial parks,
buildings and even individual residents will have
access to this ecosystem, directly generating
two-way and even multiple-route transmission in
energy consumption. This will strengthen the
position of people as energy consumers. With the
Energy Internet, households can choose from
different energy consumption options to achieve
the same effect. They can build the smallest
energy supply and demand subnetworks through
information sharing to lower their energy costs.
They can build supply and demand models, based
on energy prices and their own patterns of
demand. Broadly speaking, households will not
only benefit from the effects of IT on their energy
consumption, they will impact the entire energy
ecosystem themselves. For example, an electric
vehicle is an interface with the energy ecosystem.
It can be used as a means of transport or as an
energy storage device to counter energy fluctuations. In Germany, surplus power from rooftop
solar PV systems can be fed into the grid.
262
Y. Jianlong and M. Haigh