Future Internet concepts for demand management

The “Internet of Things” (IoT) is a concept where animate and inanimate objects have the ability to collect and exchange data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Through the utilisation of IoT and the future Internet, fine-grained, near-real time energy demand management is increasingly becoming a reality. This is achieved through real-time billing, predictive energy costs and demand response signalling using IoT as a data platform. Installing smarter technologies at the end-user premises and communicating measurements over different network technologies provide access to information and subsequently for smarter decision making about energy management in the household. This paper presents an international research and experimental initiative linked to the Future Internet (TRESCIMO) which facilitates the validity of using these technologies as base for energy demand management. The initiative utilises a philosophy of informing customers about their energy usage behaviour through data received from smart devices that are integrated with a machine-to-machine (M2M) platform. The paper discusses opportunities presented by IoT in the management of energy use in the residential sector.