CSIRO and Australian company Ecocentric will work together under a licensing and research agreement to develop an energy system capable of tracking the amount of energy each appliance in a building is using, and applying strategies to reduce total energy use.
While conventional smart meter systems are able to record total energy use of a building, the insights are generally "low resolution" as the data is mostly used for billing purposes. The Numen system, however, which CSIRO terms "cognitive metering" technology, is capable of identifying individual appliances using a unique signature of high-frequency electrical data.
This allows the Numen system to not just indicate the total energy being used in a building, but to identify the appliances present, and seperate out appliance-specific consumption data to see how much energy the appliance is using.
Numen deploys CSIRO-developed advanced machine learning algorithms to measure appliance power consumption, without having to meter each appliance separately.
The system uses cloud-based technology to monitor energy consumption in real time, allowing unprecedented insights into the operation of critical machinery. Users will be able to automatically identify metered electrical devices, develop better understanding and prediction of energy use patterns,a nd predict faults for pre-emptive maintenance.
Buildings that use the Numen system will benefit from the insights it can provide into opportunities for more efficient energy use, resulting in cost savings and a reduced carbon footprint.
According to Ecocentric, the ability to see the energy use data in businesses and industry would allow improved monitoring outcome for safety, fault prediction and efficiency.
A key focus of CSIRO’s Energy research is the development of intelligent systems, including decision support and management tools that reduce energy consumption of Australia’s buildings through improved understanding of energy flows.
CSIRO Energy Director Karl Rodrigues said the system had significant potential to improve energy intelligence.
“The energy domain is experiencing an increased focus in the megatrend ‘digital immersion’, affecting both domestic and commercial energy consumers,” Mr Rodrigues said.
“Our research is helping drive the next wave of productivity and efficiency in energy consumption.”
Under the agreement, Ecocentric will obtain a licence from CSIRO to the cognitive metering technology and work with CSIRO for a period of six years to further refine the system.