Smart and Sustainable Energy Grids, Buildings and Cities

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Power Electronics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 7206

Special Issue Editors

School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
Interests: smart buildings; smart cities; smart grids; energy and environmental modelling; artificial intelligence; simulation and forecasting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RN, UK
Interests: smart cities; smart buildings; sensor-based networks; digital twin; multi agent systems; deep learning; fuzzy logic and optimisation
College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK
Interests: renewable energy from sea waves; energy materials; 3D printing of soft materials; data-driven modelling; soft stretch sensors & actuators

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Smart grids have the potential to offer enhanced efficiency, flexibility, and reliability through automated control and optimization using modern communication infrastructures and intelligent energy management. As significant consumers of energy, buildings will play a critical role in the transition to distributed smart energy grids. Remote control and management of building systems and appliances will be necessary to utilize the flexibility of buildings on the demand side, and to an extent on the supply side when onsite micro-generation is taken into account. The integration of distributed renewable energy generation technologies into the smart grid also requires the consideration of their intermittency and probabilistic nature. Developments in sensor technologies, artificial intelligence, low-power embedded computing, and the internet of things (IoT) offer opportunities to integrate buildings and cities into smart energy grids to realize their potential for contribution to a sustainable energy future.

In this Special Issue, we welcome manuscripts that range from theory to applications and case studies related to smart energy grids where buildings, neighbourhoods, districts, and cities play a role. Review and survey papers are also welcome provided that they offer new insights based on critical analysis and synthesis of the state-of-the-art. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • artificial intelligence;
  • building energy management;
  • demand side management;
  • district and community energy solutions;
  • edge and cloud computing;
  • energy systems;
  • flexibility;
  • forecasting;
  • internet of Things (IoT);
  • modelling and simulation;
  • renewable energy;
  • sensor networks;
  • smart energy grids;
  • smart materials.

Prof. Dr. Monjur Mourshed
Dr. Baris Yuce
Dr. Mokarram Hossain
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 10445 KiB  
Article
A Hybrid YOLOv4 and Particle Filter Based Robotic Arm Grabbing System in Nonlinear and Non-Gaussian Environment
by Mingyu Gao, Qinyu Cai, Bowen Zheng, Jie Shi, Zhihao Ni, Junfan Wang and Huipin Lin
Electronics 2021, 10(10), 1140; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10101140 - 11 May 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3064
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a robotic arm grasping system suitable for complex environments. For a robotic arm, in order to achieve its accurate grasp of the target object, not only the vision but also a certain tracking ability should be provided. To [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose a robotic arm grasping system suitable for complex environments. For a robotic arm, in order to achieve its accurate grasp of the target object, not only the vision but also a certain tracking ability should be provided. To improve the grasp quality, we propose a robotic arm grasping system using YOLOv4 combined with a particle filter (PF) algorithm, which can be applied in a nonlinear and non-Gaussian environment. Firstly, the coordinates of the bounding box in the image can be obtained through the YOLOv4 object detection algorithm. Secondly, the coordinates in the world system can be obtained through the eye-to-hand calibration system. Thirdly, a PF model can be established based on the coordinate changes of the target object. Finally, according to the predicted output of the PF, the robotic arm and the target object can reach the specific position at the same time and complete the grab. As the target object, the bowl is applied to experiments for the sake of achieving a more convincing demonstration. The experimental results show that the robotic arm grasping system proposed in this paper can accomplish the successful grasp at a rate of nearly 88%, even at a higher movement speed, which is of great significance to robot applications in various fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart and Sustainable Energy Grids, Buildings and Cities)
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21 pages, 2433 KiB  
Article
Identification of Degrading Effects in the Operation of Neighboring Photovoltaic Systems in Urban Environments
by Ilija Radovanovic and Ivan Popovic
Electronics 2021, 10(7), 762; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10070762 - 24 Mar 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1507
Abstract
As photovoltaics technologies have emerged as one of the most promising renewable energy resources in urban environments, monitoring and maintaining of such systems have gained significance. In order to support reliable system operation during the projected in-field operation lifetime, effective strategies for identifying [...] Read more.
As photovoltaics technologies have emerged as one of the most promising renewable energy resources in urban environments, monitoring and maintaining of such systems have gained significance. In order to support reliable system operation during the projected in-field operation lifetime, effective strategies for identifying potential problems in photovoltaic systems operation are needed. In this paper, novel methods for the identification of degrading effects in the operation of neighboring photovoltaic systems are presented. The proposed methods are applicable for identifying panel aging properties, soiling effects, and the operation of photovoltaic systems under different shading scenarios. Since the proposed methods are based on the cross-correlation of the operation of neighboring systems, they are particularly suitable performance assessment in urban environments. The proposed identification methods are integrated according to the adopted fog computing model, providing a scalable solution capable of uniform integration into the distributed applications for monitoring and maintenance of photovoltaic systems in urban areas. The details regarding the implementation of the identification methods in the form of data processing services and service operation and dependencies are also provided in this paper. The identification methods, integration concept, and related service operation are verified through the presented case study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart and Sustainable Energy Grids, Buildings and Cities)
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13 pages, 3566 KiB  
Article
Using the Variable Geometry in a Planar Inductor for an Optimised Performance
by Maha Aldoumani, Baris Yuce and Dibin Zhu
Electronics 2021, 10(6), 721; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10060721 - 18 Mar 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2074
Abstract
In this paper, the performance, modelling and application of a planar electromagnetic sensor are discussed. Due to the small size profiles and their non-contact nature, planar sensors are widely used due to their simple and basic design. The paper discusses the experimentation and [...] Read more.
In this paper, the performance, modelling and application of a planar electromagnetic sensor are discussed. Due to the small size profiles and their non-contact nature, planar sensors are widely used due to their simple and basic design. The paper discusses the experimentation and the finite element modelling (FEM) performed for developing the design of planar coils. In addition, the paper investigates the performance of various topologies of planar sensors when they are used in inductive sensing. This technique has been applied to develop a new displacement sensor. The ANSYS Maxwell FEM package has been used to analyse the models while varying the topologies of the coils. For this purpose, different models in FEM were constructed and then tested with topologies such as circular, square and hexagon coil configurations. The described methodology is considered an effective way for the development of sensors based on planar coils with better performance. Moreover, it also confirms a good correlation between the experimental data and the FEM models. Once the best topology is chosen based on performance, an optimisation exercise was then carried out using uncertainty models. That is, the influence of variables such as number of turns and the spacing between the coils on the output inductance has been investigated. This means that the combined effects of these two variables on the output inductance was studied to obtain the optimum values for the number of turns and the spacing between the coils that provided the highest level of inductance from the coils. Integrated sensor systems are a pre-requisite for developing the concept of smart cities in practice due to the fact that the individual sensors can hardly meet the demands of smart cities for complex information. This paper provides an overview of the theoretical concept of smart cities and the integrated sensor systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart and Sustainable Energy Grids, Buildings and Cities)
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