Modernizing the Energy from Customer-Side

Modern grids are the incorporation between the current power grid, information, and communication technologies in which different networking techniques are effectively adopted for monitoring key factors as well as exchanging information between various sectors to improve the overall condition of the energy networks. Among the diverse networking technologies in the smart grids, the first one is the home area network that focuses on managing the customer-side by developing broad synergies among the energy management systems. Indeed, grid-modernization efforts are not limited to a special part of energy networks, and all of these schemes are started by organizing the energy from the customer-side as the base layer of this process. Therefore, this chapter contains a comprehensive analysis regarding the smart homes, various types of high-performance buildings, hybrid systems, and their roles in modernizing the multi-carrier energy networks. The application of home energy management systems is discussed considering the different intelligent appliances in smart homes. Moreover, the structure of various types of buildings, as well as their design strategies and hybrid equipment, are described aiming to propose the appropriate ones for the future modern grids.