ISSC 2014 / CIICT 2014, Limerick, June 26-27

Fuzzy Logic Based Intelligent Energy Monitoring

and Control for Renewable Energy
Krishna K Panduru1, Daniel Riordan2, Joseph Walsh3

Intelligent Mechatronics and RFID

Institute of Technology Tralee, Tralee, Ireland
Email: 1krishna.panduru@staff.ittralee.ie 2daniel.riordan@staff.ittralee.ie
3
joseph.walsh@staff.ittralee.ie

Abstract — Renewable energy is an essential area of development in many countries and

has attracted a great deal of investment. The use of micro-generator wind turbines is
encouraged for individuals to set up their own power generator which will create a positive
environmental impact. Power generated from a micro-generator can also be exported back
to the national grid with many micro-generation schemes available. The export capacity is
usually restricted by these schemes, which require resistive load banks (energy dumps) to be
employed to limit the export capacity back to the grid. This leads to energy wastage and
resource in-efficiency. To overcome this problem there is a need to measure levels of
electricity generation and facility power requirements and provide advanced control. In this
paper, we will present a singleton type-1 Fuzzy logic system which monitors the energy
generated by a wind turbine, and controls distribute it efficiently power loads which are
required and send the excessive energy back to the grid, while avoiding energy dumping. The
complete fuzzy logic control system has been developed and performances have been
evaluated.

Keywords - Fuzzy logic, renewable energy, micro-generation scheme, wireless network

intelligent system is required which can monitor the

I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, renewable sources of energy have
been a key part in the development of future power
grids. Ireland lacks fossil fuel resources and
electricity is generated from imported coal or natural
gas [1]. By observing climatic changes from the year
1961 to 2000. A simulation for the year 2021 – 2060
has been performed using controlled methods of
analysis in [2] which predicts favourable conditions
for wind energy farms in Ireland. The total installed
wind capacity in the year 2012 in Ireland is
1,827MW [3] and wind power has accounted for
39% of the added renewable power production in the
year 2012 [4].
Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board offers a
micro-generation scheme which allows customers to
produce their own electricity and export the surplus
back to the grid. The suggested maximum export
capacity (MEC) is limited to 6kW for a single phase
connection and 11kW for a three phase connection
[5].
In order to limit the maximum export capacity
customers take advantage of inverters to charge
batteries. When these batteries are completely
charged, resistive load banks are used to dump
excess power, as it cannot be accepted by the grid. In
order to maximise the use of energy within the
facility and control the maximum export capacity, an
energy flow and distribute it to devices.
The concept of fuzzy logic was first
introduced by Dr. Lofti Zadeh in the year 1965 [6]
with which the concept of linguistic variable became
very important in fuzzy logic [7]. The fuzzy logic
controller is based on approximate reasoning rather
than precise control mechanism. Fuzzy logic has the
capability to reason and make rational decisions in
any given environment [8]. Fuzzy controllers use a
simple linguistics approach which converts crisp
numerical values into linguistic variables. The
linguistic variables for an input membership
functions, for example time of the day is taken as
“morning, afternoon, evening and night” and for
output membership function to control the cooling
effect as “low, medium and high”. Another
advantage of fuzzy controller is it depends on
membership functions and a set of rules which
govern the control system, thus no mathematical
model is required in the system.
Recent developments in fuzzy logic control
have made it possible to apply this method to many
real work applications. Industrial applications
include refrigerator temperature control [9], aircraft
engine control [10], automatic train operations [11],
personal diet recommendation systems [12], elevator
control system [13], camera focus systems and
vehicle transmission systems [10].
 Section II describes the fuzzy logic controller
which is implemented in this system. Section III
describes the different hardware nodes designed and
implemented. Section IV will provide an overview of
the methodology. Section V presents the results
obtained from the system developed and the surface
controls obtained by the fuzzy logic controller.
Section VI concludes the paper and future work
which could be implemented to scale the system.
II. FUZZY LOGIC CONTROLLER
The block diagram for the fuzzy logic
controller is shown in Figure 1. The fuzzy logic
controller has four modules. Each module is
described in the following paragraphs.
the system [14]. As Mendel in [15] pointed out that
“consequently, defuzzification is an art rather than
science...”
III. WIRELESS NODES
In our experiment we have employed three
kinds of nodes each of them equipped with a Zigbee
module which can wirelessly communicate. The
nodes comprises of a star network. The star network
is easy to implement in Zigbee which can isolate
slave nodes and has better performance [16].
a) Power Measurement Node
The power measurement node in Figure 2 is
placed near the utility meter which measures the
current flow between the power grid and the facility.
It comprises of a microcontroller which measures
voltage and current using a non-invasive current
sensor. Both voltage and current measurements are
required to determine the direction of current flow.
This node also acts as central node which controls
the outputs on the other nodes on the network using
fuzzy logic controller.

Figure 1: Fuzzy Logic Controller block diagram b) Wind Turbine Control Node
The wind turbine node in Figure 3 is
Fuzzification is a process which converts
connected to the wind turbine and contains a GSM
crisp inputs to linguistic variables or values. Since
module and a high power relay. The high power
fuzzy logic controller is based on fuzzy sets. The
relay is used cut off the power in case of adverse
antecedents and consequents for our fuzzy system
weather conditions. The GSM module allows user to
are assumed as a trapezoid membership functions.
communicate with the end user, relay the status of
Due to its computational efficiency triangle and
the system and obtain local time from the GSM
trapezoid membership functions are used extensively
network which will be used as one of the important
in real-time applications.
input for our fuzzy system.
Inference engine is known as the heart of
fuzzy logic controller. Using unions or intersection
the fuzzy inference engine obtains the set of rules c) Appliance Node
fire in the fuzzy system. Norms can be used as The appliance node in Figure 4 consists of a
intersection operation and co-norms can be used as set of sensors and control relay depending on the
union operation. An individual rule based inference type of appliance to which it is connected. In our
engine has been implemented in our current system; case node N2 has a temperature sensor to measure
the output of this fuzzy inference engine is an temperature of water and a control relay to turn the
intersection of the individual input fuzzy sets. heater on or off.
A fuzzy control rule is implemented by fuzzy
implication where the logical connective AND is
implemented by the minimum operator. We can use
any norm to design the logical AND operator in
fuzzy logic as shown in equation (1).
ܴଵ ǣ ݂݅ሺ‫ݔ‬଴ ݅‫ܣݏ‬଴ ܽ݊݀‫ݔ‬ଶ ݅‫ܣݏ‬ଶ ǥ ܽ݊݀‫ݔ‬௡ ݅‫ܣݏ‬௡ ሻܶ‫ܰܧܪ‬ሺ‫ܤݏ݅ݖ‬ሻ
(1)
Where, R1 is the rule number. x0, x1… xn, z
are input variables, A0, A1…An, B, are fuzzy
variables. Defuzzification is the process of
converting fuzzy output variables to crisp outputs. A
number of mathematical procedures have been
suggested for defuzzification. The procedure for
selecting the right defuzzification method is not
particularly defined, but it depends on the type of
Figure 2: Power measurement node
application and the computational power available in
 -1 to 1. When a load (such as a micro generator)
generates power we obtain a negative power factor
[18].

Figure 3:Wind turbine Figure 4: Appliance node

node Figure 5: voltage and current from 2kW water heater
measured from source
IV. METHODOLOGY
In this section we will be talking about the
design involved in obtaining the apparent and real
power from the renewable energy source, the
membership functions and set of fuzzy rules used.
The power measurement node measures
voltage and current flow through the system, the
microcontroller takes more than 70 readings per
cycle for determining instantaneous voltage and
current. Then based on values obtained apparent
power, real power and power factor are calculated
from the equations (2) – (6). Figure 5 and Figure 6
shows the voltage and current obtained by the
microcontroller. Figure 6: voltage and current from 2kW water heater
Real power is the power used by a device to measured from load
produce useful work [17]. It is the product of definite
integral of voltage and the current divided by the The microcontroller uses a 16-bit SAR ADC
number of samples as seen in equation (2). to digitize the sensor input and the result is stored in
σ೙
೙సబሺ௩௢௟௧௔௚௘೙ ‫כ‬௖௨௥௥௘௡௧೙ ሻ
a floating point number. The accuracy of real power
ܴ݈݁ܽ௣௢௪௘௥ ൌ  (2) and apparent power is very important to calculate the
௡௦௔௠௣௟௘௦
power flow. Since we are using fuzzy logic, we can
Apparent power is the product of the root
tune our membership functions with respect to crisp
mean squared values of voltages and current is a
inputs to produce a reliable output.
single cycle. RMS value of voltage or current is
defined as the square root of the mean values of the
squares of the instantaneous voltages or current on a
single cycle. Equation (3) and (4) shows how to
calculate the RMS values for voltage and current
respectively.
ଵ
ܴ‫ܵܯ‬௩௢௟௧௔௚௘ ൌ  ට ሺܸଵ ଶ ൅ ܸଶ ଶ ൅ ‫ ڮ‬൅ ܸ௡ ଶ ) (3)
௡

ଵ
Figure 7: Fuzzy Logic System for water heater node
ܴ‫ܵܯ‬௖௨௥௥௘௡௧ ൌ  ට ሺ‫ܫ‬ଵ ଶ ൅ ‫ܫ‬ଶ ଶ ൅ ‫ ڮ‬൅ ‫ܫ‬௡ ଶ ) (4)
௡ For the antecedents in our fuzzy system we
‫ݐ݊݁ݎܽ݌݌ܣ‬௣௢௪௘௥ ൌ  ܴ‫ܵܯ‬௩௢௟௧௔௚௘ ‫ܵܯܴ  כ‬௖௨௥௥௘௡௧ (5) assume that the input for ‘time’ can be in the range
of 0 to 1440 minutes. Based on the maximum export
ܴ݈݁ܽ௣௢௪௘௥ capacity the variable ‘power’ is set at 6kW. And
ܲ‫ݎ݁ݓ݋‬௙௔௖௧௢௥ ൌ  ൘‫ݐ݊݁ݎܽ݌݌ܣ‬ (6)
௣௢௪௘௥
70°C is set for maximum water ‘temperature’. And
the consequents for controlling the relay, the output
Power factor determines the real power flow can be in the range of 0 to 100 divided into
to the load in. It is a pure number value ranging from RELAY_ON and RELAY_OFF. Figure 8 - Figure
11 illustrate the antecedents and consequents Table 1: Rules for water heater appliance node
designed for the fuzzy logic controller. The inferred
TIME POWER WATER HEATER
fuzzy output from the inference engine is solved by
TEMP LOAD
height defuzzification method as seen in equation
NIGHT GOOD COLD R_ON
(7).
NIGHT GOOD WARM R_ON
σ೙
೔సభ ఒ೔ ‫כ‬௖೔ NIGHT GOOD HOT R_OFF
‫ כݔ‬ൌ  σ೙
(7) NIGHT EXCESS COLD R_ON
೔సభ ఒ೔
NIGHT EXCESS WARM R_ON
NIGHT EXCESS HOT R_OFF
MORNING GOOD COLD R_OFF
MORNING GOOD WARM R_OFF
MORNING GOOD HOT R_OFF
MORNING EXCESS COLD R_ON
MORNING EXCESS WARM R_ON
MORNING EXCESS HOT R_OFF
AFTERNOON GOOD COLD R_OFF
AFTERNOON GOOD WARM R_OFF
Figure 8: Input variable for (temperature)
AFTERNOON GOOD HOT R_OFF
AFTERNOON EXCESS COLD R_ON
AFTERNOON EXCESS WARM R_ON
AFTERNOON EXCESS HOT R_OFF
EVENING GOOD COLD R_OFF
EVENING GOOD WARM R_OFF
EVENING GOOD HOT R_OFF
EVENING EXCESS COLD R_ON
EVENING EXCESS WARM R_ON
EVENING EXCESS HOT R_OFF
Figure 9: Input variable for (time)
Table 2: Rules for resistive load
DEVICES POWER RESISTIVE
LOAD
D_ON GOOD R_OFF
D_ON EXCESS R_ON
D_OFF GOOD R_OFF
D_OFF EXCESS R_ON

Many individual tests have been performed to

Figure 10: Input variable for (power)
verify the fuzzy rules which are fired in the system.
Based on the precision of current and temperature
sensor, we have decided to use a singleton input for
our fuzzy system to increase computational
efficiency.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Figure 11: Output variable for (water heater)
For our appliance node N2, the best condition
to heat water would be during night to take
advantage of cheaper electricity rates or if there is
excessive power flowing back to the grid anytime of
the day and when the water is cold. And turn off the
heater when the water is hot. Based on these factors
in mind, fuzzy rules have been formulated. Table 1
and Table 2 show the fuzzy rules implemented in the
system for water heater node and resistive dump
node.
A simulation of fuzzy control surfaces has
been realized in MATLAB environment. The fuzzy
control surfaces shown in Figure 12 - Figure 14
illustrate smooth transitions of outputs in the relay.
Since, the antecedents in the fuzzy controller are
obtained directly by the sensors and hard-coded
values for the input time in minutes; the system
doesn’t suffer from any external noise or uncertainty.
Thus no uncertainty has been introduced in the
experimental results.

Figure 12: Control surface for time and temperature input
membership
VI.
Figure 13: Control surface for power and temperature input
membership
Figure 14: Control surface for power and time input
membership
The practical experiments were done using a
10kW wind turbine and the above described nodes
which has fuzzy logic controller running in the
power node.
Table 3 shows the results obtained from
different conditions. The first three conditions in the
table show the water being heated in the morning and
the relay turns off when the water is completely hot.
Condition 4 shows excessive power being dumped in
the evening with the water being warm, the relay is
turned on. Condition 5 shows when the water is
completely heated in the evening and the relay is off.
Condition 7 and 8 shows the output when the rules
are in a transient condition.
Table 3: Results obtained by the Fuzzy Inference System
Sl.no Time in Power Water Relay
minutes temperature output
1 181 19.6 22.1 80
2 210 33.2 22.5 80
3 358 33.1 68.3 26.67
4 1208 33.5 50.2 80
5 1305 43.2 78.9 20
6 798 28.7 65.4 35.32
7 392 25.6 62.6 46.67
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this paper, we have presented a type-I
fuzzy logic system which can monitor energy,
control and distribute the excess energy to devices in
the facility and finally use a resistive load bank in the
case where power has to be dumped. The control
surfaces show a smooth transition which results in a
better control system when compared to IF-ELSE
style control systems.
Implementing a fuzzy logic controller is a
completely different approach for a control problem.
Bivalent logic such as IF-ELSE style control cannot
handle imprecision. For this reason it is not suited for
a control system with imprecision and vagueness.
Fuzzy control system is adaptive in nature and has
the ability to realize control for each input state.
Fuzzy logic focuses on the problem itself rather than
working on a complex mathematical model to
control the system.
Modifying the current control system can be
achieved by changing the values in the fuzzy
membership function or the fuzzy rules. Adding
more appliance nodes in the system will be much
easier when using fuzzy logic as no complex
mathematical model is involved. A domain expert
can easily design additional fuzzy membership
functions which constitute of simple linguistic
variables for the fuzzy antecedents and consequents,
then design rules for the new appliance added in the
system.
In terms of hardware, the accuracy and
sampling speed for voltage and current are limited by
the analog read function. Implementing an external
analog to digital converter which can obtain more
accurate inputs would be more beneficial.
In our future work, we will implement a
secondary fuzzy logic controller in each of the
appliance nodes which will take charge in case of an
inoperable network or failure of obtaining any fuzzy
input from the system. We are also considering
implementing a fuzzy logic based intelligent wireless
sensor network to optimise the power consumption
in the network [19].
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