Smart Homes: Making Life Easier and More Affordable
Smart home technology can transform domestic environments – improving comfort, security, and energy efficiency.
By connecting living spaces through the Internet of Things, technologies such as lighting, heating, cooling and consumer electronics become more controllable and usable, enhancing many aspects of our daily lives.
No more lights blazing or radiators toiling when there’s no one home. No more missed deliveries or fears about unauthorized entry when you are away.
Yet connected technology isn’t just about convenience and peace of mind. Through integration with other technologies such as heat pumps and solar, it can also significantly optimise energy use at a time when utility bills are high.
How do we make the smart home vision a reality?
The underlying technology is the Home Energy Management System (HEMS), which coordinates the operation of all connected devices to optimise energy usage and enhance efficiency.
HEMS is the heartbeat of the smart home, monitoring energy consumption in real time and automating device operations to ensure a suitable response.
That’s a complex and multifaceted task. For starters, smart homes have diverse energy sources, from grid to solar and battery storage, balanced against a number of different loads. These all need careful monitoring in real time.
The complexity doesn’t end there. Added to that are considerations around device interoperability, predictive energy optimisation, real-time decision-making, cybersecurity and data privacy, and grid interaction and response.
No wonder HEMS requires the seamless integration of multiple hardware and software solutions - from smart meters, IoT sensors and communication protocols to AI/ML models, edge computing, HMI interfaces and beyond.
Delivering on the promise of smart homes involves complex challenges at the product level, too. Devices must process information and make decisions quickly, with microcontrollers and processors driving responsiveness.
Efficient power management makes sure devices can operate for extended periods, with power management ICs maximising performance over time.
High-precision sensors monitor environmental conditions and user interactions, accurately automating adjustments for energy savings. And reliable connectivity means smart home devices can communicate seamlessly across wireless networks, with safety and privacy built in.
For example, a smart lighting system might contain a multitude of hardware and software solutions involving sensors, wireless protocols, power management, real-time control and security to enable it to work reliably and effectively. These could include:
- Sensors such as passive infrared, ultrasonic and mmWave radar for motion, movement and presence detection
- Microcontroller / processing unit for system control and decision-making
- Wireless communication modules for smart home integration covering commonly used protocols such as Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy and Matter
- Power management components for energy efficiency and stable operation
- LED driver and lighting controls for dimming and switching
- Security and firmware protection for cybersecurity and secure updates
- User interface and control for manual override and smart controls
Often it is engineers who use their ingenuity to bring smart home technology to life. Bringing together these elements requires in-depth knowledge of multiple products and components, and a full understanding of systems integration. That’s where Avnet Silica becomes your partner of choice. With many years of experience in energy management in smart home environments, we can help turn your vision into reality.
The technologies enabling the Smart Home revolution
Matter Overview
Learn more about the fundamentals of Matter, how it works, its fortified security measures, how it will revolutionise smart home solutions and learn about Avnet Silica and its partners Matter solutions.
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Wirepas Overview
Learn more about the fundamentals of Wirepas, Wirepas mesh networks, the need for Wirepas amongst other connectivity standards, use-cases and Avnet Silica's leading partner supplier solutions.
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Overview
Smart Home & Smart Building Overview
Whether you’re developing a smart-home appliance or a system to control all of the functions in a commercial building, you need a partner who understands the associated standards, security aspects and data models. We helped create these standards.
Energy management is taking a central role in our increasingly connected world. It represents a fundamental shift in how we produce, consume, and think about energy, delivering benefits for all.
ENERGY MANAGEMENTWorking on a Smart Home project?
Our experts bring insights that extend beyond the datasheet, availability and price. The combined experience contained within our network covers thousands of projects across different customers, markets, regions and technologies. We will pull together the right team from our collective expertise to focus on your application, providing valuable ideas and recommendations to improve your product and accelerate its journey from the initial concept out into the world.
