Active smart socket design to perform local control of power demand in residential units

In this paper, the technological features of a innovative smart socket able to supporting a novel service for the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) and the Demand Response Service Provider (DR-SP) is presented. The service provides a fully decentralized voltage control for the DR-SP and it is designed to be implemented in residential units. In detail, the paper proposes a novel smart socket design to be included in an enhanced Smart Home Energy Management System (SHEMS). The socket supplies the usual services included in the traditional residential houses introducing also a new functionality, that is the voltage modulation, able to reduce the household power consumptions. The service is intended to be used by the DR-SPs when power reduction is required by the distribution grid, as the power balance service. In this paper, we introduce a basic board to offer a local voltage regulation for residential units and we provide some results in order to have a first insight of the solution.