Imagine a house with rooftop solar panels, a battery, an electric vehicle and several connected appliances.
Each component works independently. The interesting software problem is making them work together.
A home-energy management system must continually compare production, consumption, battery capacity and electricity demand. Based on that information, it can decide whether to use solar power immediately, store it or draw electricity from the grid.
A basic control sequence could look like this:
Measure current solar production.
Calculate household demand.
Use available solar energy first.
Store the remaining electricity in the battery.
Draw from the grid only when local energy is insufficient.
The real system would also consider weather forecasts, electricity prices, battery health and the time when the electric vehicle must be ready.
Automation should remain understandable. Residents need to know why the battery is charging, how much backup power remains and when the system is exchanging electricity with the grid.
The hardware turns a house into a small power station. The software decides how intelligently that power station operates.
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