The Texas A&M Smart and Connected Homes Testbed (TAM-SCHT) is located on the RELLIS campus in Bryan, Texas, United States. This testbed is used by the Building Energy and HVAC&R research group at Texas A&M University for smart home technology and smart grid applications research.
Building Profiles
- To determine the locations of these two lab homes, an optimization problem was formulated and solved using an architecture modeling program, Rhinoceros, and its plug-ins: Grasshopper, Ladybug, and Honeybee. The objective was defined as to minimize the solar condition difference of these two houses, which could be quantitatively represented as the number of hours that the houses are receiving different amounts of direct sunlight.
- These identical two homes are 1,200 ft² (111 m²), have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and are equipped with removable interior walls which allow research to alter the floorplan.
- The location, tilt angle, and sizing configuration of PV panels are optimized using System Advisor Model (SAM) developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The optimization objective was to maximize the PV nominal power generation and minimize the shading loss from the surrounding environment. The PV capacity is 2 kW, the inverter is 15 kW, and the battery is 9.6 kWh for each home.
(Click on a room on the floor plan to view photos of that room)
Building Features
- A local solar panel farm with an on-site battery will allow DER (distributed energy resources) and GEB (grid-interactive efficient building) research.
- The removable walls will aid in advanced envelope material testing, and smart appliances in the house allow for demand response operation to be tested.
- This testbed provides researchers with the capability to test a wide range of building envelope (e.g., wall and windows), HVAC and hot water operation and equipment in the residential building application, and verify simulations and models.
Metering and Monitoring
- The lab home testbed is heavily instrumented for a wide range of data collection and accurate measurements. The sensors can be grouped into different areas of interest for research purposes: building envelope and environmental data, whole house electrical metering, indoor air quality measurements, and HVAC performance.
Data Flow
The data flow of data acquisition and control is illustrated as shown in the figure below. Sensors report data to LabVIEW running on a PC, which also controls the load emulators to follow the hourly profiles. The data collected and the control signal of the lab homes will also be pushed to a cloud server to be accessed remotely.
Local Weather
Experiments
1. DOE RACER Project: Demonstration of a VOLTTRON-based Platform to Enable Rapid Energy Restoration at Castañer in Puerto Rico
- PI: Slipstream, Inc. CO-PI: Texas A&M University
- Start date: July 2023
- Project Description: The project led by Slipstream, Inc., in collaboration with multiple partners including Texas A&M University, aims to enhance the energy resilience of the Castañer community in Puerto Rico by developing and implementing a VOLTTRON-based automated sensing and control system. This initiative will optimize the operation of distributed energy resources to quickly restore energy following disruptions, which is critical given the area’s vulnerability due to its fragile power infrastructure. The community-based plan involves a thorough assessment of critical assets and detailed energy planning, incorporating input from local stakeholders to prioritize emergency power needs. This project not only aims to improve immediate response capabilities but also sets the stage for a sustainable, resilient energy framework for similar underserved areas.
2. DAIKIN Heat Pump Project
- Sponsor: DAIKIN
- Start date: January 2024
- Project Description: Throughout this project, we’ve been comparing the performance of two different heat pump systems—an inverter-based heat pump and a one-stage heat pump—installed in two otherwise identical homes. This comparison aimed to quantify and evaluate how each system performs under similar living conditions. The project aims to provide a thorough comparison between an inverter-based and a one-stage heat pump system, focusing on energy efficiency, system responsiveness, and overall performance. The outcomes of this analysis could guide improvements in HVAC system choices for similar residential settings, optimizing for energy use, comfort, and cost-effectiveness.
Note: Ongoing and planning experiments related to this smart home testbed will be updated regularly.
Publications
- Firsich, Thomas, Zhiyao Yang, Fan Feng, and Zheng O’Neill. “Texas A&M Smart and Connected Homes Testbed (TAM-SCHT): An Evaluation and Demonstration Platform for Smart & Grid-interactive Technologies.” ASHRAE Transactions 128 (2022).
Contacts
- Dr. Zheng O’Neill, PhD, PE
J. Mike Walker ’66 Associate Professor
J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering
Texas A&M University
Mechanical Engineering Office Building (MEOB) 326
College Station, TX, 77843
Ph: 979-845-4931 | Email: ZOneill@tamu.edu - Mingjun Wei
Graduate Research Assistant
J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX, 77843
Email: wendell@tamu.edu - Dr. Zhiyao Yang, PhD
Senior Research Engineer I
J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX, 77843
Email: z.yang@tamu.edu - Thomas Firsich, MS
Graduated from Texas A&M University in Spring 2024
Email: thomasfirsich17@tamu.edu
Sponsors