Energy Management describes the control of energy production, storage and consumption in complex and often heterogeneous systems in order to increase the overall efficiency. It is a key component to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

A recent challenge is an integrated Energy Management for buildings and e-mobility (electric or fuel-cell vehicles), where cars can be used to balance energy flows. The main goal is finding the balance between the drivers’ flexibility and the building inhabitants’ comfort demands.

At HRI-EU, simulation models of cars and buildings are employed, so called Digital Twins. This approach allows us to develop and test robust energy management systems in different scenarios under a variety of conditions.

A wide range of control architectures, from simple rule-based approaches to model predictive control (MPC) are explored. Using adversarial and many objective optimization algorithms, the robustness and performance of controller solutions are investigated and increased.

Studied scenarios and applications range from smart home charging solutions to public charging station operations and small smart company premises.