DC Smart Home Research Aims to Make Better Use of Solar Power

An electrified home needs more than solar panels and a battery. It needs a way to decide where the electricity goes, which appliances take priority and how to use the available power efficiently.

That is the problem Amir Abbas Aghajani is studying at Concordia University. In an interview with Energi Media, he described a direct current smart home research project that brings together solar generation, battery storage, electric vehicles and automated heating controls.

The objective is to coordinate those components so the home can manage its electricity supply and consumption. Aghajani’s project also proposes a power converter designed to reduce losses when electricity moves between the solar panels and household loads.

Managing Electricity When Solar Output Falls

Solar panels supply electricity during daylight hours. Batteries can supply stored energy after sunset, while an electric vehicle could provide additional storage in the proposed system.

The vehicle therefore has two roles: consuming electricity when charging and potentially supplying it when the home needs power. Aghajani described that second role as part of the project’s approach to integrating energy sources.

The controls distinguish between household electricity uses determined by the homeowner and heating loads that the system can adjust. When electricity is scarce, the project’s energy management approach includes prioritizing loads and shedding some demand.

“When there is lack of electricity, the system will decide which load to be powered by the PV,” Aghajani said, referring to photovoltaic solar panels.

The heating component uses resistance heaters controlled by microcontrollers and relays. The system compares the indoor temperature with the homeowner’s preferred setting and adjusts heating accordingly.

Asked why the project uses resistance heating rather than a heat pump, Aghajani said the resistive loads are easier to control. His explanation concerned the research design; he did not present a comparison demonstrating lower heating energy use.

Reducing Power Conversion Losses

Another part of the research is a “partial power processing” converter. Aghajani explained that some power passes through the converter’s switching components while another portion reaches the loads directly. He argues that processing only part of the power can improve conversion efficiency.

The controller also uses maximum power point tracking to extract available power from the solar panels as operating conditions change. The intended benefit is better use of solar electricity across different weather and seasonal conditions.

The direct current design reflects the use of solar panels and batteries in the case study. Aghajani said adding an inverter could allow the system to supply alternating current appliances and export surplus electricity to the grid, but that extension has not yet been considered in the project.

The interview did not provide measured efficiency gains, equipment costs or household bill savings. It also did not establish that solar panels and storage would meet all electricity needs throughout a Canadian winter.

For homeowners, the research raises a practical question: how much value can better coordination deliver as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles become parts of the same household energy system? Aghajani’s project explores how those pieces could work together.

Further Reading and Viewing

For more Energi Media coverage of household electrification, solar power, storage and the systems that connect them:

Website Stories

• Electrifying Canada’s Economy Requires Provincial Coordination and Utility Reform — Moz Salim on utilities becoming energy advisors and helping households manage EVs, batteries and heat pumps.
• Digital Tools Will Help Keep Distributed Solar PV Growing Strongly — IEA analysis republished by Energi Media on smart charging, battery storage, smart inverters and managing distributed solar.
• California Residents Are Increasingly Pairing Battery Storage With Solar Installations — EIA reporting republished by Energi Media on the adoption of household solar and storage.

YouTube Interviews

• Why Balcony Solar Could Help Electrify Canada — Joe Vipond discusses plug-in solar, battery storage and the barriers to giving renters and apartment dwellers access to solar power.
• Solar Boom Goes Off-Grid, Reshapes Global Energy — A discussion of solar growth on rooftops, in factories and on apartment balconies, beyond conventional utility-scale generation.

Substack Essays

• Canada’s Utilities Have a New Job to Learn — Why electrification changes the utility’s relationship with customers and makes total household energy spending the relevant affordability measure.
• The Huge Hole in Carney’s Canadian Electricity Strategy — Why expanding electricity supply also requires a strategy to deploy and manufacture the equipment that electrifies homes, transportation and industry.