This paper focuses on an important issue regarding the forecasting of the hourly energy consumption in the case of large electricity non-household consumers that account for a significant percentage of the whole electricity consumption, the accurate forecasting being a key-factor in achieving energy efficiency. In order to devise the forecasting solutions, we have developed a series of dynamic neural networks for solving nonlinear time series problems, based on the non-linear autoregressive (NAR) and non-linear autoregressive with exogenous inputs (NARX) models. In both cases, we have used large datasets comprising the hourly energy consumption recorded by the smart metering device from a commercial center type of consumer (a large hypermarket), while in the NARX case we have used supplementary temperature and time stamps datasets. Of particular interest was to research and obtain an optimal mix between the training algorithm (Levenberg-Marquardt, Bayesian Regularization, Scaled Conjugate Gradient), the hidden number of neurons and the delay parameter. Using performance metrics and forecasting scenarios, we have obtained results that highlight an increased accuracy of the developed forecasting solutions. The developed hourly consumption forecasting solutions can bring significant benefits to both the consumers and electricity suppliers.

Nowadays, governments and companies are looking for solutions to increase the collection level of various waste types by using new technologies and devices such as smart sensors, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud platforms etc. In order to fulfil this need, this paper presents solutions provided by a research project involving the design, development and implementation of fully automated waste collection systems with an increased usage degree, productivity and storage capacity. The paper will focus on the main results of this research project in turning the automated waste collection system into a smart system so that it can be easily integrated in any smart city infrastructure. For this purpose, the Internet of Things platform for the automated waste collection system provided by the project will allow real time monitoring and communication with central systems. Details about each module are sent to the central systems: various modules' statuses (working, blocked, needs repairs or maintenance etc.); equipment status; storage systems status (allowing full reports for all waste types); the amount of waste for each module, allowing optimal discharging; route optimization for waste discharging etc. To do that, we describe here an IoT cloud solution integrating device connection, data processing, analytics and management.

In this paper, we report a study having as a main goal the obtaining of a method that can provide an accurate forecast of the residential electricity consumption, refining it up to the appliance level, using sensor recorded data, for residential smart homes complexes that use renewable energy sources as a part of their consumed electricity, overcoming the limitations of not having available historical meteorological data and the unwillingness of the contractor to acquire such data periodically in the future accurate short-term forecasts from a specialized institute due to the implied costs. In this purpose, we have developed a mixed artificial neural network (ANN) approach using both non-linear autoregressive with exogenous input (NARX) ANNs and function fitting neural networks (FITNETs). We have used a large dataset containing detailed electricity consumption data recorded by sensors, monitoring a series of individual appliances, while in the NARX case we have also used timestamps datasets as exogenous variables. After having developed and validated the forecasting method, we have compiled it in view of incorporating it into a cloud solution, being delivered to the contractor that can provide it as a service for a monthly fee to both the operators and residential consumers.

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Lately, many scientists have focused their research on subjects like smart buildings, sensor devices, virtual sensing, buildings management, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence in the smart buildings sector, improving life quality within smart homes, assessing the occupancy status information, detecting human behavior with a view to assisted living, maintaining environmental health, and preserving natural resources. The main purpose of our review consists of surveying the current state of the art regarding the recent developments in integrating supervised and unsupervised machine learning models with sensor devices in the smart building sector with a view to attaining enhanced sensing, energy efficiency and optimal building management. We have devised the research methodology with a view to identifying, filtering, categorizing, and analyzing the most important and relevant scientific articles regarding the targeted topic. To this end, we have used reliable sources of scientific information, namely the Elsevier Scopus and the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science international databases, in order to assess the interest regarding the above-mentioned topic within the scientific literature. After processing the obtained papers, we finally obtained, on the basis of our devised methodology, a reliable, eloquent and representative pool of 146 papers scientific works that would be useful for developing our survey. Our approach provides a useful up-to-date overview for researchers from different fields, which can be helpful when submitting project proposals or when studying complex topics such those reviewed in this paper. Meanwhile, the current study offers scientists the possibility of identifying future research directions that have not yet been addressed in the scientific literature or improving the existing approaches based on the body of knowledge. Moreover, the conducted review creates the premises for identifying in the scientific literature the main purposes for integrating Machine Learning techniques with sensing devices in smart environments, as well as purposes that have not been investigated yet.

Accurate forecasting of the produced and consumed electricity from wind farms is an essential aspect for wind power plant operators. In this context, our research addresses small-scale wind farms situated on hilly terrain, with the main purpose of overcoming the low accuracy limitations arising from the wind deflection, caused by the quite complex hilly terrain. A specific aspect of our devised forecasting method consists of incorporating advantages of recurrent long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks, benefiting from their long-term dependencies, learning capabilities, and the advantages of feed-forward function fitting neural networks (FITNETs) that have the ability to map between a dataset of numeric inputs and a set of numeric targets. Another specific element of our approach consists of improving forecasting accuracy by means of refining the accuracy of the weather data input parameters within the same weather forecast resolution area. The developed method has power plant operators as main beneficiaries, but it can also be successfully applied in order to assess the energy potential of hilly areas with deflected wind, being useful for potential investors who want to build this type of wind farms. The method can be compiled and incorporated in the development of a wide range of customized applications targeting electricity forecasting for small wind farms situated on hilly terrain with deflected wind. The experimental results, the implementation of the developed method in a real production environment, its validation, and the comparison between our proposed method and other ones from the literature, confirm that the developed forecasting method represents an accurate, useful, and viable tool that addresses a gap in the current state of knowledge regarding the necessity for an accurate forecasting method that is able to predict with a high degree of accuracy both the produced and consumed electricity for small wind power plants situated on quite complex hilly terrain with deflected wind.

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