Energy Saving Effects of Wireless Sensor Networks A Case Study of Convenience Stores in Taiwan.docVIP

Sensors 2011, 11, 2013-2034; doi:10.3390/s110202013 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Energy Saving Effects of Wireless Sensor Networks: A Case Study of Convenience Stores in Taiwan Chih-Sheng Chen 1,* and Da-Sheng Lee 2 1 Graduate Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, No.1, Sec. 3, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Taipei City, 106, Taiwan 2 Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, No.1, Sec. 3, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Taipei City, 106, Taiwan; E-Mail: f11167@.tw * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: s2458011@.tw; Tel.: +886-2ext. 3510; Fax: +886-2-2731-4919. Received: 15 December 2010; in revised form: 4 January 2011 / Accepted: 8 February 2011 / Published: 10 February 2011 Abstract: Wireless sensor network (WSN) technology has been successfully applied to energy saving applications in many places, and plays a significant role in achieving power conservation. However, previous studies do not discuss WSN costs and cost-recovery. The application of WSNs is currently limited to research and laboratory experiments, and not mass industrial production, largely because business owners are unfamiliar with the possible favorable return and cost-recovery on WSN investments. Therefore, this paper focuses on the cost-recovery of WSNs and how to reduce air conditioning energy consumption in convenience stores. The WSN used in this study provides feedback to the gateway and adopts the predicted mean vote (PMV) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to allow customers to shop in a comfortable yet energy-saving environment. Four convenience stores in Taipei have used the proposed WSN since 2008. In 2008, the experiment was initially designed to optimize air-conditioning for energy saving, but additions to the s