A smart city is a city that uses various technologies to provide services and solve problems within a city. To keep these technologies running smoothly, a continuous power supply is needed to fulfill the energy demands of the city. Combining the smart city with an electric grid or so-called smart grid system will allow easy integration of renewable energy sources and create a balance between the demand and supply of power generation.

PROBLEM: Residential complexes or independent homes use electricity on a daily basis for performing their daily tasks. The electricity they receive at home is through a one-way power transmission technique in which power supplied to homes is from city substations. But it so happens that during few months like summer or winter, air conditioners and heaters are used respectively and thus increasing the cost of the electricity bill.

INNOVATION: To reduce the overall electricity bill, we can develop not a two but a three-way power generation network integrating smart meters, renewable energy sources, and an ECD (Energy conservancy device). The three-way power generation will use a solar panel-based wind turbine in which the windmill has blades made up of solar panels and thus create a dual power supply, the wind energy, and solar panels, and thus reduce the electricity usage from the substations.

DESIGN: The ECD is a smart device that basically is placed at every home that can track the amount of electricity usage of the home. The device can help the resident know how much electricity bill can be saved and also the amount of light pollution being contributed per home. For example, the electricity bill of a house is Rs. 4500 ($60), and the person wants to reduce the bill to $40, he/she can set the amount on the ECD and the device will create an average daily consumption of electricity units. If the consumption goes over the daily limit, the ECD device turns off the current supply at home and has to be manually turned on by the resident. The smart meter will be placed at both the consumer and supplier end. The maximum current will be drawn from the renewable source and supported by the substation. If there is excess current, then it is sent back to the substation.

MARKETABILITY: Dual-powered solar panel-based wind turbines will be installed in cities in the near future making the best use of renewable energy. The overall idea of the ECD and three-way power generation is to have homes and people living inside quantify the amount of electricity they use daily and basically utilize electricity from renewable sources and thus reduce their electricity bill monthly and also reduce and curb the volume of light pollution caused at night. It is a one-time investment to install ECD devices at every home in a residential complex and can save residents a lot of money. Also, the Dual powered solar panel-based wind turbines will save more space and hence can increase the number of these sources in a given area.