The growing concern over enhancing the energy consumption efficiency within residential and commercial buildings has led to the recent research efforts in the development of intelligent power management systems. Achieving the targeted environmental and economic objectives requires an automated and intelligent infrastructure capable of monitoring the energy usage by individual appliances within a building.
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have received an increased attention due to their promising approach in forming an intelligent power management system. We are currently developing WSNs consisting of low-powered, non-invasive and cost-effective intelligent sensor nodes that are capable of gathering, analyzing, and transmitting the sensory information to a central hub for post-processing purposes. The power required for the sensor nodes’ operation is harvested from the ambient energy in the environment eliminates the need for batteries and therefore prolongs the life and durability of sensor nodes.