  In this work, we develop an optimal water heater control method for a smart
home environment. It is important to notice that unlike battery storage
systems, energy flow in a water heater control system is not reversible. In
order to increase the eigen consumption of photovoltaic energy, i.e. direct
consumption of generated energy in the house, we propose to employ a dynamic
programming approach to optimize heating schedules using forecasted consumption
and weather data. Simulation results demonstrate the capability of our proposed
system in reducing the overall energy cost while maintaining residents'
comfort.
