Futuristic Sustainable Energy Management in Smart Environments: A Review of Peak Load Shaving and Demand Response Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) notion pioneered the implementation of various smart environments. Smart environments intelligibly accommodate inhabitants' requirements. With rapid resource shrinkage, energy management has recently become an essential concern for all smart environments. Energy management aims to assure ecosystem sustainability, while benefiting both consumers and utility providers. Although energy management emerged as a solution that addresses challenges that arise with increasing energy demand and resource deterioration, further evolution and expansion are hindered due to technological, economical, and social barriers. This review aggregates energy management approaches in smart environments and extensively reviews a variety of recent literature reports on peak load shaving and demand response. Significant benefits and challenges of these energy management strategies were identified through the literature survey. Finally, a critical discussion summarizing trends and opportunities is given as a thread for future research.