# A Review of Systems and Technologies for Smart Homes and Smart Grids
## 7 Conclusions  
In this article, the concept of the smart home and the advent of the smart grid have been presented. Smart technologies and products available on the market that allow an intelligent energy management of homes have been reviewed. The technologies summarized in Table 1, which include both optimization-based and communication-based ones, have been evaluated. It was also discussed a general system's architecture and the barriers, challenges, benefits and future trends that future smart homes and grids will face. Efficient usage of electricity results in lowering peak load, reducing energy bills, and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. In order to realize an effective integration of smart homes into a smart grid, the migration towards bi-directional communication networks has to be fostered, and well-tuned home automation system has to be designed.  
It is expected that the work described in this article might channel efforts towards the choice of a more efficient, user-friendly system for smart home [21].  
The current trend indicates that in the near future, more and more smart homes will be built and the technology inside them will grow very fast in order to create a more responsive and active environment able to respond to the users' needs. In this regard, companies that produce software and home appliances are creating new applications and technologies specifically targeted at smart homes. The effect will be threefold: (i) in the future, homes will not be the same as today; (ii) existing infrastructures, such as smart grids, will be continually improved, and (iii) people's everyday lives will inevitably be affected by changes in available technologies and systems.  
Concerning the role and motivation of the potential users of the energy management technologies that are being developed, much still remains to be explored before these systems will satisfy users' needs and help them fulfill their full potential as active and aware users. However, providing end-users with systems that are tailored to fit end-user profiles is a good start for providing real-time feedback. The option to measure performance against relevant benchmarks and make comparisons with other households' performances should preferably be included in such systems. The challenge to build in a well-functioning flexibility into the systems' presentation of data is likely to remain a continuous challenge for these systems as the users will gradually get used to any means of visualization of data and want it to be changed regularly. The need to provide homes with a systemic context calls for more cooperation with the smart grid' managers at a systemic level and more end-user studies. Finally, the potential use of gamification elements should be further explored to keep up with the latest computer game industry into smart technologies.  
This work was partially funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement 608806, acronym CoSSMic, and by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement 680529, acronym QUANTUM. The sole responsibility for the content of this article lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission (EC). The EC is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information this article contains. Finally, the authors would like to thank [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] for their support during the collection of data.  
The work presented in this article is the result of a collaboration of all authors. [PERSON] and [PERSON] analyzed the literature on the subject. [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] contributed in writing the manuscript and editing the document. [PERSON] critically reviewed the article. [PERSON] and [PERSON] actively contributed to finalize the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion and conclusion of this research.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.