4,076 research outputs found
Demand Shaping to Achieve Steady Electricity Consumption with Load Balancing in a Smart Grid
The purpose of this paper is to study conflicting objectives between the grid
operator and consumers in a future smart grid. Traditionally, customers in
electricity grids have different demand profiles and it is generally assumed
that the grid has to match and satisfy the demand profiles of all its users.
However, for system operators and electricity producers, it is usually most
desirable, convenient and cost effective to keep electricity production at a
constant rate. The temporal variability of electricity demand forces power
generators, especially load following and peaking plants to constantly
manipulate electricity production away from a steady operating point
Control and Communication Protocols that Enable Smart Building Microgrids
Recent communication, computation, and technology advances coupled with
climate change concerns have transformed the near future prospects of
electricity transmission, and, more notably, distribution systems and
microgrids. Distributed resources (wind and solar generation, combined heat and
power) and flexible loads (storage, computing, EV, HVAC) make it imperative to
increase investment and improve operational efficiency. Commercial and
residential buildings, being the largest energy consumption group among
flexible loads in microgrids, have the largest potential and flexibility to
provide demand side management. Recent advances in networked systems and the
anticipated breakthroughs of the Internet of Things will enable significant
advances in demand response capabilities of intelligent load network of
power-consuming devices such as HVAC components, water heaters, and buildings.
In this paper, a new operating framework, called packetized direct load control
(PDLC), is proposed based on the notion of quantization of energy demand. This
control protocol is built on top of two communication protocols that carry
either complete or binary information regarding the operation status of the
appliances. We discuss the optimal demand side operation for both protocols and
analytically derive the performance differences between the protocols. We
propose an optimal reservation strategy for traditional and renewable energy
for the PDLC in both day-ahead and real time markets. In the end we discuss the
fundamental trade-off between achieving controllability and endowing
flexibility
Customer Engagement Plans for Peak Load Reduction in Residential Smart Grids
In this paper, we propose and study the effectiveness of customer engagement
plans that clearly specify the amount of intervention in customer's load
settings by the grid operator for peak load reduction. We suggest two different
types of plans, including Constant Deviation Plans (CDPs) and Proportional
Deviation Plans (PDPs). We define an adjustable reference temperature for both
CDPs and PDPs to limit the output temperature of each thermostat load and to
control the number of devices eligible to participate in Demand Response
Program (DRP). We model thermostat loads as power throttling devices and design
algorithms to evaluate the impact of power throttling states and plan
parameters on peak load reduction. Based on the simulation results, we
recommend PDPs to the customers of a residential community with variable
thermostat set point preferences, while CDPs are suitable for customers with
similar thermostat set point preferences. If thermostat loads have multiple
power throttling states, customer engagement plans with less temperature
deviations from thermostat set points are recommended. Contrary to classical
ON/OFF control, higher temperature deviations are required to achieve similar
amount of peak load reduction. Several other interesting tradeoffs and useful
guidelines for designing mutually beneficial incentives for both the grid
operator and customers can also be identified
Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: synthesis report
‘Smart grid’ is a catch-all term for the smart options that could transform the ways society produces, delivers and consumes energy, and potentially the way we conceive of these services. Delivering energy more intelligently will be fundamental to decarbonising the UK electricity system at least possible cost, while maintaining security and reliability of supply.
Smarter energy delivery is expected to allow the integration of more low carbon technologies and to be much more cost effective than traditional methods, as well as contributing to economic growth by opening up new business and innovation opportunities. Innovating new options for energy system management could lead to cost savings of up to £10bn, even if low carbon technologies do not emerge. This saving will be much higher if UK renewable energy targets are achieved.
Building on extensive expert feedback and input, this report describes four smart grid scenarios which consider how the UK’s electricity system might develop to 2050. The scenarios outline how political decisions, as well as those made in regulation, finance, technology, consumer and social behaviour, market design or response, might affect the decisions of other actors and limit or allow the availability of future options. The project aims to explore the degree of uncertainty around the current direction of the electricity system and the complex interactions of a whole host of factors that may lead to any one of a wide range of outcomes. Our addition to this discussion will help decision makers to understand the implications of possible actions and better plan for the future, whilst recognising that it may take any one of a number of forms
Energy Management for a User Interactive Smart Community: A Stackelberg Game Approach
This paper studies a three party energy management problem in a user
interactive smart community that consists of a large number of residential
units (RUs) with distributed energy resources (DERs), a shared facility
controller (SFC) and the main grid. A Stackelberg game is formulated to benefit
both the SFC and RUs, in terms of incurred cost and achieved utility
respectively, from their energy trading with each other and the grid. The
properties of the game are studied and it is shown that there exists a unique
Stackelberg equilibrium (SE). A novel algorithm is proposed that can be
implemented in a distributed fashion by both RUs and the SFC to reach the SE.
The convergence of the algorithm is also proven, and shown to always reach the
SE. Numerical examples are used to assess the properties and effectiveness of
the proposed scheme.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Use of Hooke's law for stabilizing future smart grid - the electric spring concept
Hooke's law for mechanical springs was developed in the 17th century. Recently, new power electronics devices named electric springs have been developed for providing voltage regulation for distribution networks and allowing the load demand to follow power generation. This paper summarizes recent R&D on electric springs and their potential functions for future smart grid. Electric springs can be associated with electric appliances, forming a new generation of smart loads which can adapt according to the availability of power from renewable energy sources. When massively distributed over the power grid, they could provide highly distributed and robust support for the smart grid, similar to the arrays of mechanical springs supporting a mattress. Thus, the 3-century old Hooke's law in fact provides a powerful solution to solving some key Smart Grid problems in the 21st Century. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio
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