Managing Flexible Loads in Residential Areas

Load flexibility in households is a promising option for efficient and reliable operation of future power systems. Due to the distributed nature of residential demand, coordination mechanisms have to cope with a large number of flexible units. This thesis provides a model for demand response analysis and proposes different mechanisms for coordinating flexible loads. In particular, the potential to match intermittent output of renewable generators with electricity demand is investigated

Demand side management- A simulation of household behavior under variable prices

Within the next years, consumer households will be increasingly equipped with smart metering and intelligent appliances. These technologies are the basis for households to better monitor electricity consumption and to actively control loads in private homes. Demand side management (DSM) can be adopted to private households. We present a simulation model that generates household load profiles under flat tariffs and simulates changes in these profiles when households are equipped with smart appliances and face time-based electricity prices.We investigate the impact of smart appliances and variable prices on electricity bills of a household. We show that for households the savings from equipping them with smart appliances are moderate compared to the required investment. This finding is quite robust with respect to variation of tariff price spreads and to different types of appliance utilization patterns.Finally, our results indicate that electric utilities may face new demand peaks when day-ahead hourly prices are applied. However, a considerable amount of residential load is available for shifting, which is interesting for the utilities to balance demand and supply