Development of autonomous schedules of controllable loads for cost reduction and PV accommodation in residential distribution networks

Abstract

Load management has been widely used to manage load peaks and to reduce electricity cost for consumers. This paper investigates the operation schedules for three types of intelligent appliances (or residential controllable loads) without receiving external signals for cost saving and for assisting the management of possible photovoltaic generation systems installed in the same distribution network. The three types of controllable loads studied in the paper are electric water heaters, refrigerators deicing loads, and dishwashers, respectively. The autonomous schedules are developed for three different seasons (i.e., winter, summer and shoulder) and for weekdays and weekends based on statistical analysis of historical price and solar irradiance data for specific locations.