Energy flexibility and resilience analysis of demand-side energy efficiency measures within existing residential houses during cold wave event

Abstract

Using the behind-meter data, this study applied a comparison and optimization-based framework to evaluate the energy flexibility and resilience of distributed energy resources within existing houses during cold wave event. Comparative analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of high envelope insulation level in improving energy resilience, identifies impacts of distributed energy resources on variations of household electricity demand. Specifically, a 14.6% reduction in the median value of the normalized load of building group with low U-values, implementations of cogeneration system effectively suppressed variations of electricity load. Dynamic energy performances of on-site generators are evaluated based on high resolution data, energy flexibility of domestic hot water and thermostatically controlled loads were investigated through built demand response model. Results reveal that electrifying hot water demand offers additional power flexibility, the integration of fuel cell cogeneration system has proven to be an efficient energy resource, enabling on-site generation of both electricity and hot water, substantially reducing grid import. The extreme cold event resulted in significant spikes in space heating power consumption. The optimization results demonstrate that reducing the indoor setpoint temperature effectively decreases daily power consumption by approximately 5.0% per degree Celsius. These findings help acquire better understanding of interconnections between energy efficiency and resilience of residential energy-efficient measures.