Quantifying the demand response potential of heat pumps and electric vehicles considering communication protocol constraints

To integrate volatile renewable electricity generation into the grid, electricity consumption needs to be adapted to the generation by so-called demand response. In the residential scope, demand response can be realized with heat pumps and electric vehicles. Recent research has already quantified the flexibility potential of heat pumps and electric vehicles. However, none of this research considers the communication protocols used in practical applications. The novelty of the current work is that it analyzes the influence of different real-world communication protocols on the flexibility potential of heat pumps and electric vehicles. Therefore, models for heat pumps and electric vehicles with different communication protocols are developed and verified with measurement data. To determine the flexibility potential, 200 randomized instances of these models are simulated over one year for each communication protocol. The results show that the downward flexibility potential of heat pumps is independent of the communication protocol. The upward flexibility potential of heat pumps is highest and most stable with direct load control over Modbus. Unlike downward flexibility, upward flexibility increases the daily energy consumption of heat pumps. For electric vehicles, ISO 15118-20 shows the highest overall flexibility.