Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water Heaters
Breakthroughs in smart grid technology make it possible to deliver electricity in controlled and intelligent ways to improve energy efficiency between the user and the utility. Demand-side management strategies can reduce overall energy usage and shift consumption to reduce peak loads. Electric wate...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/4/1521 |
| _version_ | 1797480653039599616 |
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| author | Michael J. Ritchie Jacobus A. A. Engelbrecht Marthinus J. Booysen |
| author_facet | Michael J. Ritchie Jacobus A. A. Engelbrecht Marthinus J. Booysen |
| author_sort | Michael J. Ritchie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Breakthroughs in smart grid technology make it possible to deliver electricity in controlled and intelligent ways to improve energy efficiency between the user and the utility. Demand-side management strategies can reduce overall energy usage and shift consumption to reduce peak loads. Electric water heaters account for 40% of residential energy consumption. Since they are thermal storage devices, advanced control strategies can improve their efficiency. However, existing methods disregard the connection between the user and the grid. We propose a centrally adapted control model that allows for coordinated scheduling to adapt the optimal control schedule of each EWH, spreading the load into off-peak periods to ensure that the grid’s generation capacity is not exceeded. We consider two strategies for the delivery of hot water: temperature matching, and energy matching with <i>Legionella</i> sterilisation, and compare them to a baseline strategy where the thermostat is always switched on. Simulation results for a grid of 77 EWHs showed that an unconstrained peak load of 1.05 kW/EWH can be reduced as low as 0.4 kW/EWH and achieve a median energy saving per EWH of 0.38 kWh/day for the temperature matching strategy and 0.64 kWh/day for the energy matching strategy, without reducing the user’s comfort. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:03:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-04280f980cca4e2596ebee4395a3639f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:03:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-04280f980cca4e2596ebee4395a3639f2023-11-23T19:45:30ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-02-01154152110.3390/en15041521Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water HeatersMichael J. Ritchie0Jacobus A. A. Engelbrecht1Marthinus J. Booysen2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South AfricaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South AfricaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South AfricaBreakthroughs in smart grid technology make it possible to deliver electricity in controlled and intelligent ways to improve energy efficiency between the user and the utility. Demand-side management strategies can reduce overall energy usage and shift consumption to reduce peak loads. Electric water heaters account for 40% of residential energy consumption. Since they are thermal storage devices, advanced control strategies can improve their efficiency. However, existing methods disregard the connection between the user and the grid. We propose a centrally adapted control model that allows for coordinated scheduling to adapt the optimal control schedule of each EWH, spreading the load into off-peak periods to ensure that the grid’s generation capacity is not exceeded. We consider two strategies for the delivery of hot water: temperature matching, and energy matching with <i>Legionella</i> sterilisation, and compare them to a baseline strategy where the thermostat is always switched on. Simulation results for a grid of 77 EWHs showed that an unconstrained peak load of 1.05 kW/EWH can be reduced as low as 0.4 kW/EWH and achieve a median energy saving per EWH of 0.38 kWh/day for the temperature matching strategy and 0.64 kWh/day for the energy matching strategy, without reducing the user’s comfort.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/4/1521electric water heatersdemand-side managementpeak demand reductionsmart grid |
| spellingShingle | Michael J. Ritchie Jacobus A. A. Engelbrecht Marthinus J. Booysen Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water Heaters Energies electric water heaters demand-side management peak demand reduction smart grid |
| title | Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water Heaters |
| title_full | Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water Heaters |
| title_fullStr | Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water Heaters |
| title_full_unstemmed | Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water Heaters |
| title_short | Centrally Adapted Optimal Control of Multiple Electric Water Heaters |
| title_sort | centrally adapted optimal control of multiple electric water heaters |
| topic | electric water heaters demand-side management peak demand reduction smart grid |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/4/1521 |
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