Analysing household consumers' demand response through behavioural load profiles

Abstract

The study is devoted to the involvement of residential consumers in demand-side management in the power system. The results of a pilot program involving aggregators of residential consumers in demand response in the UK are analysed, and barriers to its implementation are identified. It is proposed to use a behavioural load profile generator to simulate household participation in demand response. Two typical load reduction strategies for a two-adult household are simulated, and their efficiency is compared. It is estimated that shifting the use of high wattage appliances can reduce the household load by half without discomfort, whereas a mistaken strategy of limiting lighting usage gives three to seven times smaller effect. Thus, it is shown that behavioural load modelling can be used to solve the problem of determining effective strategies for the participation of residential consumers in demand response.