Improved Grid Dynamics Using a Localized Demand Control System

With the cost of computation and information distribution continually decreasing, as well as accelerating deployment of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles (EVs), there is an opportunity to create an efficient electricity distribution and electrified transportation network by combining these technologies. This paper describes a technology whereby renewable energy can be seamlessly integrated into a local network keeping the network load constant, but using all the fluctuating energy locally when it is available. This technique is a type of demand side management (DSM)whereby consumption of deferrable electric loads is adjusted in order to provide maximum utility to the electricity network without impacting the end user. Many household loads are already suitable for DSM, and with an increased uptake of EVs, a sizable amount of demand could be controlled in this manner, which could in turn significantly improve the viability of fluctuating energy sources. In this paper a new DSM scheme, termed localized demand control (LDC), has been designed, and its operation and performance is compared with the classical DSM method of dynamic demand control. It is shown that the system dynamics of both controllers are similar, but LDC is intrinsically more stable over a wider range of applications.