Cost-efficient residential load scheduling in smart grid

To improve the economical efficiency of the residential electricity consumption, in this paper we introduce a novel concept of cost efficiency-based residential load scheduling framework. The cost efficiency is defined as a ratio of consumer´s total consumption benefit and its total electricity payment during a certain period. We develop a cost-efficient load scheduling algorithm for the demand-side´s day-ahead bidding process based on a fractional programming approach. We found that the proposed scheduling algorithm can effectively reflect and affect user´s consumption behavior and achieve the optimal cost-efficient energy consumption profile. For practical consideration, we also take into account the service fee in calculating the cost-efficiency in practical smart grid applications, and analyse its effect on the cost efficiency. Simulation results confirm that the proposed algorithm significantly improves consumer´s cost efficiency compared with the conventional payoff maximization algorithm. It also shows that a higher service fee will considerably decrease the cost efficiency.