Cost- and comfort-aware aggregated modified least slack time-based domestic power scheduling for residential communities

Emergence of smart grid notion has revolutionized energy consumption patterns and energy conservation strategies of end users by addressing the broadening gap between electricity demand and supply. Accordingly, domestic appliance scheduling came into the play, gaining phenomenal popularity owing to its consideration on sustainable energy, user behaviors, and varying electricity tariff. To maximize the desired benefits of appliance scheduling, herein, we propose a least slack time (LST)-based scheduling algorithm embedded with consumption thresholds, which minimizes cost on grid electricity, while maximizing user comfort and sustainable energy usage. A modified LST (M-LST) algorithm was experimented for a multiple-house scenario with 100 houses. Simulated results were compared with an instance without scheduling and an instance of an existing scheduling scheme based on value on lost load. Renewable energy sources aggregated to M-LST further improves performance through aggregated M-LST (M-LST(A)). Results confirmed the remarkable superiority of the proposed M-LST(A) in reducing electricity bill, waiting time, peak load, and peak-to-average ratio.

Automated summary

The emergence of smart grid has revolutionized energy consumption patterns and conservation strategies. Household appliance scheduling has gained popularity due to its consideration of sustainable energy and user behaviors. In this study, we propose a least slack time (LST)-based scheduling algorithm with consumption thresholds to minimize electricity cost and maximize user comfort and sustainable energy usage.