Experimental implementation of demand response service for residential buildings

Demand response (DR) and dynamic retail pricing of electricity play key roles in reducing peak loads and increasing the efficiency of smart power grids. However, recent studies have revealed that the lack of knowledge among consumers about how to respond to time-varying prices as well as the lack of practical experience implementing DR services in facilities are two major barriers that prevent full utilization of the potential benefits of dynamic retail pricing tariffs. In this study, we develop a hardware-in-the-loop DR experimental model for residential buildings and implement a user-expected price-based DR (UEP-DR) algorithm. The experimental results show that significant reduction or even elimination of peak-hour electrical consumption is achievable.