Practical demand side management - a programmable load manager

The programmable load manager (PLM) is an innovative response to the apparent need for energy efficiency (EE). It focuses on household energy utilization and how through the aid of advanced control, electricity usage can be optimized from luxury to necessity. The PLM is a more practical approach seeing that the deployment of residential demand side management (DSM) is faced with many setbacks due to differing views on EE. The PLM finds a common ground between the consumers´ and utility by implementing real-time control after comparing the consumer´s desired operation with the utility´s and accordingly establishing graded operational schemes between these two demands. The study describes the built prototype: multiple switching circuits, a microcontroller unit (PIC18f877) and control algorithms. This innovative PLM illustrates a neutral and quicker approach to EE, bypassing many of the obstacles to EE and accommodating possible non-participants of contemporary and future DSM schemes.