A Priority-Based Control Strategy and Performance Bound for Aggregated HVAC-Based Load Shaping

Air conditioning systems have been recognized as a potential, cost-effective resource for shaping electrical load in a power system. This paper presents a new priority-based control strategy that explicitly addresses three requirements for using a collection of air conditioning units in this capacity. These are 1) tracking a regulation signal, 2) maintaining the building temperature near its set point, and 3) satisfying a cycling constraint of the air conditioners. After introducing the control strategy, we derive a bound for the regulation signal within which tracking is guaranteed while also satisfying the temperature requirement. These results are illustrated with simulations.