Demand-side energy management using an adaptive control strategy for aggregate thermostatic loads

This paper addresses the problem of modeling and control of a population of aggregated thermostatic loads with controllable temperature set-point, with the objective of managing the demand-side energy of the loads. A novel method for modeling and control of these loads based on an adaptive control strategy, is presented. This method is based on the power consumption of the loads, and as a consequence we do not need to access the current temperature of each of the loads, or their on/off status. An adaptation rule is employed to guarantee the stability and performance of the controller against uncertainties in model parameters, and this leads to the design of a more flexible controller. The validity of this method is demonstrated by means of a simulation of a population of aggregated thermostatic loads, with an application of the designed control strategy.