Automated Demand Response Gateway Load Shedding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current demand response systems are insufficient in automating electrical load shedding in facilities during peak demand periods, often relying on manual adjustments and lacking efficient conflict resolution mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an automated demand response system using a building automation system with an ADR gateway that employs demand stages, demand groups, and timer agents to manage load shedding, incorporating rules for conflict resolution and hysteresis to maintain reduced power levels during demand reduction events.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual adjustments are used for load shedding during demand response events, then system complexity is reduced, but automation extent and productivity are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the facility's electrical load into multiple demand groups, each representing a controllable subset of equipment or circuits. This segmentation enables automated control of specific load portions during demand response events without requiring complex centralized control of all devices, thus achieving automation while managing system complexity through modular organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary configuration of demand groups, demand stages, and timer agents before demand response events occur. Load shedding strategies, hierarchy structures, and control parameters are pre-established, allowing the automated system to execute load shedding actions immediately upon receiving demand response signals without requiring complex real-time decision-making, thereby achieving automation with manageable complexity.
2Productivity
If rapid load shedding is implemented during demand response events, then energy consumption is reduced efficiently, but conflicts between devices and demand groups may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system organizes controllable loads into a hierarchical structure with multiple demand groups divided into demand stages. This segmentation allows rapid activation of load shedding across different groups while the hierarchical arrangement provides clear conflict resolution rules - higher stages override lower stages, and parent groups override child groups, ensuring reliable conflict management during fast load reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements real-time monitoring of load shedding execution and conflict detection between devices and demand groups. When conflicts are detected during rapid load shedding, the feedback mechanism triggers automated conflict resolution based on the hierarchical structure, ensuring that energy reduction efficiency is maintained while preventing equipment damage or system instability.
3Stability of the object's composition
If demand groups are activated and deactivated frequently during demand response events, then load balancing is improved, but device complexity and control difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the facility's electrical load into segmented demand groups organized in a hierarchical structure with multiple stages. This segmentation enables precise control of specific load portions to achieve load balancing during demand response events while the hierarchical organization simplifies control logic - each group has defined activation/deactivation rules based on its position in the hierarchy, reducing overall control complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs timer agents that implement periodic action principles by scheduling the activation and deactivation of demand groups according to predetermined time intervals and sequences. This periodic control approach achieves load balancing through systematic cycling of demand groups while automating the control process, thereby improving load stability without increasing manual control complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for reducing an electrical load in a facility or building with an automated demand response server having a hierarchical grouping of demand stages and demand groups with associated timers that control the shedding of load in order to achieve the appropriate level of load reduction and ramping up devices in a controlled manner upon the expiration of a demand response event.