A hybrid technique for residential load scheduling in smart grids demand side management

Abstract

Demand side management (DSM) and demand response (DR) are the key functions in smart grids (SGs). DR provides an opportunity to a consumer in making decisions and shifting load from on-peak hours to off-peak hours. The number of incentive base pricing tariffs are established by a utility for the consumers to reduce electricity consumption and manage consumers load in order to minimize the peak to average ratio (PAR). Throughout the world, these different pricing approaches are in use. Time of use tariff (ToU) is considered in this paper, to comparatively evaluate the performance of the heuristic algorithms; bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA), and harmony search algorithm (HSA). A hybridization of BFA and HSA (HBH) is also proposed to evaluate the performance parameters; such as electricity consumption cost and PAR. Furthermore, consumer satisfaction level in terms of waiting time is also evaluated in this research work. Simulation results validate that proposed scheme effectively accomplish desired objectives while considering the user comfort.