Demand Side Management by controlling refrigerators and its effects on consumers

Demand Side Management in power grids has become more and more important in recent years. Continuously growing energy demand both increases the need for distributed generation from renewable energy sources and brings out the topic of Demand Side Management. One of the major application areas of Demand Side Management in smart grids is cooling systems. In this paper, Demand Side Management with control of a refrigerator and its economic effects on consumers are analyzed. With a refrigerator model based on real measurements, several cooling schedules are simulated and annual energy fees for different pricing methods in use in Turkey are calculated and discussed. The results revealed that, 37.9% of refrigerator’s demand in peak period can be shifted to other periods and annual electricity bills for customers can be reduced by 11.4%.

► The yearly energy cost of a refrigerator can be decreased up to 11.4% with DSM. ► The multiple pricing tariff provides 5.4% discount compared to the single pricing tariff. ► 37.9% of refrigerator’s demand in peak times can be shifted to the other periods. ► DSM applications will work efficiently, if they are widely used by consumers. ► Defrost control contributed to savings by 1.7%.