The Equivalent Thermal Parameter Model and Simulation of Air Conditioner System in Demand Response Programs

Estimating end-use energy consumption that accurately reflects the variance of the end-load is critical for the grid wise simulation and analysis work. In a house, the largest load with a thermal cycle is often the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. So the thermal dynamics of typical residential electric air conditioner is discussed, and then an equivalent thermal parameters (ETP) model is built by the thermal equilibrium in this paper. Based on this, the switch status, indoor air temperature and power consumption are simulated through control strategies of constant thermostat set point. The results show according the switch status, indoor air temperature can be calculated by the ETP model, thus give the desire status to the grid according the setting temperature. In summer, with the increasing of setting temperature, the frequency of on-off becomes lower, thus the power consumption also reduces from 1200 kW(26 degrees C) to 970 kW(27 degrees C). So if some control strategies are used, the model will play an important part on decreasing the peak-average rate of the power grid and also improving the load rate of grid. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.