Distributed multi-objective scheduling of power consumption for smart buildings

Load management of electrical devices in residential buildings can be applied with different goals in the power grid, such as the cost optimization regarding variable electricity prices, peak load reduction or the minimization of behavioral efforts for users due to load shifting. A cooperative multi-objective optimization of consumers and generators of power has the potential to solve the simultaneity problem of power consumption and optimize the power supply from the superposed grid regarding different goals. In this paper, we present a multi-criteria extension of a distributed cooperative load management technique in smart grids based on a multi-agent framework. As a data basis, we use feasible power consumption and production schedules of buildings, which have been derived from simulations of a building model and have already been optimized with regard to self-consumption. We show that the flexibilities of smart buildings can be used to pursue different targets and display the advantage of integrating various goals into one optimization process. © 2019, The Author(s).