Demand-Side Energy Management by Use of a Design-Then-Approximate Controller for Aggregated Thermostatic Loads

This brief presents a method to design a controller for a system of aggregated thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) that are represented by two coupled partial differential equations-the Fokker-Planck equations. The design goal is to ensure that the cumulative power consumption of the system tracks the desired power. The control algorithm presented in this brief is a design-then-approximate (DTA) method, which helps ensure that the fundamental properties of the system such as stability and controllability are preserved during the controller design process, and not lost as a consequence of discretization. The effects of heterogeneities in the TCL parameters are also considered, and a robust model predictive controller is integrated within the DTA controller structure. This ensures robust tracking of a desired power trajectory even in the presence of heterogeneities in the TCL parameters while also guaranteeing output controllability of the system. The effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated using simulations incorporating actual demand power data.