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• This paper integrates DG sources like PV, WT, FC, MT, BESS in the MG. • A stochastic model of actual data is used to create 4 various case studies for RES. • This paper incorporates utility-driven DSM program in the problem for reducing the operational prices more. • The research does not report on the use of quantum-driven computational intelligence for optimizing energy management in MGs. By integrating renewable energy resources and communication technology into the structure, microgrids (MG) have become self-sustaining with less relying of fossil-fuel based units. In this regard, it is significant to have a highly effective energy management system (EMS) to handle the high volatility of clean energy resources, the uncertainty of time-varying loads, and the fluctuating nature of the market price. Due to the technical limitations, the MG's optimal performance is currently restricted to maximizing operational prices. A study must be conducted to appraise the effects of demand-side management (DSM) on the overall operational costs and peak reductions when integrated with EMS. This study investigates the effect of a utility-driven mutable load shaping method on non-dispatchable energy resources in the renewable microgrids considering the digital twin of solar and wind units. It proposes a three-stage stochastic EMS frame in order to solve the optimal day-ahead planning and to minimize the operating price of network-coupled MG. An initial stage involves creating four potential cases for solar and wind energy production profiles based on real-time meteorological information with the aim o time t , the active power interchange to or from utility for. f minimizing the uncertainty. Stage two involves configuring the MG system, determining the operating limitations, and incorporating DSM load participation information into the objective function. Stage 3 involves designing an optimal power dispatch configuration for DG units, increasing exports to utilities, and comparing the outcomes of each scenario including or excluding DSM involvement. According to the simulation results obtained for the suggested stochastic model implementing 20% DSM, the suggested approach could sucessfuly achieve a price decrease of almost 43.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The way how is the building industry dealing with the concept of Demand Side Management is discussed. • International policies and initiatives are presented. • European initiatives, legislation and incentive programmes are presented. • The implementation of the nZEB requirement using the Passive House standard is presented. • A new approach is proposed - Early Stage Design method to ensure dwellings sustainability. Energy is now intrinsically linked to technological development, given it powers all such systems. The use of fossil fuels to supply the required energy is causing global environmental and health issues and is impacting on all life forms on the planet. Given increasing energy consumption, anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are consequentially increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to replace fossil fuels with renewable energies, biofuels and eco materials and related technologies and to try and find a way to develop sustainable zero emission solutions for all areas including constructions, transport and water resources. A critical and evolutionary way of thinking about the energy (and other resources) demand, management and supply is necessary because there are clear concerns about irreversible impacts to the world and a scarcity of the resources as well. Energy supplies should be mostly or entirely through renewable resources and highly efficient technologies put in place to achieve solution such as nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB). At the same time, all the energy and resource use processes should be optimised in order to maximise the benefits, reduce the costs and promote stakeholders (consumers, companies or governments) network, toward a circular economy. This could be the way to supply the demand without increasing the scarcity of the resources and to simultaneously achieve environmental benefits. Therefore, it should be possible to improve productivity with the same amount of resources, by e.g. maximising the potential of smart grids and heuristically develop solutions with stakeholders. The concept of Demand Side Management (DSM) emerged after the energy crisis and it employs solutions such as reducing the daily peak load. At the same time, creating an educational grid is important to change the established paradigms, in order to promote critical thinking about the wasted resources and thinking holistically about overall consumption. This paradigm shift is changing the market, making it more competitive and reducing inefficiency by promoting the efficient use of resources including the deployment of energy storage during the periods of low consumption in daily peak shift. All these issues present a new way of thinking in the path towards sustainability, maximising the circular economy and reducing environmental impacts, making connections and using the Internet of Things to provide more information to all stakeholders. All these changes in social behaviour are related to the rational use of resources and make it easier to improve the existing infrastructures instead of building new ones. This paper analyses the state of the art at the European level in the production and use of renewable resources. A survey and analysis of the incentives to consumers and the policies to encourage the circular economy, and parallel analysis of benefits and drawbacks, was made. It is intended to identify the main forms of intervention and improvement, culminating in a reflection on how they should be applied to improve the expected results and make them more efficient and sustainable. This is intended to be an evolutionary framework of this concept, from the first stage of use of energy to its final utilisation. By approaching the task in a heuristic fashion, it is hoped to make the environment healthier, and it is envisaged that this concept will evolve from a linear to a life cycle approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable hybrid systems with small capacities are widely installed for joining demand response in modern communities. Based on hybrid systems, renewable energy generation can be stored and used for power supply during peak load period. It is impractical to control power flow in such small-scale systems, because power flow dispatching asks for extra investment of expensive regulators and adaptors. In this paper, a switching grid connected photovoltaic system is studied for simplifying system installation. Optimal switching control model is proposed to sufficiently utilize the solar energy and to minimize electricity cost under the time-of-use program. As shown in results, optimal scheduling of the PV system can achieve promising cost savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In Brazilian low-income households, water-heating requirements are typically met by electrical showerheads. On average, 73.1% of all residential units in the country are equipped with these resistance-heating devices, with nominal powers ranging from 3 to 8kW. This situation imposes a considerable burden on the electricity utility companies, since electrical showerheads typically represent the highest load but the lowest utilization (load factor) in a residential consumer unit. Furthermore, typical utilization times coincide with, and contribute to, the electrical power demand peaks in Brazil, rendering these low-cost, high-power electrical devices a high-cost consumer for the electrical system to cater for. For low-income residential consumers, electricity tariffs are subsidized, and utilities must therefore make a considerable investment in infrastructure for a limited return. In this paper we analyze the impacts of solar water heating in low-income households on the distribution utility active, reactive and apparent power demands. We have monitored a statistically representative group of low-income residences equipped with a compact domestic solar water heater in Florianopolis – Brazil for 1year. We show that in comparison with identical residential units using electrical showerheads, with the adoption of solar water heating the reductions in the active, reactive and apparent power demands on the distribution utility were 49%, 29% and 49% respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: At high latitudes, domestic electricity demand and insolation are negatively correlated on both an annual and a diurnal basis. With increasing integration of distributed photovoltaics (PV) in low-voltage distribution grids of residential areas, limits to the penetration level are set by voltage rise due to unmatched production and load. In this paper a methodology for determining the impacts of three options for increased load matching is presented and applied to high-latitude data. The studied options are PV array orientation, demand side management (DSM) and electricity storage. Detailed models for domestic electricity demand and PV output are used. An optimisation approach is applied to find an optimal distribution of PV systems on different array orientations and a best-case evaluation of DSM and a storage model are implemented. At high penetration levels, storage is the most efficient option for maximising the solar fraction, but at lower overproduction levels, the impact of DSM is equal or slightly better. An east–west orientation of PV arrays is suggested for high penetration levels, but the effect of the optimised orientation is small. Without an optimised storage operation, the overproduced power is more efficiently reduced by DSM than storage, although this is highly dependent on the applied DSM algorithm. Further research should be focused on the DSM potential and optimal operation of storage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]