Direct load control by distributed imperialist competitive algorithm

Demand side management techniques have drawn significant attentions along with the development of smart grid. This paper proposes a new direct load control (DLC) model for scheduling interruptible air conditioner loads. The model is coordinated with the unit commitment and economic dispatch to minimize the total operation cost over the whole dispatch horizon. The network constraints are also considered in the model. To ensure the thermal comfort of the occupants, we are among the first to incorporate the advanced two-parameter thermal inertia dynamical model of customer houses into the DLC model to calculate the indoor temperature variation. This paper also proposes a distributed imperialist competitive algorithm to effectively solve the model. The simulation studies prove the efficiency of the proposed methodology.