Synergy potential of smart domestic appliances in renewable energy systems

The project „Smart Domestic Appliances in Sustainable Energy Systems (Smart-A)” aims at developing strategies how smart domestic appliances can contribute to load management in future energy systems. In order to do this, the project assesses the options for load-shifting by a variety of appliances across Europe and compares these with the requirements from energy systems both on the local and regional level. It is expected that these systems will have to integrate larger shares of renewable energy in the future, which are partly intermittent, and therefore will require a smarter management of generation, network capacities and demand. The technical aspects of the assessment include an analysis of potential changes to appliances operation, of characteristics of local energy generation (from renewable energies and also cogeneration) and of load management requirements in the larger electricity networks. The project also features a detailed assessment of the acceptance of smart appliances operation by users, and an evaluation of the usability of available control technologies and communication standards. The overall potential of smart appliances is assessed based on a model which takes into account the variations of appliance use and the framework conditions in energy systems. The project is conducted in cooperation with manufacturers of appliances and electric utilities. The findings from the analysis are being discussed with experts in regional case studies in selected European countries. This book is based on publicly available data and reports on electricity consumption of private households with special regard to consumer behaviour and availability of household appliances. The operation probability and power demand of each appliance is analysed and described. Based on the obtained data load curves for single appliances, bundles of appliances and also for specified regions are created and preliminary hypotheses of consumer acceptance of smart operating appliances for the consumer survey within the Smart-A project are derived.