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Using Synchronization as an Indicator of Controllability in a Fleet of Water Heaters

by Evgeniya Tsybina, Viswadeep Lebakula, Jeffrey Munk, Justin Hill, Helia Zandi
Publication Type
Conference Paper
Book Title
2023 North American Power Symposium (NAPS)
Publication Date
Page Numbers
1 to 6
Issue
1
Publisher Location
United States of America
Conference Name
2023 North American Power Symposium (NAPS)
Conference Location
Asheville, North Carolina, United States of America
Conference Sponsor
IEEE
Conference Date
-

Peak reduction is an important concern that can help reduce the growing stress on distribution grid and allow to defer investments in new capacity. However, the growing concern for customer privacy and comfort may impact the performance of load control for residential devices. Water heaters represent a convenient way of reducing peak due to their ability to store thermal energy for future use. In this paper, we developed a methodology to help utilities gain more insight with respect to the impact of load control efforts for shaving peak with no necessary information about the water heaters except the device status (on/off). To this end, we use a fleet of water heaters in a controlled residential neighborhood in Atlanta, GA. Our findings show that convergence in device status can serve as a proxy for peak shifting during hours of the evening peak.