Design a load management system for smart grid applications
In this research, the main focus is maintaining the load current of a particular feeder of an electric utility in a permissible limit to avoid the load shedding during the summer season. This research project's main objective is to manage the home's heavy load appliances' automatic control during pe
2025-06-28 16:31:08 - Adil Khan
Design a load management system for smart grid applications
Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject Summary Due to the increasing population and low economic growth, Pakistan is suffering from an electricity crisis from the past decade. On the other hand, the world is moving toward innovations in electronic appliances. Everyone wants comfort and ease in one's life, and modern appliances are increasing rapidly. A load of an ordinary person's home is doubled, at least due to modern appliances. The current electricity generation is unable to meet electricity demand. There are two possible solutions to solve this problem; one is to increase the generation, and second is the load management in peak and off?peak hours. Electric power distribution companies encourage their users to use the heavy load including, air conditioner, heater, electric motors,and so on, in off?peak hours instead of peak hours. However,its impact can be reduced by controlling and optimizing the available resources. The load management system is essential in the scope of energy management as it relates to the economy and system efficiency. With rapid smart grid technology development, the customer can actively participate in load management with the mutual information communication between the distributor operation company and the smart devices in real-time. Controllable load management not only has the advantage of peak shaving, load balance, frequency regulation, and voltage stability, but is also effective at providing fast balancing services to the renewable energy grid in the distributed power system. The load management faces an enormous challenge as the customer has a large number of both small residential loads and dispersed renewable sources. Although electricity utilities are suggesting users to reduce the load during peak hours in their monthly bills, the users are not willing or aware of this. It is clear how tedious and tiresome it is to remind the users what the peak hours are, and manually switch off/on the heavy load during peak and off?peak hours. Moreover, the distribution feeder has a specific capacity to bear the load in peak hours after this is automatically shut down the whole feeder. A hardware prototype is then designed and applied so as to validate the proposed control system. The results show that the proposed scheme allows for an efficient peak shaving during peak hours. For some typical domestic and commercial users, the financial benefits are also calculated. The proposed system may be implemented as a single additional tool is already available energy meters and may quickly be adopted by electric utilities of developing countries to avoid the load shedding trend. Load management system is one of the important functions of a smart grid that permits users to make informed decisions regarding their energy consumption, and helps the energy providers to reduce the peak load demand and reshape the load pro?le. This results in increased sustainability of the smart grid, as well as reduces overall operational cost and carbon emission levels. This system can be installed at the user end. Project ObjectivesIn this research, the main focus is maintaining the load current of a particular feeder of an electric utility in a permissible limit to avoid the load shedding during the summer season. This research project's main objective is to manage the home's heavy load appliances' automatic control during peak and off?peak hours. The electric utility will control the bulky load devices, including AC, electric heater, electric iron, and motor, with calculated base load values as feed in the microcontroller. AC current value is measured by the current transformer/current sensor from the consumer's home's service mains. This AC current value is an analog signal that must be converted into a digital signal so that microcontroller can read this value and send the signal to the operational relay to switch on/off the load during peak and off?peak hours. This will lead us to give the load control in peak hours and encourage the consumer to use the heavy loads in off?peak hours. This technique is different and easy to apply from the literature review techniques because no human intervention is required in this system. In a broader sense, if electric utility uses this technique to the whole town/city, then electric utility can overcome the problem of load shedding in that area because no peak hours will come
Project Implementation MethodThis system can be installed at the consumer end. It consists of a current sensor which can be used as a current sensing device that will detect the load current continuously. When the peak hours come and if the load current exceeds the calculated set range from the threshold level, then the microcontroller will send the trip signal to the attached relay to switch off the connected heavy loads. When the off?peak hours come, it will give the alarm/buzzer if a consumer wants to use any heavy load during this time. This system will help us to manage between the demand and supply to avoid load shedding during peak hours. It also gives the consumer to low?cost tariffs and encourages the use of heavy load in off?peak hours without shutting the load during high?cost tariff time and when this time of use meter control is connected.This technique is different and easy to apply from the literature review techniques because no human intervention is required in this system. In a broader sense, if electric utility uses this technique to the whole town/city, then electric utility can overcome the problem of load shedding in that area because no peak hours will come.
The main components of the proposed method are a current transformer, Analog to digital converter, Arduino UNO microcontroller, power supply, LCD, relay drivers, and relay according to the load current. ACS712 IC can also be used as a current sensor instead of the current transformer if the current value is less than or equal to 20?A. The controller is connected with the current sensor as a feedback loop. A real?time clock and time adjustable is also attached as the input of the controller. LCD will display the real?time and value of the load as the output of the controller. The current sensor's output is associated with the heavy loads and depends upon the amount of the load current. A buzzer will indicate that off?peak hours are going on.
Benefits of the Project- To design automatic load management without human intervention
- To identify contractual requirement and commercial benefits of different load management systems
- To develop low cost and simple load management system
- To overcome the problem of demand and supply
- Electric utilities want to reduce the load during the peak hours and encourage the user to use the appliance in off?peak hours to manage the load between supply and demand to avoid unscheduled load shedding. A load management system for distribution utilities to prevent unnecessary load shedding during peak hours is proposed in this research. The Arduino?based smart load management system is simulated and tested using Proteus software. It can be a very cost?effective load management system. This system's hardware is less complicated and can be applied easily on the heavy load consumer houses. The system design can switch off the heavy load during peak hours without any human interference and encourage the consumers to use these heavy loads during off?peak hours. Such projects are necessary for both the consumers as well as a utility as both can benefit from this. Therefore, it is highly recommended to both consumer and electric utilities to control the use of heavy load during peak and off?peak hours as well a considerable amount of saving for both domestic and commercial consumers is achieved by employing this. This will lead the electric utilities to avoid load shedding in peak hours due to an imbalance between demand and supply, and the consumer can avail the benefit in the form of less billing.
| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 28800 | |||
| Arduino Mega | Equipment | 1 | 2500 | 2500 |
| Current sensor | Equipment | 4 | 300 | 1200 |
| Transformer | Equipment | 1 | 1000 | 1000 |
| LCD 20*4 | Equipment | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Other electronic component | Equipment | 1 | 1000 | 1000 |
| switch board | Equipment | 1 | 1000 | 1000 |
| power supply | Equipment | 2 | 500 | 1000 |
| arduino cables | Equipment | 2 | 300 | 600 |
| GSM Module | Equipment | 1 | 5000 | 5000 |
| energy meter | Equipment | 1 | 5000 | 5000 |
| energy saver | Equipment | 5 | 300 | 1500 |
| Thesis book | Miscellaneous | 0 | 25000 | 7500 |