Energy control of HVAC units for provable ancillary service provision

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel energy controller for HVAC units that ensures they follow grid power specifications, balancing consumer comfort and grid regulation performance through a new energy-based model validated by real data.

Contribution

A new dynamical energy controller and energy-based model for HVAC units that enables provable ancillary service provision while maintaining consumer comfort.

Findings

Limited HVAC units can meet frequency regulation performance metrics.

The proposed control maintains consumer comfort.

Model and control validated with real-world HVAC data.

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the problem of controlling power consumption dynamics of residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units so that they follow the grid-side power specifications. In order to do so, we design a novel dynamical energy controller which ensures regulation of the cumulative effects of power imbalances. For this, we derive a novel energy-based model that relates the HVAC physics-based dynamics to both real and reactive power balance at the point of interconnection with the grid. In contrast to several other approaches in the literature, we show that a limited number of HVAC units can meet the stringent performance metrics set by the ARPA-E/NODES program on following the frequency regulation signal, while maintaining consumer comfort. Theoretical and simulation-based model and control validation is provided by making use of real-world HVAC data.