Abstract

Global energy consumption for space heating and cooling is significant, referred to as thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs). Due to the large thermal mass of buildings, TCLs are increasingly utilized in demand response (DR) events to balance electricity supply and demand. Priority Stack-Based Control (PSBC) is a common strategy for coordinating TCLs, showing potential in reducing peak loads and shifting TCL loads. However, there are limited studies that have demonstrated and evaluated the performance of PSBC in real-world settings. Additionally, PSBC lacks an effective mechanism to simultaneously ensure tracking performance and thermal comfort. This study developed and tested vanilla and modified PSBC strategies for reducing TCL loads during DR events. A framework for deploying these strategies is proposed, involving cloud-based implementation and hardware configuration. The vanilla and modified PSBC strategies was evaluated through a 22-day field test in a real office building, in terms of load tracking and thermal comfort. The results demonstrate that the modified strategy shows better control performance, evidenced by improvements in the subscribed performance index (SPI), coefficient of variation of root mean square error (CVRMSE) for load tracking, and thermal comfort. Additionally, the control performance is investigated when direct ON/OFF switching control is replaced by indoor temperature setpoint adjustment. Unexpected power oscillation behavior occurs with significant temperature differences between the setpoint and the indoor temperature. Our work provides practical evaluations that quantify PSBC control performance and presents a compelling case for the feasibility of PSBC as a method for reducing peak demand in commercial buildings.