Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688

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Electrical Power and Energy Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijepes

A smart building power management concept: Smart socket applications

with DC distribution
Cemal Keles a,⇑, Abdulkerim Karabiber b, Murat Akcin a, Asim Kaygusuz a, Baris Baykant Alagoz a,
Ozan Gul b
a
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Inonu University, Malatya, Turkey
b
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Bingol University, Bingol, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Recent developments in power electronics increase DC bus utilization in electrical distribution systems
Received 8 December 2013 due to its numerous advantages compared to AC distribution system in term of energy efficiency, safety,
Received in revised form 25 July 2014 electromagnetic compatibility and renewable energy integration. This study presents a power manage-
ment system concept based on domestic DC distribution with smart sockets for future smart houses.
Energy efficient smart buildings are possible by integrating smart meter, smart sockets, domestic renew-
Keywords: able energy generation and energy storage systems for integrated energy management, and this inte-
DC distribution
grated system supports demand side load management, distributed generation and distributed storage
Home electronics appliances
Smart buildings and systems
provisions of future smart grids. Coming era of smart grids has implications for domestic DC distribution
Demand side load management and load concepts with smarts sockets. Paper describes use of smart DC sockets as an integral part of building
shedding power management automation and presents a load shedding algorithm for plug load control for build-
ings. Simulations show performance of the proposed system components.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Nowadays, power distribution systems presents two major dis-
tinctions called alternative current (AC) power distribution net-
work or direct current (DC) power distribution network. Until the
last decade, use of AC power distribution preferred due to develop-
ments in the incandescent lamp and AC transformers last century.
The situation today is different due to developments in solid-state
power electronics. DC electrical power has been used in many
areas [1]: Many renewable energy systems such as photovoltaic
cells, wind turbines and fuel cells use DC electrical energy [2].
Energy storage systems used as a secondary power supply relies
on DC power [3]. Furthermore, home electrical appliances (HEAs)
such as TVs, computers require DC power [4]. The sensitive loads
in naval and space operations [5,6] need an uninterruptible DC
power supply. Nowadays, use of DC distribution is possible and
promises many advantages compared to AC power distribution.
There has been an increasing trend for researches on DC power
consumption and distribution for several decades. Advantages of
DC distribution systems were demonstrated in many aspects [7–
13]: AC systems have more adverse effects on the health than DC
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 5375883659; fax: +90 4223410046.
E-mail address: cemal.keles@inonu.edu.tr (C. Keles).
systems [7]. As DC–DC converters are more efficient than AC–DC
converters in HEAs, DC distribution provides more efficient energy
distribution for HEAs [4,8,9]. The DC integration of renewable
energy sources for existing conventional AC distribution systems
offers significant benefits, such as higher voltage stability, easy
control and management opportunities [10]. Indeed, it is possible
to supply all HEAs via DC distribution [11,12]. Moreover, there is
no harmonics and reactive power problems in DC distribution
[13]. Hence, the quality of energy in DC distribution systems is also
more robust than in AC distribution systems.
Despite the fact that DC distribution presents many advantages,
it could not find a common use for local power distribution today.
The main reason for this is that conventional power generation,
transmission, distribution infrastructure have been build for AC
power standards and it could met power requirements of future
world. However, coming era of smart grids can give an opportunity
for implementation of DC power distribution systems. Provided that
common and strict electrical standards are declared for powering
HEAs, implementation of local or domestic DC distribution becomes
more feasible and effective. For instance; 5 V input voltage can be a
standard voltage for all mobile phones and other low-power appli-
ances, the voltages of 24 V or 48 V could be used for mid-power
applications such as laptops and computer screens and 120 V volt-
age, which is accepted as safety voltage limits for human by the
International Electrotechnical Commission, can be used for

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2014.07.075
0142-0615/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
680 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688
high-power HEA applications such as ovens, washing machines and
irons. A standardized multi-voltage DC distribution reduces the
requirements of an adaptor for electronic devices to convert grid
energy to DC power. Thus, the cost of products will decrease and
the dependence of consumers on power adapters will be eliminated.
The DC distribution system with smart sockets is a step towards
to improve consumption standards for household and office appli-
ances. Smart sockets can work as an integral part of home power
management system enabling demand side load management
(DSLM) by using opportunities of automation technology. This
paper presents an improved smart socket model containing multi-
ple DC voltage outlets for DC power consumption and an AC outlet
for compatibility with conventional household equipment.
The functional automation is the most significant asset of smart
houses [14,15]. DeSilva et al. suggested several intelligent applica-
tions of smart homes such as elder care and child care applications,
energy efficiency applications, security application [14]. The
energy efficiency and domestic power management tools are one
of underpinning topics discussed for the smart grid applications.
DSLM, distributed renewable energy generator integration and dis-
tributed energy storage application depends on domestic power
management operations and use of decentralized control and com-
munication techniques. Kostková et al. provided a comprehensive
study of the load management methods, techniques and programs
and gives a categorization of load management methods [16]. The
proposed smart socket supports direct load control methodology
that is based on turning on or off the appliances via sending signal.
In a recent work concerning with direct load control, DC smart
houses with controllable loads was presented to manage supply–
demand balancing of power system in the case of power fluctua-
tion caused from renewable energy sources and loads [17].
Another realization of direct load control is plug load control appli-
cations [18–20]. Plug load control enables remote control of
switching on/off appliance via special sockets, namely smart sock-
ets. Today, integration of smart sockets into building power man-
agement systems for DSLM proposes was practically
implemented in many academic study and commercial applica-
tions, and many products are commercially available as smart
sockets for plug load control with wireless communication proto-
cols such as Wi-Fi and ZigBee.
The proposed smart building power management system offers
the following innovations:
– The domestic DC distribution by smart socket technology per-
forms DSLM in smart grids with the advantages of DC distribu-
tion such as ease of control and renewable energy integration,
better voltage stability, more secure for health, more compati-
ble with power requirements of HEAs.
– The proposed system can work in conjunction with dynamic
electricity pricing condition and distributed domestic renew-
able generation and storage systems. This is very important
for future smart grid trends.
– Despite dominating trend of wireless communication for dis-
tributed plug load actuation in academic and commercial appli-
cation, we suggested power line communication over domestic
DC distribution for device communication. Because, power line
communication techniques reduce electromagnetic interfer-
ence and emissions that inside the building and becomes a
more healthy solution.
– We proposed three outlet voltage levels over six point DC smart
sockets to supply HEAs without any converter when this volt-
age level becomes a standard for HEA manufacturers. This
makes HEAs produce more compact in shape, more light in
weight, and cheaper in price so that they do not a contain power
converter unit. The socket design also provides conventional AC
outlet for conventional HEAs.
– Due to microcontroller and communication technology, pro-
posed DC smart socket can perform built-in programs for fault
prevention, power consumption monitoring. When the DC and
AC outlets are unloaded or overloaded by a HEAs, the smart
socket switches of power. This makes building power distribu-
tion more secure and energy efficient.
– The proposed plug load control technology requires a load shed-
ding algorithm to manage tradeoffs between consumer comfort
and economic constraints. We presented an adaptive load shed-
ding algorithm to limit domestic power demand with respect to
dynamic electricity prices. The algorithm promotes energy from
domestic renewable generators and storages to meet the
demand of building and performs plug load actuation for the
energy purchased from grid.
Load shedding operations are mainly used for overcome gener-
ation and consumption imbalances following the occurrence of a
contingency in power distribution system. Power system faults,
instant load changes and insufficient generation can result in
power mismatch between generation and loads. Load shedding is
the process of abandoning certain amount of load with lower pri-
ority to maintain the stability of the system [21,22]. A detailed sur-
vey of contemporary load shedding algorithm was presented by
Laghari et al. [23]: The load shedding was grouped into three main
categories; conventional algorithms [21,22], adaptive algorithms
[23], and computational intelligence-based algorithms [24]. Con-
ventional load shedding methods responds for fast decrease in
AC frequency [25] and voltage instabilities [26]. The computational
intelligence-based methods employ intelligent computation and
optimization techniques for contingency detection and optimal
response. Adaptive methods respond to unscheduled events and
perform a predefined load control strategy to reach power balance.
Although load shedding methods were developed for contin-
gency management of power distribution system containing gen-
erators and load buses, load shedding method is considered for
propose of DSLM operation in smart building in these days [18–
20,24]. Economical constraints, power reliability, consumer com-
fort, productivity losses were accounted in load control strategies
[20,27].
This study presents a domestic DC distribution system concept
containing smart meter (SM), renewable energy and storage sys-
tems and smart sockets as illustrated in Fig. 1(a). This concept pro-
vides demand flexibility by implementing electricity price adaptive
load shedding algorithm via direct load controlling technique and
supports integration of domestic renewable energy generators
(solar and low power wind turbines) in smart buildings. The DC
outlets of the socket are designed to supply DC power for three
types of power requirements (Low–Mid–High) of HEAs. The smart
socket includes communication with SM by using power line com-
munication technology [28] and thus it performs DSLM operations
according to availability of inexpensive grid energy or fertile
renewable energy. We illustrated a load shedding algorithm based
on maximum power control scheme to stabilize energy cost in res-
idences. This algorithm abandons the HEAs according to user prior-
ity and power level of HEAs via the direct control of smart sockets.
The proposed algorithm do not include complex optimization tech-
nique to offer an optimal load control considering the both eco-
nomical and technical constraints, however, it can offer working
of maximum number of HEAs according to user prioritization in
a way of a low-computational complexity simple and high feasibil-
ity. It persistently keeps energy cost of building lower than a user
defined energy expenditure limit in the case of real-time pricing.
Fig. 1(b) shows electrical schema of renewable energy integration
in smart meter. Continuous DC energy mixing method is used for
integration of the renewable energy system to 120 V DC bus [29].
Output of renewable energy system is configured to 130 V DC in
 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688
Baery
Bank
240V AC
Smart
400V DC Meter 120 V DC Distributions
b Connuous DC Energy Mixing in Smart Meter
240 V AC
DC Bus (120 V)
DC
AC
Grid
DC
400 V DC DC
Fig. 1. (a) Smart house concept based on DC power distribution and (b) electrical schema of energy integration in smart meter by using continuous DC energy mixing method.
order to give energy utilization priority to renewable sources. In
the efficient hours of renewable energy system, renewable energy
system supplies a DC voltage greater than the 120 V and therefore
demands of building are supplied from renewable energy system.
If the renewable energy generation is not sufficient to meet build-
ing demand, energy from the grid is used to meet energy shortage.
DC continuous energy mixing provides a satisfactory AC voltage
stability under intermittent and fluctuating power generation of
renewable sources [29].
Smart power management and DC distribution for residences
Nowadays, DC distribution has found numerous applications
with different voltage levels and power ratings. DC distribution
systems may have a simple structure containing two converters
and a DC link, such as a high-voltage direct current system [30],
or a complex structure with parallel connected converters used
both for connecting to the source of energy and supplying loads
as in ship power systems [31–33] and hybrid electrical vehicles
[34,35]. Power converters with high-speed switching technology
promotes to development of more complex DC distribution sys-
tem. The converters are fundamental components of DC distribu-
tion systems so that they can adjust and stabilize voltage levels
throughout the distribution networks [36].
House power management systems using direct control
schemes by means of home network device have been proposed
in many recent works [18–20,37–44]. Microcontroller (MCU) based
681
DC Sockets
AC 240 V AC
DC Smart Sockets
120 V DC
Domesc Renewable
Energy Generaon
and Energy Storage
Systems
intelligent energy management apparatus were used for control of
power flow simply by switching on/off [41,42]. Another theoretical
study presented a smart home energy system concept based on
many dispersive parts including smart meter, smart socket/switch,
grid friendly appliance controller, smart interactive terminal and
other smart devices [43].
The current study presents a domestic DC power distribution
concept containing smart sockets. Fig. 2 shows schematic diagram
of the proposed domestic DC power distribution system for smart
houses. SMs work at the core of home distribution and power man-
agement systems [45]. SMs are intelligent devices containing
power line communication units, controllers, measurement units,
rectifiers and inverters. It can perform all control and communica-
tion operations concerning with domestic power managements.
Hence, a SM functions as a fundamental domestic power manage-
ment device in smart grids. The proposed DC/AC outlet smart sock-
ets are controlled by the SM of the residence via power line
communication. Today, SM and smart sockets can be implemented
by using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) technol-
ogies and thus the smart sockets turn into distributed peripherals
of local-area decentralized load control schemes and become one
of fundamental components for smart house energy management
systems. This communication-control-power infrastructure allows
development of smart power application for energy efficiency,
power reliability and demand elasticity.
Direct load control implementing load shedding algorithm can
be performed via smart sockets and it makes possible the shedding
loads for cheap energy hours. This elasticity in consumer demand
682 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688

Domesc Power Management System

AC Distribuon 240V AC
240V AC 240V AC A B
Grid Smart
Home Distribuon
Smart C
Meter F
DC Distribuon Socket DC neutral
400V DC 48V E D
120V DC 5V
Grid
120V
G

Domesc
Domesc
Renewable
Storage
Generaon

Fig. 2. A schema of domestic power management systems for smart houses.

considerably facilitates penetration of intermittent renewable
energy sources into grids [46]. The proposed sockets contain DC/
DC power conversions with desired voltage levels of HEAs and thus
power conversion becomes more standardized, controlled and
manageable. Domestic DC distribution facilitates integration and
control of domestic hybrid renewable energy systems (solar and
wind) so that they can be integrated to DC distribution system,
directly [47]. Hence, the DC distribution supports efficient, clean,
decentralized micro generation for future smart grids [48].
Fig. 3(a) shows functional block diagram of the smart socket
concept. The power line communication module communicates
with the SM and conveys SM commands to the microcontroller.

a Smart Socket Appliance Priority Boom

P1 P2 P3 Off

Power Line Databus Microcontroller

Communicaon Unit
Controlbus
Ground

240V AC 240V AC
Power A B
Converters
F C
120V DC
and Switches DC neutral
48V E D
Measurement 5V
120V
Unit G

Nest for Pin Layout 5V DC 48V DC

One-way
Tip A B

F C
Ground Pin
E D
Single Socket G
One-way
Tip

120V DC 240V AC
Off
P1
P2 Metallic Nest
P3 Nest for Ground Pin
Appliance
Priority
Triple Socket

Fig. 3. (a) Block diagram of DC distribution smart socket concept and (b) an example design for smart socket case and plugs.
 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688 683

Table 1
Voltage points used in the DC socket according to the input voltage type of the home.

AC & DC input and AC & DC output

Grid distribution voltage Home distribution voltage DC socket output voltage
Voltage Type Point
240 V AC 240 V AC 5V DC B–A
400 V DC 120 V DC 48 V DC D–A
120 V DC E–A
240 V AC C–F–G

Smart Socket Power

Continuous
Converters and Switches
powergui 1

Control Signal m +
- v
g 500W
1 2
240 V AC line
Ideal Switch
5 V DC Line
120 V DC Line
DC + DC+ +
AC 5W +
DC - - v
DC- -
AC/DC Converter
120 V-5V DC/DC Chopper
Scope

AC Voltage Source 48 V DC Line

DC+ +
200W +
- v
DC- -

120 V-48 V DC/DC Chopper

g m

1 2
1000W +
Ideal Switch 1 - v

Fig. 4. Simulink model for power converters and switches system of DC smart socket.

L
g m
C E
1
DC+ IGBT /Diode 3
+
2 C +
DC- 4 - v
-
Scope
5

Constant
5
>=
Saturation Gain
Relational
Operator 1
s
Repeating Integrator
Sequence

Fig. 5. Simulink model of a DC/DC chopper circuit.

684 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688

The microcontroller performs the commands of SM, measurement a

and control operation of power conversion module. Fig. 3(b) illus- 200
trates a smart socket design example. There is a plastic rectangular
tip located on the DC plugs. The pin corresponds to a rectangular
0

V
nest placed on the socket. This conjunction prevents a possible
faulty connection for each DC voltage level on the plug. For the
security purposes, DC neutral can be grounded in the system. Also, -200
there is a metal side pin mounted at the down side of the socket
and it provides the ground connection. To prevent faulty connec- 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
tion in 240 V AC voltage level, this pin corresponds to a metallic t
nest on the AC plug. The socket outlets labelled by {A, B, C, D, E,
F, G} are connected to power conversion and switching module. b
A three states appliance priority bottoms p1, p2 and p3 are placed 4
to the socket case in order to configure priority of appliance,

V
manually.
2
The AC waveform in power distribution is today’s standard for
domestic power distribution. In this reason, smart sockets should
be compatible with conventional home appliances. Three different 0
DC voltage levels are considered for DC power distribution for 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
household equipment in this study. The 120 V is preferred for DC t
power delivery inside buildings because it is sufficient to supply c
home loads and this level of voltage is also low enough to prevent
possible hazards. The DC outlets generate lower DC levels (48 V 40
and 5 V) from 120 V home distribution lines via DC/DC converters
in the sockets.
V 20
Table 1 suggests a minimal voltage level diversity for DC outlets
of the proposed smart socket. However, the output terminals of the
DC power socket can increase in response to potential new DC volt- 0
age level requirements in future. The 5 V outlets are reserved for 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
low-power consumer electronics, such as phone chargers, the t
48 V outlets are for mid-power home equipment such as laptops,
TVs and computers, and the 120 V outlets are for high-power home d
appliances such as ovens, air-conditioners and washing machines.
100
The 120 V DC also supports output standards for domestic renew-
able energy systems, such as solar panel arrays, it is because that
V

120 V bus voltage is the order of the 12 V and 24 V generation volt- 50

ages. These systems can be directly connected to 120 V home dis-
tribution lines via parallel connection of an adequate number of
0
solar panels. This voltage level standardization is suitable for green
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
buildings and smart houses concepts in future smart grids. As it is
t
seen in the schematic block diagram of the home distribution sys-
tem illustrated in Fig. 2, the grid can connected to house with Fig. 6. Simulation results of domestic DC distribution system. (a) 240 V AC voltage
240 V AC or 400 V DC voltage in control of SM. Two lines with an from the grid, (b) 5 V DC voltage from the DC socket for 5 W load, (c) 48 V DC
AC voltage of 240 V and a DC voltage of 120 V supply sockets in voltage from the DC socket for 200 W load and (d) 120 V DC voltage from the DC
socket for 1000 W load.
the house. Each socket provides 5 V, 48 V or 120 V DC and a con-
ventional 240 V AC. Conventional power plugs can be placed in a
lateral pins C–F inside the smart socket and the smart sockets
Table 2
becomes compatible with conventional 240 V HEA standards. The List of appliance priorities and their interpretation.
socket has six points and its plugs with three different DC voltage
Appliance priority Explanation
levels and an AC voltage as defined in Table 1.
selection
Fig. 4 illustrates a Matlab Simulink model of the proposed
p1: The first HEAs connected to p1 must be always supplied
domestic DC distribution system. The home distribution with
priority
120 V DC supplies sockets which contain DC/DC converters for p2: The second HEAs connected to p2 can be switched off after all p3
5 V and 48 V output voltages. Fig. 5 shows DC/DC converter designs priority sockets are turned off
used in the simulations. The DC/DC converters are composed of a p3: The third Operation of HEAs with p3 sockets can be postponed
priority by switching off
DC/DC chopper circuit [49] and a proportional integrator controller
(PI) controller driving Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) as in Fig. 5.
The PI controller controls voltage level appearing on the load and very essential peripherals components working in conjunction
improves voltage stability. Fig. 6 shows results obtained from the with smart meters in future smart house. This homes benefiting
Simulink simulation model of the domestic DC distribution system. from advantages of DC distribution can also provide AC power to
The figure shows that the smart socket supplies 240 V AC, 5 V, 48 V their conventional HEAs simply by DC/AC conversion.
and 120 V DC voltages. These DC/DC converters inside smart sock- When the DC and AC outlets are unloaded or overloaded by a
ets provided very consistent DC voltages at various loads (5 W, HEA, the microcontroller can detect load status of outlets and
200 W and 1000 W) in the simulations. switch off them to reduce energy loses in standby state of HEAs
When DC generation, transmission and distribution are used in and thus makes the power distribution more secure and efficient
power distribution, hybrid DC/AC outlet smart sockets becomes [50].
 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688 685

Load shedding by smart sockets and they can be switched off, conditionally. Table 2 summarizes
operation of the three appliance priority options.
One of the substantial provisions of a smart grid is to DSLM SM performs control of smart switches according to appliance
applications [51]. DSLM application provides demand elasticity priority setting on sockets. A load shedding algorithm, applying
and increase of domestic DSLM tools greatly enhances the grid for the maximum power limitation control scheme, is illustrated
flexibility. Domestic DSLM systems implementing load shifting, in Fig. 7. Total power consumptions of sockets groups with priority
load scheduling and load shedding algorithms make possible so selection p1, p2 and p3 are denoted by P1, P2 and P3, and expressed
called ‘‘peak shaving’’, which refers to postponing trivial demands as,
at the peak demand times [52] and this leads to flatten the load X
P1 ¼ pi ; ð1Þ
curve [16,53–56] and reduces excessive energy generation.
i2p1
This section illustrates a direct load control application based
on appliance prioritization, which aims to limit peak power con- X
P2 ¼ pi ; ð2Þ
sumption with respect to peak price preferences of users. Since
i2p2
user preferences vary depending on environmental, social and eco-
nomical conditions, the consumption of smart house should be X
P3 ¼ pi ; ð3Þ
configurable by domestic consumers [52–55]. The proposed smart
i2p3
socket are designed to be configurable for three appliance priority
selection, denoted by p1, p2 and p3, by a sliding priority selection where pi presents measured power consumption of the socket i and
bottom on the smart socket as represented in Fig. 3. The priority i e p1 [ p2 [ p3. A socket belongs to only and only one priority
selection indicates operational priority of the home appliance con- selection set, so p1 \ p2 \ p3 = /. Total home consumption can be
nected to a smart socket and sets the consumer preference while written as,
performing load shedding. The p1 states that HEAs connected to X
phome ¼ pi ¼ P1 þ P2 þ P 3 : ð4Þ
a socket with highest priority and they are never switched off. i2p1[p2[p3
Selecting p2 and p3 indicates the second and third priority sockets

Start

Calculate total powers of

socket groups:
- P1 for p1 socket groups
- P2 for p2 socket groups
- P3 for p3 socket groups

pmax = cmax / c(t ) + pr (t ) + p s (t )

Wait for a
p hom e = P1 + P2 + P3 sampling period

p hom e ≤ p max Yes All sockets works

No

-Turn off p3 sockets from high power to low

P1 + P2 ≤ pmax < phom e Yes power one by one until p hom e ≤ p max
- Keep working all p2 and p1 sockets

No

- Turn off all p3 sockets

Yes - Turn off p2 sockets from high power to
P1 ≤ p max < P1 + P2
low power one by one until p hom e ≤ p max .
- Keep working all p1 sockets
No

Yes - Turn off all sockets in p3 sockets

pmax < P1 - Turn off all sockets in p2 sockets
- Keep working all p1 sockets

No

Fig. 7. Load shedding algorithm based on a maximum power consumption control scheme.
686 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688

The algorithm aims to limit the home power consumption a

(phome) to a maximum allowable peak power limit, pmax. The algo-
rithm performed by SM periodically checks the power consump- P1 + P2 + P3
3000
tion and appliance priority status of sockets (pi) and sends switch
on/off requests to the smart sockets to keeps the total power con- P1 + P2
sumption of house as pmax P phome P P 1 . When the total home 2500
power consumption exceeds maximum peak power limits
(phome > pmax), SM requests switching off for smart sockets accord-
ing to their priority and power rates: The algorithm sends the 2000
P1
switch off requests starting from lowest priority and highest power
sockets. Thus, a large number of HEAs according to their priority 1500 p max
(significance) can continue working. This maximizes priorities
and the number of working HEAs, while load shedding. p hom e
Since the sockets with p1 priority never switched off even 1000
5 10 15 20
though phome > pmax, the socket of substantial HEAs, which have
Hours
to work continuously, should be configured to p1 priority. The
algorithm performs reduction of home consumption as long as b 0.8
phome > pmax and pmax > P1. It requests switch on starting from high
0.6
priority and low power sockets.

c(t)
Fig. 8 illustrates an hourly load shedding simulation results 0.4
obtained from the maximum power limitation control algorithm. 0.2
This algorithm can adaptively stabilize the electrical cost under 0
dynamically varying electricity pricing condition of future smart 5 10 15 20
grids. In the simulation, consumers set an upper bound for the Hours
maximum electricity cost of building and SM calculates the maxi-
mum allowable peak power by, Priority Selections
p1 p1 p 2 p1 p 3 p 2 p 2 p 2 p1 p 3 p 3 p1 p 3 p 2
pmax ðtÞ ¼ cmax =cðtÞ þ pr ðtÞ þ ps ðtÞ: ð5Þ c

Here, c(t) represents the online unit electricity price (per kilo-
20
watt) received by SM from the transmission or distribution system
operators, and cmax is the maximum electricity cost presetting of
consumers. The parameter pr(t) is instant power of renewable 15
energy generation and the parameter ps(t) is instant power of
Hours

energy storage system. The continuous DC energy integration pre-

fers utilization of renewable energy and storage to building 10
demand. In case of insufficient renewable energy generation, grid
energy is used to overcome energy deficiency. The SM performs
the following strategy in conjunction with continuous DC energy 5
integration method.

(i) As long as pr + ps > phome, SM supplies energy completely 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

from renewable energy and storage systems and the algo-
rithm does not shed any load due to pmax > phome.
(ii) If pr + ps < phome < pmax, SM supplies required energy from
the grid and the algorithm does not shed any load.
(iii) In the case of pr + ps < pmax < phome, SM supplies required
energy from the grid and the algorithm also performs load
shedding according to appliance priority status of sockets
and their power requirements.
Smart Sockets
: On State : Off State
Fig. 8. Hourly load shedding simulation results obtained from the maximum power
consumption control algorithm (a) pmax and phome profiles (Watt); (b) online unit
electricity price (unit price per kilowatt) (cmax = 1 unit price). (c) Smart switch
hourly operations (green is for on and red is for off). (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.)

In the simulation scenario, we assumed the electrical energy

prices at midnight tariff between 1:00 and 5:00 decreases due to
the low energy demand in these hours. This raised pmax over
3 kW in Fig. 8(a) and therefore all sockets can operate at 3:00 in
Fig. 8(c). However, due to increasing electricity cost in day time
as seen in Fig. 8(b), pmax decreases levels of 1500–2000 kW band
and SM switches off the low-priority switches (p2 and p3) as illus-
trated in Fig. 8(c) to postpone the excessive consumption. But, it
does not switch off any p1 priority switches even though pmax < P1
between 8:00 and 20:00 h. In other words, SM keeps working all p1
priority switches and the condition phome > P1 is accomplished for
all essential HEAs. Thus, power management can be retained oper-
ationally reliable for consumers.
This algorithm enables adaptive control of total domestic
demand via dynamic electricity pricing broadcasted in communi-
cation infrastructure of smart grid and contributes to increasing
grid flexibility. The demand elasticity is one of key factor facilitat-
ing penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources to power
systems [46].
Conclusions
This study presents a DC distribution system concept for smart
houses. The concept gives a perspective for energy efficient green
buildings capable of DSLM. Paper discusses a possible DC voltage
level standardization according to power rates of HEAs and pre-
sents fundamental components required for smart DC power man-
agement system such as SM, domestic DC distribution systems and
the smart sockets. Advantages of DC power distribution with smart
sockets in residences are emphasized in term of domestic renew-
able energy and storage integration and DSLM.
 C. Keles et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 679–688 687

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