Generation of flexible domestic load profiles to evaluate demand side management approaches

Various Demand Side Management (DSM) approaches have been developed the last couple of years to avoid costly grid upgrades. However, evaluation of these DSM methodologies is usually restricted to a use-case specific example, making comparison between different DSM approaches hard. This paper presents a novel, open source, load profile generator to evaluate and compare DSM approaches. In addition to static load profiles for both active and reactive power, it also provides flexibility information for various classes of controllable domestic devices. Load profiles and flexibility information are generated using a simple behavioural simulation. The output data uses 1 minute intervals and incorporates device measurements. The generated profiles are in sound with the measurement data obtained in a field test on both the household level and aggregated neighbourhood level. The same dynamics, such as unbalanced loading and rapid power consumption fluctuations, are observed in the generated model.