Electricity consumption and load control possibilities: residential energy monitoring in Sweden

Panel: Panel 2: Dynamics of Consumption

Author:
Gregory North, Lund University

Abstract

In a bid to find ways to improve the use and management of electricity within the Swedish residential market, an investigation is being undertaken with the purpose of finding some of the individual factors of this consumption and what are the possibilities of its control. The electricity users within this study are all connected to their supplier via an automatic one-hour metering system that allows for the possibility to provide two-way communication. This feature is intended to be utilised to control either specific electrical devices automatically by the supplier for certain periods or to provide the necessary information to allow the actual customers to subjectively control their own load.

With the addition of customer surveys, a general picture on the driving factors and control possibilities of the consumption can be obtained. This picture shows for a typical residential user group many factors on their electricity consumption. These factors included, for instance, the types of devices installed within the household, the variation in actual usage and the positives and negative aspects of control for both the end-user and the supplier.