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Smart appliances for smart grids: Flexibility in the face of uncertainty

Panel: 6. Innovations in buildings and appliances

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Author:
George Wilkenfeld, George Wilkenfeld and Associates Pty Ltd, Energy and Environmental Policy Consultants, Australia

Abstract

A smart grid needs smart appliances. There is no single global standard for communications between energy utilities and appliances. The existence of multiple pathways is itself a market barrier, because products that are compatible with one utility’s system may not work in another’s, and appliance manufacturers find it too risky to commit to a particular communications strategy that may have only limited takeup.

Progress to develop global open standards has been slow, so Australian governments have developed a strategy based on flexibility and simplicity, that is compatible with existing systems such as Zigbee and Homeplug but allows for appliances to interact with different systems over time.

Australian Standard AS4755 defines a simple demand response interface for air conditioners, swimming pool pump controllers, water heaters using electricity and charge/discharge controllers for electric vehicles. Australian government are investigating the costs and benefits of making AS4755 interfaces mandatory for these appliances, perhaps as soon as 2011.

The priority appliances have been selected because of their present or projected contribution to peak demand, their capacity to store energy during periods of low supply price or high availability of renewable generation. Unlike refrigerators or clothes dryers, they are fixed in place and do not move with the householder, so once a communication pathway is established it remains useful for the life of the appliance and the house.

This paper explains the AS4755 demand response interface, and how it interacts with a range of home area network protocols and with smart meters (for which Australia is also developing national standards). It also summarises the cost-benefit case for making the interface mandatory for appliances and smart meters in Australia.

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Download this paper as pdf: 6-180_Wilkenfeld.pdf

Download this presentation as pdf: 6-180_Wilkenfeld_pre.pdf