Autonomous coordination of smart buildings in microgrids based on a double-sided auction

Abstract

The ongoing change of energy policies has been paving the path to a more sustainable energy production via the smart grids. The developed legal framework has encouraged the households to install PV systems, batteries and micro combined heat and power plants (micro-CHP) to increase their own economic benefit. A home energy management system (HEMS) has been taking over the responsibility of managing the available in-house energy generation systems, and shiftable loads such as white goods, heat pumps or electrical vehicles. The economic benefit generated by the HEMS is localized and dependent on the in-house energy generation systems' capabilities. Consequently, a smart community microgrid, in which a local energy management system (LEMS) is integrated, provides not only an optimal planning within the microgrid, but also within the building itself via coordinating with the HEMS. The main challenges facing the LEMS are the data privacy of the households, decision decentralization, and fair division of economic benefit. In this paper, a double-sided auction mechanism is presented for the smart microgrids, where in-house energy supply and demand devices are participating to maximize economic benefit, and microgrid autonomy.