Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for user satisfaction-induced demand-side load management for an institutional building

Abstract

The scope of this study is to present a suitable demand-side management technique to manage the load of a department in an educational institution located in Kanchipuram (12.9868° N, 79.9719° E), Tamil Nadu, India. The comfortable satisfaction level of the department is investigated on the basis of time and device preferences, and the absolute satisfaction of the user is evaluated. Demand-side management technique is incorporated to reduce the peak load. The optimized use of renewable energy with and without demand-side management strategy in grid-connected mode is analyzed. The feasibility study is accomplished by using HOMER simulation software for various configurations of renewable energy resources, such as solar photovoltaic, hydrogen fuel cell and backup facilities. The software simulation results indicated that the grid-connected solar and diesel generator system with demand-side management strategy is the suitable configuration in the view of economic perspective alone. However, when considering economic and environmental aspects, solar photovoltaic and grid configuration with demand-side management strategy proves to be effective. The Fuzzy-Analytical Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy-Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Situation approaches are used to evaluate the best suitable configuration based on technical, economic and environmental perspectives. These approaches also inferred that a grid-connected photovoltaic system with demand-side management strategy is most suitable in all aspects of this case study. A sensitivity analysis is performed to examine the cost variation of the designed system concerning uncertain parameters which indicates that the obtained results are consistent.