Performance indices for evaluating demand response services provided by thermostatically controlled appliances

This paper presents a set of performance indices to quantitatively evaluate the demand response services (DRSs) provided by thermostatically controlled appliances (TCAs). The performance indices correspond to the three main aspects of DRSs evaluation called service quality, consumer comfort, and device life time. In order to demonstrate the performance evaluation process, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) loads (as an example of TCA loads) are used and simulated for providing a DRS called load balancing service (LBS). The simulation results show that by comparing the performance indices, one can easily quantify the provided service quality and the trade-off made in terms of device lifetime and customer comfort levels.