Load management strategy for an OFF-grid switched mode in smart MicroGrid systems

Smart grid is designed to overcome the current power grid inefficiency, and to compensate the exhaustible fuelfossil based energy by the use of the renewable energy resources. While working in an ON/OFF-grid switching mode, the system work normally in an `' mode that allows the exchange of the energy flow between the provider and the consumer. Thus, when a fault occurred in the grid, the home energy management system switches to the off-grid mode in which the user consumes what it produces, and in the case of insufficiency low-priority loads are shifted. This paper proposes a strategy that manages the local energy during the isolation period and distributes it efficiently among the load in a way that the critical loads get maximum energy security. The strategy consists of a shifting/shedding algorithm that keeps the total household appliances below a defined threshold, allows load flexibility, gives the customer the ability to control the home appliances, and takes account of his preferences.