Demand-side management in a smart micro-grid: A distributed approach based on Bayesian game theory

In this manuscript a novel strategy for distributed and autonomous demand-side energy management among users of a low-voltage micro-grid is developed. Its derivation is based on: a) modelling the energy consumption scheduling of the shiftable loads that belong to a given user as a noncooperative two-player game of incomplete information, in which the user himself plays against an opponent collecting all the other users of the same micro-grid; b) assuming that each user is endowed with statistical information about his behavior and that of its opponent, so that he can choose actions maximising his expected utility. Numerical results evidence the efficacy of the proposed strategy when employed to manage the charging of electric vehicles in a micro-grid.