Potential and optimization of a price-based control strategy for improving energy flexibility in Mediterranean buildings

Abstract The present study proposes the implementation and fine-tuning of a rule-based control strategy aiming to improve the energy flexibility of residential buildings in the Mediterranean area. The adopted control reacts to the time-varying electricity price signal, and modulates the set-point for space heating and domestic hot water production accordingly. A parametric study on three control variables of the control algorithm was carried out, in order to choose appropriate values. The analysed outcome consisted mainly in the provided flexibility, the impact on the comfort conditions, and the evolution of the energy use and costs compared to a standard reference case. After tuning the control strategy, a decrease in energy costs of around 22 to 26% was observed, along with an important shifting of heating loads towards low energy price periods. The proposed control additionally caused an increase of energy use of 2 to 4%, without jeopardizing comfort conditions. These results emphasize the potential of residential buildings for energy flexibility in the Mediterranean area.