Demand Side Management And Demand Response For Optimal Energy Usage: An Overview

Being more than a decade old idea, the Demand-side management (DSM) is among the most vital part of the modern smart grid. DSM enables the utilities to minimize the gap between the supply and the demand by optimizing their pattern of user loads. At the same time, it helps them in achieving economic and energy efficient systems by reducing the peak to average (PAR). The implementation of DSM programs by the utilities could help them in improving their reliability, power quality, energy, and system efficiency. On the other hand, customers could be use it to improve their load profile, reduce the peak demands, save energy, and motivate them use more and more renewable energy. Thus, both the utilities and the consumers get benefitted by the implementation of DSM program in the smart grid. This study tries to understand the application of energy efficient policies and the demand response techniques with various DSM strategies. The study mainly focuses on the various characteristics that would lead to effective implementation of DSM programs with particular attention of the residential energy demand. Also, there will be a focus on enhancement of energy efficiency leading to more effective policy responses. The researchers could find this study very helpful as it could be employed to maximize the utility profits, the total load factor, peak demand and also minimize the consumer usage bills

Optimal Dispatch and Technical and Economic Feasibility Analysis of Residential Microgrids Considering Demand Side Management

Abstract The electrical system is becoming more robust with the insertion of distributed energy resources (DERs) and the need for energy autonomy by consumers, given that the current scenario is a growth in demand for electric energy. This paper aims to apply a computational model capable of determining the optimal hourly allocation of controllable loads in residence, as well as studying the optimal dispatch of residential microgrids considering management on the demand side. In addition, this paper presents an economic feasibility analysis of residential microgrids considering distributed generation from wind and solar sources, distributed storage, electric vehicles, and residential controllable loads. Thus, it was possible to conclude that in residence, the insertion of distributed energy generation and storage elements can present a significant reduction in electric energy costs, which can be even greater if these elements are associated with optimized controllable load management.

Demand Manager for Energy Consumer with Local Storage and Microgeneration

Abstract The current reality of the energy market requires generation, control, distribution and consumption to become more efficient. Recent arrangements with electric energy stored in accumulators appear as strategic tools in the environment where the cost of energy supplied by the concessionaires and permission holders has accumulated successive increases, indirectly enabling the control and management of applications of micro or local minigeneration, from renewable sources in general. Systems with energy storage (e.g. batteries) and local demand management (many consumer units) achieve great efficiency by allowing the optimized consumption of the available energy, both by the local power grid and by the accumulated grid. Other advantages are presented for the distributors, allowing the relief of the electricity network, remunerating the investment in reduced intervals of time. Consideration should be given to the possibility of local autonomy, even if partially, by providing energy from the storage to the local loads in eventual failures in the supply of energy by the distribution network or at times where supply has a higher cost.

The demand-side investigation of undergraduate talents training for health management major / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objectives To understand the current situation and evaluation about the employer's demand of knowledge level and comprehensive ability of professional undergraduate talents in the health management. Methods Using self-designed questionnaire, the investigation was carried out on the company executives and teachers from 12 health management-related enterprises where health management graduates of Hangzhou Normal University practice internships . A total of 31 valid questionnaires were recovered . SPSS 19.0 software was used to conduct descriptive analysis, hierarchical analysis and rank-sum test of one-way ordinal data. Results Employers believe that students need to strengthen the knowledge of health man-agement and medical knowledge, and the top three skills that students are most likely to improve are common disease management skills, health risk factors intervention skills and health monitoring skills. Amongst those areas of professional abilities that need improving, three of the most important skill sets include suffi-cient fundamental knowledge in medicine and pharmacology, analytical and problem-solving abilities and teamwork as well as communication skills. There is a significant difference among the level of students' pro-fessional knowledge, the level of their professional skills and the level of their comprehensive ability by the rank-sum test (P<0.05). Conclusion According to the results of the demand-side's survey, training of health management undergraduate talents should increase the proportion of teaching about medical theory knowledge, redesign practical teaching modules, carry out foreign language learning as well as promoting the training method of health talents by the means of information, in order to optimize the training of profes-sional health talents through multi-angle as well as multi-level.

Utilising Time of Use Surveys to Predict Domestic Hot Water Consumption and Heat Demand Profiles of Residential Building Stocks.

Aims: The prediction of water consumption patterns is a challenge, especially when water metering is not available at scale. The use of time-of-use survey (TUS) data offers an alternative to metering in order to track the general patterns of water consumption across large and representative groups of end-users. The paper focuses on the prediction of analytical domestic hot water (DHW) demand profiles for detailed building archetype models, using an occupant focused approach based on TUS data. The paper illustrates and discusses the resulting capability of dwelling archetypes to capture variations in heat demand and energy usage for water heating on a national scale and at high time resolution. Methodology: Five dwelling types are considered over different construction periods, representative of the majority of the Irish residential stock, which is used here as a case study. They are modelled at room level using EnergyPlus and converted into archetype models. A bottom-up approach is utilised to develop the required operational data at high space and time resolution. That methodology applies Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques to TUS activity data to develop activity-specific profiles for occupancy and domestic equipment electricity use. It is extended to DHW demand profiles by combining the probability distributions for particular TUS activities with average daily DHW consumptions, depending on the household size, day type and season. Results: The archetype models capture variations in DHW consumption, heat demand and energy usage for DHW heating, on a national scale and a fifteen-minute basis. Moreover, they are found to be 90% accurate with the Irish standard dwelling energy assessment procedure in estimating the annual energy requirements for DHW heating. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential for utilising time of use surveys to predict domestic water demand profiles on a national scale and at high time resolution.

Access to and utilization of voucher scheme for referral transport: a qualitative study in a district of West Bengal, India.

Background: Lack of motorized transport in remote areas and cash in resourceconstrained settings are major obstacles to women accessing skilled care when giving birth. To address these issues, a cashless voucher transport scheme to enable women to give birth in a health-care institution, covering poor and marginalized women, was initiated by the National Rural Health Mission in selected districts of India in 2009. Methods: The access to and utilization of the voucher scheme were assessed between December 2010 and February 2011 through a qualitative study in the district of Purulia, West Bengal, India. Data were collected from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with women, front-line health-care workers, programme managers and service providers. Results: The main factors influencing coverage and utilization of the scheme were: reliance on ill-prepared gram panchayats (village councils) for identification of eligible women; poor birth preparedness initiatives by health-care workers; overreliance on telephone communication; restricted availability of vehicles, especially at night and in remote areas; no routine monitoring; drivers’ demand for extra money in certain situations; and low reimbursement for drivers for long-distance travel. Conclusion: Departure from guidelines, ritualistic implementation and little stress on preparedness of both the community and the health system were major obstacles. Increased enthusiasm among stakeholders and involvement of the community would provide opportunities for strengthening the scheme.

A Taxonomy and Results from a Comprehensive Review of 28 Maternal Health Voucher Programmes.

It is increasingly clear that Millennium Development Goal 4 and 5 will not be achieved in many low- and middle-income countries with the weakest gains among the poor. Recognizing that there are large inequalities in reproductive health outcomes, the post-2015 agenda on universal health coverage will likely generate strategies that target resources where maternal and newborn deaths are the highest. In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development convened an Evidence Summit to review the knowledge and gaps on the utilization of financial incentives to enhance the quality and uptake of maternal healthcare. The goal was to provide donors and governments of the low- and middle-income countries with evidenceinformed recommendations on practice, policy, and strategies regarding the use of financial incentives, including vouchers, to enhance the demand and supply of maternal health services. The findings in this paper are intended to guide governments interested in maternal health voucher programmes with recommendations for sustainable implementation and impact. The Evidence Summit undertook a systematic review of five financing strategies. This paper presents the methods and findings for vouchers, building on a taxonomy to catalogue knowledge about voucher programme design and functionality. More than 120 characteristics under five major categories were identified: programme principles (objectives and financing); governance and management; benefits package and beneficiary targeting; providers (contracting and service pricing); and implementation arrangements (marketing, claims processing, and monitoring and evaluation). Among the 28 identified maternal health voucher programmes, common characteristics included: a stated objective to increase the use of services among the means-tested poor; contracted-out programme management; contracting either exclusively private facilities or a mix of public and private providers; prioritizing community-based distribution of vouchers; and tracking individual claims for performance purposes. Maternal voucher programmes differed on whether contracted providers were given training on clinical or administrative issues; whether some form of service verification was undertaken at facility or communitylevel; and the relative size of programme management costs in the overall programme budget. Evidence suggests voucher programmes can serve populations with national-level impact. Reaching scale depends on whether the voucher programme can: (i) keep management costs low, (ii) induce a large demand-side response among the bottom two quintiles, and (iii) achieve a quality of care that translates a greater number of facility-based deliveries into a reduction in maternal morbidity and mortality.

User charges in health care: Evidence of effect on service utilization & equity from north India.

Background & objectives: User charges have been advocated on efficiency grounds despite the widespread criticism about their adverse effect on equity. We assessed the effect of user charges on inpatient hospitalizations rate and equity in Haryana State. Methods: The inpatient department (IPD) statistics of the public sector facilities in Yamuna Nagar district where user charges had been introduced were analysed and compared with Rohtak district which did not have user charge between 2000 and 2006. National Sample Survey data of Haryana for the 2004-2005 period were analyzed to compare utilization of public sector facilities for hospitalization, cost of hospitalization, and prevalence of catastrophic out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure by income quintiles in three districts which had user charges and 17 districts of Haryana which did not levy user charges. Results: During 2000 and 2006, hospital admissions declined by 23.8 per cent in Yamuna Nagar district where user charges had been introduced compared to an almost static hospitalization rate in Rohtak district which did not have user charges (P<0.01). Public sector hospital utilization for inpatient services had a pro-rich (concentration index 0.144) distribution in the three districts with user charges and pro-poor (concentration index -0.047) in the 17 districts without user charges. Significantly higher prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure was observed in public sector institutions with user charges (48%) compared to those without user charges (35.4%) (P<0.001). Interpretation & conclusions: The findings of our study showed that user charges had a negative influence on hospitalizations in Haryana especially among the poor. Public policies for revenue generation should avoid user charges.