Implementing demand response in the park: leveraging specialized agents for large-scale inverter air conditioners

A significant number of decentralized Inverter Air Conditioners (IACs) have been installed within the industrial park, and effectively leveraging the regulation capabilities of these appliances is crucial for park operators in engaging with demand response (DR). However, the operational characteristics, environments, user behaviors, and habits of the numerous IACs within the park vary widely, presenting challenges for operators when guiding their participation in DR. First, a framework has been proposed to enable the large-scale participation of IAC Agents in DR. This framework integrates qualitative guidance with quantitative control, drastically simplifying the complexity of DR implementation while effectively enhancing the robustness of benefits for park operators. Second, a qualitative guidance strategy based on customer directrix load (CDL) has been introduced, with the derived CDL serving as the guiding profile for all IAC Agents. This strategy ensures that, even under the most adverse conditions, it remains possible to aggregate a significant number of decentralized and random IAC Agents at minimal cost, thereby achieving substantial collective impact. Next, drawing on the concepts of embodied general artificial intelligence, IAC Agents have been developed across four dimensions: proactive perception, proactive interaction, proactive action, and proactive evolution. This development allows them to effectively integrate cyber-physical-social attributes during DR periods, striving to align their load shapes with the issued CDL targets. Finally, a simulation of the scenario involving 12,000 IAC Agents participating in DR was conducted using the discrete event simulation framework SimPy to evaluate its collective impact and the performance of the IAC Agents. The results indicate that the proposed method demonstrates significant advantages in terms of economy, reliability, robustness, timeliness, and user satisfaction, and it may serve as a viable technical approach for park operators managing large-scale IAC participation in DR.