Time-series data clustering with load-shape preservation for identifying residential energy consumption behaviors

Abstract

Categorizing residential energy demand patterns is a principal task for demand-side management (DSM) and energy-saving strategies. While deep learning (DL)-based clustering offers a promising alternative to conventional machine learning (ML), DL's advantages and disadvantages over ML still remain unclear in identifying energy demand patterns. Moreover, prevalent DL-based clustering can suffer from catastrophic feature distortion when capturing load-shape information from energy-load data, leading to erroneous pattern identification. To address these issues, we propose integrating a load-shape preservation mechanism into representative DL-based clustering and investigate its effectiveness in categorizing energy demand patterns, compared to existing ML and DL. We experiment and compare the three clustering approaches using one-year residential energy-load data. Results show that the proposed DL, equipped with load-shape preservation, outperformed ML quantitatively and closely aligns with the baseline DL's performance. This is particularly significant considering that the baseline DL prioritizes quantitative enhancements, sometimes compromising load-shape precision. Furthermore, the proposed DL discovered more diverse energy demand patterns than the baseline ML and DL, while producing more human-agreeable results. This finding underscores the pivotal role of load-shape preservation in enhancing data clustering and demand pattern recognition in the real-world. These benefits will facilitate personalized DSM interventions and foster residents’ energy-saving behaviors.