Assessment of the Impact of Equipment Start-Stop Control on Optimal Scheduling of Distributed Energy Systems

The operational performance of Distributed Energy Systems (DES) is closely associated with the off-design characteristics of their equipment, and the dynamic operational behavior of DES can be effectively adjusted via equipment start-stop control strategies. To clarify the impact of such strategies on DES operation, this study establishes an optimal scheduling model that considers the minimum operating cost as the optimization objective and incorporates the start-stop constraints of energy conversion equipment. The Gurobi solver was employed to solve the proposed model. Compared with scheduling schemes without start-stop control, the integration of start-stop control reduced the primary energy consumption of the DES by 5.65%, carbon dioxide emissions by 4.72%, and operating costs by 4.05%. Even under energy price fluctuations, these three indicators maintained a declining trend. This study demonstrates that incorporating equipment start-stop control into DES optimal scheduling enhances the economic efficiency and environmental sustainability of system operation.