# Sustainable Operation of Active Distribution Networks
## 1 Introduction  
The increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in power systems affects their reliability, efficiency, and operation cost. Therefore, it is essential to promote, optimally operate, and control active distribution networks in order to achieve the qualitative and cost-effective operation of future electric power systems. The study of residential building power management and control has received a lot of attention. The home energy management systems (EMSs) studied in [1, 2] were exclusively used to optimally control only the power of a residence with renewable energy sources and an energy storage system (ESS). Aiming to decrease the power consumption, the EMS presented in [3] exploits the load and generation forecast, in contrast to [4]. In [5], a fuzzy logic controller was designed for the power management of residential microgrids including distributed generation and energy storage units. However, their ability to control the energy demand was not examined, contrary to studies [6, 7] that considered controllable house appliances that are optimally scheduled to reduce the amount of grid-supplied energy. The EMSs examined in [8, 9] were deployed in smart residential buildings and aimed at the minimization of the electricity cost and peak load shaving by the appropriate operation scheduling of household devices. In [10, 11], the researchers optimally managed the power consumption by regulating heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems of residential buildings with suitable load shifting methods and analyzed the HVAC power demand profile for various building characteristics. The maximum energy cost saving was achieved, while a sufficient level of thermal comfort was ensured. A proper modeling of the thermal and electrical loads as well as the energy storage system of a smart home was developed in [12]. A strategy to optimize energy usage throughthe appropriate scheduling of domestic appliances, while maintaining user comfort levels within a predetermined range was also proposed. Algorithms for the efficient energy management of residential RESs and battery energy storage systems and the optimal sizing of these units were developed in [13]. The main objective of this work was the maximization of the energy use produced by the RESs and the reduction in the system's overall cost. Studies [14; 15] have also focused on the analysis of building energy consumption profiles. Specifically, the authors in [14] evaluated the influence of the occupants' age on the energy consumption of the residential sector. Daily energy consumption habits and trends in residential buildings were identified in [15], mainly through statistical methods and smart metering systems. In [16], a method for the coordinated operation of an active distribution network (ADN) comprising a microgrid of large office building prosumers and PEVs was examined. This method focuses on the interaction of the microgrid and the active distribution network and enables them not to disclose to each other their respective internal technical characteristics and information. In contrast, the work presented in this paper examined the optimization of distributed small residential prosumers of a distribution network, which is a completely different problem. The operation scheduling and control of PEVs has been the subject of extensive research. In [17], a vehicle to grid (V2G) operation was exploited. The PEVs inject power to the electric grid in order to reduce PEV charging cost. Nevertheless, the network constraints were not considered and the proposed method was applied only to each PEV. Numerous research works have focused on the PEVs' charging management, taking into account the distribution network constraints [18; 19; 20; 21]. In [21], PEV aggregation techniques were employed for the most effective control of the distribution network.