Evaluating the Energy Conservation Effects of Implementing Automatic Voltage Regulator: A Case Study of Department Stores

Montree Utakrue, Nuttapon Chaiduangsri, Narongkorn Uthathip and Nattawoot Suwannata ()
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Montree Utakrue: Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand
Nuttapon Chaiduangsri: Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand
Narongkorn Uthathip: Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand
Nattawoot Suwannata: Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-27

Abstract: Commercial buildings and shopping malls face rising electricity costs and increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices. This paper presents the first long-term, multi-site empirical validation of Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) deployment in Thai retail facilities, providing robust evidence for tropical, motor-heavy load contexts. The study evaluates the engineering, economic, and environmental performance of an AVR with an autotransformer core under real operating conditions. High-resolution measurements were collected before and after AVR installation, using Class 0.2s analyzers and a Building Energy Management System (BEMS) across multiple branches during a four-month monitoring campaign (February–May). Results indicate that a modest voltage reduction of 8.06% yielded a 12.02% decrease in active power demand, a 6.22% current reduction, and a 2.26% improvement in power factor. The greatest savings occurred in HVAC (8.19%) and refrigeration loads (8.20%), while lighting loads remained nearly unchanged. Economically, the system delivered ~177 kWh/day savings, equivalent to 262,212 THB/year, with a simple payback of 2.67 years and an ROI of 37.5%. Environmentally, the AVR reduced 36.6 tCO 2 /year (±5%), aligning with Thailand’s Energy Efficiency Plan (EEP) 2018–2037 and Carbon Neutrality Roadmap and offering additional potential for T-VER monetization. These findings confirm AVR technology as a scalable, standards-compliant, and high-return retrofit solution for commercial facilities in tropical climates.

Keywords: Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR); autotransformer; voltage optimization; energy conservation; economic evaluation; CO 2 reduction; BEMS; Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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