Energy Systems Integration Newsletter August 2018

Managing residential energy use with foresee, Eagle succeeds Peregrine in NREL supercomputing, and Colombia calls on NREL for energy auction planning

Between the obligations of programming devices, tailoring them to taste, and monitoring their energy impact, tenants of the future might not find their smart appliances so smart. In anticipation of an Internet of Things invasion, NREL researchers have developed foresee^TM, an energy management system that coordinates and automates appliances to meet user’s preferences.

“At foresee’s core is a goal of running the home in a balanced way that best serves that family’s unique values and schedule,” said Dane Christensen, principal investigator of the foresee project. The software first asks users to rank what is most important to them about living in their home. It then takes those preferences into account when automatically adjusting the devices.

Comfort is only part of the picture, however. Throughout testing in NREL’s realistic “homes,” foresee has shown dramatic energy cost savings, in the range of 10%–15%.

“Saving even 5% of every home’s energy [use] would put about $10 billion back in American homeowners’ pockets each year,” said Christensen. Foresee’s functionality was also validated in case studies with different climates, and the software maintained significant cost savings whether “in” Hawaii or Washington.

To develop and evaluate foresee, NREL partnered with Bosch—a major manufacturer of home appliances and air conditioners and an expert on embedded cybersecurity—and Colorado State University to build on its prior work related to preference-driven building automation.

Read the foresee feature story to learn more.

Competition in Colombia Sparks Renewable Energy Expansion

Colombia will host its first renewable energy auction in 2019, hoping to boost its renewable portfolio and buffer its hydro-dominated energy sector against debilitating drought seasons. Auction participants will bid for the lowest energy per kilowatt-hour rate, which will decide who can develop 3,443,000 MWh of solar, wind, or biomass.

Colombia was supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development and NREL throughout the auction's planning. Learn how NREL expertise is helping the Colombian government transform its energy sector.

Q&A with Kristen Ardani: From Research to Rooftops

In this month’s Q&A, we spoke with Kristen Ardani. Ardani is the Solar Program Lead at NREL, where she focuses on strategies for PV system deployment and studies of solar market costs. Ardani also helps lead the Solar Energy Innovation Network, an ambitious initiative from NREL to coordinate solar research among entities across the United States.

Learn more about Ardani’s work in our full conversation.

Peregrine Superseded by Eagle: High-Performance Computing at NREL to be Upgraded, Operational by 2019

Less than 5 years ago, NREL’s newly installed Peregrine supercomputer soared to heights unrivaled in the renewable energy world: like its namesake, it was the fastest in its class, bestowing 2.26 petaflops of computation on renewable energy research and collecting accolades for its innovative and efficient design.

Now Peregrine is retiring in the shadow of another bird. Eagle, NREL’s new high-performance computer, will be 3.5 times more powerful than Peregrine, capping out at 8 petaflops, with 14 petabytes of high-speed data storage. Like Peregrine, Eagle will be built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and will include the latest Intel processors. Read the full story to learn more.

NREL Team Successfully Demonstrates Peer-to-Peer Energy Exchange

A new kind of energy transaction has been validated at NREL; it is fast, secure, and peer-to-peer. Results from NREL’s blockchain energy market research demonstrate the viability of connecting two homes in an autonomous energy exchange, where excess electricity from one home is sold to another according to a predetermined contract.

The homes, managed by NREL’s foresee software, were tested in the ESIF with real residential loads and solar PV generation. The market application—developed by the project team—delivers contract pricing to foresee, allowing the software to determine when to purchase electricity and ultimately optimize appliance operations for cost savings. The peer-to-peer purchases are accordant with a secure contract, established on a blockchain network, with transactions facilitated by project partner, BlockCypher.

Future research from the team will consider the implications of scaling blockchain energy markets to a distribution grid, such as how utilities will interact with such a market and how the market can contribute to resiliency and cybersecurity.

Learn more about blockchain technology at NREL.

New Positions in Power Systems: NREL Is Hiring Two Group Managers

Two managerial positions are now available in power systems engineering at NREL. Both positions will provide technical vision, strategic leadership and guidance, capability and intellectual asset stewardship, and management and direction for research groups within NREL’s Power Systems Engineering Center.

Group Manager of Power System Design and Studies: The focus of the group is on research and development of simulation tools and methods to study the integration of clean energy technologies into the electric power system without impacting reliability and at an acceptable cost as well as on conducting in-depth studies. The candidate will have a strong record of technical accomplishment in electrical and power engineering and previous management and budget development experience.

Group Manager of Energy Systems Optimization and Control: The focus of the group is on research and development of tools and methods for optimization, control, and real-time operations of electric power systems at all scales. The candidate will have a strong record of technical accomplishment in electrical and power engineering and previous management and budget development experience.

Two New Pubs in Energy Systems Integration

Coordinated Optimization of Multiservice Dispatch for Energy Storage Systems with Degradation Model for Utility Applications: Energy storage systems (ESS) will be an essential component of the electrified future. They help integrate renewables onto the grid and can provide grid support at both the transmission and distribution level. Looking ahead, utilities will need to understand the value of ESS when stacked with multiple other services, such as frequency regulation or active/reactive power support. This paper evaluates ESS use cases and presents a methodology that is developed to strategically dispatch ESS. The work was done in collaboration with San Diego Gas & Electric Company.

Coordinated Use of Smart Inverters with Legacy Voltage Regulating Devices in Distribution Systems with High Distributed PV Penetration—Increase CVR Energy Savings: Historically, utilities have managed their distribution system voltage profiles by controlling legacy voltage regulating devices, such as load tap changers and shunt capacitors. Following the 2014 amendment to IEEE 1547, however, inverter-based generation has been allowed to participate in distribution voltage regulation. This paper studies the coordinated use of smart inverters with legacy devices to conserve energy and reduce peak load.

Hurricane Response Efforts Described as “Largest in DOE History” at Energy Secretary’s Honor Awards

NREL researchers Michael Ingram, Eliza Hotchkiss, and Gregg Tomberlin were recognized for their outstanding support in recovery and rebuilding efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands at the DOE Secretary’s Honor Awards on August 29, 2018. As part of the 2017 Hurricane Response Team, the researchers joined dozens of individuals who contributed to federal emergency response efforts in 2017, including the 2018 hurricane season.

During the past year, DOE employees and contractors have demonstrated exemplary service and dedication to help regions throughout the country respond to and recover from devastating energy disruption events, including hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. As the presenter of the award described, the 2017 hurricane season was the costliest and “largest emergency response effort in DOE history.”

Energy Secretary Tours ESIF, Stresses Public-Private Partnerships

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry visited NREL earlier this month for a half day of tours and talks. Throughout his visit, Perry emphasized the importance of collaboration with industry—a message that he shared with representatives of 120 companies who were also on campus for the national laboratory’s second annual Partner Forum.

Perry’s visit included a walk through the ESIF alongside U.S. Senator Cory Gardner, R-Colo, and NREL Director Martin Keller. The group toured the hydrogen fueling station and the site of the soon-to-be-updated supercomputer. Perry’s visit culminated in a town hall meeting where he praised NREL’s work and suggested that corporate partnerships for the laboratory is the “common sense approach.”

Watch the video to learn more.

The Transportation World Beyond Tomorrow is Here Today

Sustainable mobility research at NREL spans a variety of arenas, from connected and automated vehicle and infrastructure technologies to controls that integrate vehicles with energy, road, communication, building, and mass-transit systems.

One way NREL does this is through the work of researchers Stan Young and Venu Garikapati, who are investigating how transportation options work together. As shown in a recent video, Young and Garikapati are investigating the best way to get people and goods where they need to go with maximum convenience, efficiency, and affordability, while minimizing traffic congestion.

Resilience Week Convenes Thought Leaders in Critical, Fast-Moving Space

Idaho National Laboratory and sponsors recently hosted Resilience Week in Denver, bringing private and public partners together to identify opportunities to enhance the security and reliability of critical energy infrastructures across the country. Representing NREL, Eliza Hotchkiss, Juan Torres, and Adam Warren attended the event, participating in plenary sessions that focused on cybersecurity R&D, communications networks, and resilient communities.

At a time when energy resilience has become a priority in many cities—from the growing awareness of weather-related grid disturbances or potential cyberattacks to the power grid—Hotchkiss, who attended as a moderator and speaker, emphasized that coordination between national labs in this area is crucial.

“The venue provided an excellent opportunity for engineers and researchers to talk about what is needed, such as resilience metrics, the value of resilience, furthering the science of resilience, and how to collaborate across the federal family,” she said. “There’s so much going on in this busy, fast-moving space, underlining the need for greater knowledge sharing among national labs, as well as with state, city, and industry partners.”

Learn more about NREL’s work in energy resilience and cybersecurity.