Energy Systems Integration Newsletter: July 2023

In this edition, software allows quantum computers to interface with grid equipment, NREL and the Black Farmers’ Collaborative explore solar installations in Florida, we share an analysis of floating photovoltaics potential for Asia, and more.

Quantum and the Grid: NREL Reveals Open-Source Interface for Quantum-Powered Research

We are still in the early days of just a few dozen qubits, but that did not stop NREL engineers and partners from designing an interface between quantum computers and power grid simulation equipment. Their reason: Power systems are shockingly complex, and the optimization algorithms of quantum computers might be the perfect match for modeling large grid problems. The quantum-in-the-loop experiment allows researchers to explore a potentially valuable application of a new and promising technology.

NREL Partners With Black Farmers’ Collaborative To Plan Solar Panels for Florida Farms and Churches

NREL researchers worked with the Black Farmers’ Collaborative to understand how to optimize farmland for agrivoltaics and plan solar for houses of worship in Florida through the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE’s) Clean Energy to Communities Expert Match program. This technical assistance was a pilot project of Expert Match, which aims to help communities address time-sensitive clean energy goals. Read more about this project and find out how Expert Match can help your community work toward a sustainable energy future.

Floating Photovoltaics Emerge as a Promising Solution for Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Future

For countries with abundant solar resource potential and limited land availability, floating photovoltaics, or FPV, has emerged as a potential clean energy solution. In a first-of-its-kind assessment, NREL researchers, funded by the laboratory’s partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Regional Development Mission for Asia, completed an analysis of FPV potential for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The report estimates the technical potential for the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and is coupled with a publicly accessible FPV data set available through the USAID-NREL Partnership’s Renewable Energy Data Explorer geospatial analysis tool. Learn more about the assessment.

NREL Researchers Provide Tools, Technical Support To Help Ukraine Realize a Resilient, Decentralized Renewable Energy Grid

Ukraine is maintaining its power and heating systems while its grid is constantly targeted by missiles and other attacks. Resilience—for the grid, for the people operating the grid, and for Ukraine—is essential for the country now and as it looks to the future. In partnership with USAID, NREL is offering support that will enable Ukraine to increase its energy independence and resilience by integrating more renewables into its national energy mix.

NREL recently published solar resource data for all of Ukraine. This data serves as the foundation for many other NREL-developed software platforms that help size and design solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The most popular of these, PVWatts^®, has been translated into the Ukrainian language to enable any Ukrainian to see how much energy solar PV panels on their building could generate. Learn more about the extent of NREL's support to Ukraine's energy sector.

Q&A With Samantha Reese: The Fix-It Engineer Who Digs Up Data To Fix the Planet

Years ago, when the country’s economy took off and prices dropped, many folks chose to throw broken things away and buy new ones. But over time, that quick fix—which comes with fast and dirty manufacturing and swelling landfills—started to fracture the planet. “Now, we’re like, ‘Let's save the Earth,’ and we’re going back to fix it,” said Sam Reese, a senior engineer and analyst at NREL. In the latest Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A, Reese shares how her fix-it mindset could help fix the planet.

An AGILE New Platform for Data Streaming

How do we assess the current state of the grid, mitigate risks, and understand future needs? Big data. NREL has developed a tool with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity to make grid data easier for operators and researchers to access and understand. This platform uses various analysis tools to transport and analyze large amounts of data from grid sensors into a manageable stream. Learn more about Autonomous Grids—Identification Learning and Estimation in a new blog post.

Reinforcement Learning in Buildings: NREL Researchers Have Questions

NREL authors contributed to a recent article published in Elsevier, Building and Environment, named Ten Questions Concerning Reinforcement Learning for Building Energy Management. Reinforcement learning—a method that is used in applications such as autonomous vehicles and ChatGPT—has well-known potential for optimizing building energy systems, especially as buildings shift to becoming active and flexible grid assets. However, researchers are still finding that classical model predictive control performs almost as well as reinforcement learning-based methods in reducing emissions and maintaining occupancy comfort. This article surveys more than 20 authors for their take on the state of reinforcement learning for energy controls in buildings, suggesting where research and attention are needed next.

NREL Researchers Earn Recognition at Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power and Energy Society General Meeting

Yonghong Chen and Bernard Knueven, alongside their committee colleagues, received the 2023 Power and Energy Society Power System Operation, Planning and Economics Committee Outstanding Technical Report Award for their report Security Constrained Unit Commitment for Electricity Market: Modeling, Solution Methodology and Future Challenges.

Paul Denholm, Sarah Awara, Wesley Cole, Nicholas DiOrio, Trieu Mai, and Gord Stephen won an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power and Energy Society best paper award for their paper Energy-Storage Modeling: State-of-the-Art and Future Research Directions.

Murali Baggu, laboratory program manager for grid integration at NREL, was recognized with a 2023 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power and Energy Society Power System Operation, Planning and Economics Outgoing Subcommittee Chair Recognition for his contributions in chairing the Distribution System Planning and Operations Subcommittee from 2019 to 2022. Congratulations to all.

Job Postings

Interested in joining NREL? We are rapidly growing and looking to fill a variety of positions. Following are job openings within NREL’s Energy Systems Integration team. Check out the NREL careers page to find even more opportunities and explore a future with NREL.

Publications Roundup

Final Technical Report: Impact of Wildfires on Solar Generation, Reserves, and Energy Prices

This study quantifies the potential impacts of wildfires on the California grid, specifically the impacts under three wildfire scenarios. The study combines each scenario with two solar energy infrastructures: one corresponding to the current solar installation and the other to future (midcentury) solar installation. The analysis suggests that wildfires can significantly attenuate solar radiation at both short downwind distances and far from the emissions sources. Although the study is limited in scope, and the analysis studies only a few of the many factors that can affect photovoltaic generation and electricity markets, it indicates that wildfire smoke is an important factor that needs to be considered in planning the future grid.

Assessing the Impact of Cybersecurity Attacks on Energy Systems, Applied Energy (2023)

This paper investigates the cyber resilience of future power systems with high penetrations of distributed energy resources using advanced distributed and (or) hierarchical control architectures. Specifically, the authors simulate cyberattacks on three prototypical use cases, and they identify attack scenarios that are the most damaging to the overall system performance. They show that these attacks can have a significant impact on grid operation. Results provide additional insights into the robustness of the system to the most common cyberattacks.