Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Electrical Engineering
Jose' E. Tabarez - New Mexico State University
Co-Author(s): Satish Ranade, New Mexico State University, NM
The landscape of the power system is changing due to calls for a more sustainable power system, both in the environmental and economic sense. This call is requires changes in regulatory policies, development of new technologies and methodologies, and overall public opinion of electricity is utilized and how the grid should operate. As this occurs there arises two questions: 1) What will the future grid look like? 2) How will individual homes interact with this future grid? Currently in the power system, one can see these questions starting to be answered. On the grid side, large conventional coal-fired generation plants are being replaced by more efficient natural gas fired generation plants and an increase in the penetration of renewables, such as wind and solar resources. The integration of renewable resources as more Distributed energy resources (DERs) is seen as a generally accepted method of adding sustainability to the power system, but this integration has a negative effect on the economical sustainability and reliability of the power system since renewables are variable and gas-fired capacity must be added as backup. Fortunately, the development of other DERs such as demand that can be manipulated, electric vehicles, electric energy storage, thermal storage, and storage in water system can be used to address the issues that arise with the integration of renewables. As DERs are integrated into to the distribution system, they are evolving the operation of distribution feeders into microgrids. Here microgrids are defined as systems that utilize communication, computing, and control-enabled resources to produce, transport, and utilize energy in a manner that provides cost, reliability, and resilience benefits. These microgrids can change the operational hierarchy of the power system, for example by allowing for demand side instantaneous power balancing rather than relying on bulk generation to handle this service. The Nest is a current technology that is exploring this shift in control, by aggregating a large number of homes into one controllable demand response load based on individual preferences. In a similar way, we believe that home and building Energy Management Systems must evolve in order to be assimilated into the future power system. This is based on the premise that the consumers will ultimately be responsible for demand in the power system, therefore their interaction could allow for a more dynamic control of the power system. However, technology is needed to assist residential and commercial customers. This talk will discuss our view of the future of the grid and home automation systems, including the research being conducted on distributed stochastic optimization, real-time controls, and Smart Outlets that will aid in the creation of this centralized control of the home along with the integration with the grid.
Not SubmittedFunder Acknowledgement(s): This work is partially supported by the Electric Utility Management Program (EUMP); and partially by the NMSU smart-grid center iCredits under National Science Foundation (NSF) CREST grant HRD-1345232.
Faculty Advisor: Satish Ranade, sranade@nmsu.edu
Role: My research is in distributed stochastic optimization, and I designed the Smart Outlets.