Residential Solar+Storage Control Unit for Providing Grid Services and Demand Side Management

A control unit will be developed (to enable control of multiple solar plus storage systems to achieve benefits for the residents and the grid) and will be included in residential solar plus storage systems for deployment at fifteen housing units in

The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the Riverside campus

Recipient

Riverside, CA

Recipient Location

31st

Senate District

60th

Assembly District

beenhere

$113,218

Amount Spent

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Active

Project Status

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Project Update

Throughout 2024, the prototype controller has been developed and is being validated with hardware-in-the-loop testing. Cybersecurty testing of the controller is also underway. The project team is working with the inverter manufacturer to ensure the project's voltage control scheme is compatible with the inverter's firmware.

Project stakeholders, including electrical technicians, site owners, vendors, developers, technical teams, and utilities are coordinating to select the 15 deployment sites of this project's technology.

The Issue

Currently, the existing methods for scheduling battery storage systems either focus on providing utility services (e.g., resource adequacy, congestion relief, voltage regulation), or focus on demand side management such as time of use (TOU) management, backup power, and maximizing solar use. Combining these two applications would maximize the value of energy storage to residents and the grid. However, there is currently no approach to optimizing energy storage operation to provide the most value.

Project Innovation

A control unit will be developed and included in residential solar plus storage systems for deployment at fifteen housing units in low-income, disadvantaged, and Native American tribal communities in High Fire-Threat Zones. The combined systems will be controlled remotely by a new platform developed by the recipient. The platform will have optimization logic that will enable control of multiple solar plus storage systems to achieve benefits for the residents and the grid. The recipient will evaluate use cases and develop and test different innovative tariff options.

Project Goals

Develop a cybersecure control platform for behind the meter (BTM) energy storage for interacting with the grid.

Develop a new grid harmonization capability for BTM energy storage systems for dynamic voltage management.

Combine demand side management capability with dynamic grid service to maximize system value to the resident and grid.

Project Benefits

The project will demonstrate approaches to maximize the value of energy storage systems to residential customers and the grid by optimizing participation in demand side management and grid services simultaneously. This technology will control the residential solar and storage systems to mitigate extreme voltage fluctuations, enabling safer operation on the grid. The new technology controls and reduces line and transformer losses on feeders and allows operation of the distribution grid close to the minimum allowable voltage level.

Affordability

The technology developed in this project will help residential solar and storage systems manage peak electricity consumption, thereby reducing associated ratepayer electricity funds.

Reliability

Voltage volatility caused by solar intermittency and reverse power flow is one of the main barriers that limits solar uptake. This new technology will control the residential systems to mitigate extreme voltage fluctuations, enabling greater reliability and safer operation on the grid.