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At least 235 records · Page 13

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DOE OSTI2011

Optimizing Energy Savings from Direct-DC in U.S. Residential Buildings

An increasing number of energy efficient appliances operate on direct current (DC) internally, offering the potential to use DC from renewable energy systems directly and avoiding the losses inherent in converting power to alternating current (AC) and back. This paper investigates that potential for net-metered residences with on-site photovoltaics (PV) by modeling the net power draw of the ‘direct-DC house’ with respect to today’s typical configuration, assuming identical DC-internal loads. Power draws were modeled for houses in 14 U.S. cities, using hourly, simulated PV-system output and residential loads. The latter were adjusted to reflect a 33% load reduction, representative of the most efficient DC-internal technology, based on an analysis of 32 electricity end-uses. The model tested the effect of climate, electric vehicle (EV) loads, electricity storage, and load shifting on electricity savings; a sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine how future changes in the efficiencies of power system components might affect savings potential. Based on this work, we estimate that net-metered PV residences could save 5% of their total electricity load for houses without storage and 14% for houses with storage. Based on residential PV penetration projections for year 2035 obtained from the National Energy Modeling System (2.7% for the reference case and 11.2% for the extended policy case), direct-DC could save the nation 10 trillion Btu (without storage) or 40 trillion Btu (with storage). Shifting the cooling load by two hours earlier in the day (pre-cooling) has negligible benefits for energy savings. Direct-DC provides no energy savings benefits for EV charging, to the extent that charging occurs at night. However, if charging occurred during the day, for example with employees charging while at work, the benefits would be large. Direct-DC energy savings are sensitive to power system and appliance conversion efficiencies but are not significantly influenced by climate. While direct-DC for residential applications will most likely arise as a spin-off of developments in the commercial sector—because of lower barriers to market entry and larger energy benefits resulting from the higher coincidence between load and insolation—this paper demonstrates that there are substantial benefits in the residential sector as well. Among residential applications, space cooling derives the largest energy savings from being delivered by a direct-DC system. It is the largest load for the average residence on a national basis and is particularly so in high-load regions. It is also the load with highest solar coincidence.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2012

Measured Performance of Occupied, Side-by-Side, South Texas Homes

The performance of three homes in San Antonio, Texas with identical floor plans and orientation were evaluated through a partnership between the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), CPS Energy, and Woodside Homes of South Texas. Measurements included whole house gas and electric use as well as heating, cooling, hot water, major appliances and indoor and outdoor conditions. One home built to builder standard practice served as the control, while the other homes demonstrated high performance features. Utility peak electric load comparisons of these dual-fuel homes provide an assessment of envelope and equipment improvements. The control home used natural gas for space and water heating only, while the improved homes had gas heating and major appliances with the exception of a high efficiency heat pump in one home. Data collection began in July of 2009 and continued through April of 2011. Energy ratings for the homes yielded E-Scales (aka HERS indices) of 86 for the control home, 54 for one improved home and 37 for the other home which has a 2.4kW photovoltaic array.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2014

Effect of Fuel Wobbe Number on Pollutant Emissions from Advanced Technology Residential Water Heaters: Results of Controlled Experiments

The research summarized in this report is part of a larger effort to evaluate the potential air quality impacts of using liquefied natural gas in California. A difference of potential importance between many liquefied natural gas blends and the natural gas blends that have been distributed in California in recent years is the higher Wobbe number of liquefied natural gas. Wobbe number is a measure of the energy delivery rate for appliances that use orifice- or pressure-based fuel metering. The effect of Wobbe number on pollutant emissions from residential water heaters was evaluated in controlled experiments. Experiments were conducted on eight storage water heaters, including five with “ultra low-NO X ” burners, and four on-demand (tankless) water heaters, all of which featured ultra low-NO X burners. Pollutant emissions were quantified as air-free concentrations in the appliance flue and fuel-based emission factors in units of nanogram of pollutant emitter per joule of fuel energy consumed. Emissions were measured for carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO X ), nitrogen oxide (NO), formaldehyde and acetaldehyde as the water heaters were operated through defined operating cycles using fuels with varying Wobbe number. The reference fuel was Northern California line gas with Wobbe number ranging from 1344 to 1365. Test fuels had Wobbe numbers of 1360, 1390 and 1420. The most prominent finding was an increase in NO X emissions with increasing Wobbe number: all five of the ultra low-NO X storage water heaters and two of the four ultra low-NO X on-demand water heaters had statistically discernible (p<0.10) increases in NO X with fuel Wobbe number. The largest percentage increases occurred for the ultra low-NO X water heaters. There was a discernible change in CO emissions with Wobbe number for all four of the on-demand devices tested. The on-demand water heater with the highest CO emissions also had the largest CO increase with increasing fuel Wobbe number.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Final Scientific/Technical Report for DOE/EERE project Advanced Magnetic Refrigerant Materials

A team led by GE Global Research developed new magnetic refrigerant materials needed to enhance the commercialization potential of residential appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners based on the magnetocaloric effect (a nonvapor compression cooling cycle). The new magnetic refrigerant materials have potentially better performance at lower cost than existing materials, increasing technology readiness level. The performance target of the new magnetocaloric material was to reduce the magnetic field needed to achieve 4 °C adiabatic temperature change (ΔT adiabatic ) from 1.5 Tesla to 0.75 Tesla. Such a reduction in field minimizes the cost of the magnet assembly needed for a magnetic refrigerator. Such a reduction in magnet assembly cost is crucial to achieving commercialization of magnetic refrigerator technology. This project was organized as an iterative alloy development effort with a parallel material modeling task being performed at George Washington University. Four families of novel magnetocaloric alloys were identified, screened, and assessed for their performance potential in a magnetic refrigeration cycle. Compositions from three of the alloy families were manufactured into regenerator components. At the beginning of the project a previously studied magnetocaloric alloy was selected for manufacturing into the first regenerator component. Each of the regenerators was tested in magnetic refrigerator prototypes at a subcontractor at at GE Appliances. The property targets for operating temperature range, operating temperature control, magnetic field sensitivity, and corrosion resistance were met. The targets for adiabatic temperature change (ΔT adiabatic ) and thermal hysteresis were not met. The high thermal hysteresis also prevented the regenerator components from displaying measurable cooling power when tested in prototype magnetic refrigerators. Magnetic refrigerant alloy compositions that were predicted to have low hysteresis were not attainable with conventional alloy processing methods. Preliminary experiments with rapid solidification methods showed a path towards attaining low hysteresis compositions should this alloy development effort be continued.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2013

Using Field-Metered Data to Quantify Annual Energy Use of Residential Portable Unit Dehumidifiers

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that space heating and cooling no longer account for the majority of all residential energy consumption (they represented 47.7 percent in 2009). According to EIA, energy consumption for appliances, lighting, and electronics not only represents the majority of residential consumption, but continues to rise. Some of the decline in energy use for space heating and cooling may be attributable to better-insulated structures and population shifts to warmer climates. Those same factors may be contributing to an increased reliance on space-conditioning appliances, specifically dehumidifiers. Additionally, as the world’s climate changes, it is expected that absolute humidity will rise along with temperature. A recent study reports that continued climate warming will place significant limitations on human activity in typically hotter, more humid environments. Increased human discomfort may drive an even greater use of dehumidifiers and a resulting increase in residential energy use.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2012

International Review of Frameworks for Standard Setting & Labeling Development

As appliance energy efficiency standards and labeling (S&L) programs reach a broader geographic and product scope, a series of sophisticated and complex technical and economic analyses have been adopted by different countries in the world to support and enhance these growing S&L programs. The initial supporting techno-economic and impact analyses for S&L development make up a defined framework and process for setting and developing appropriate appliance efficiency standards and labeling programs. This report reviews in-depth the existing framework for standards setting and label development in the well-established programs of the U.S., Australia and the EU to identify and evaluate major trends in how and why key analyses are undertaken and to understand major similarities and differences between each of the frameworks.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2013

U.S. residential consumer product information: Validation of methods for post-stratification weighting of Amazon Mechanical Turk surveys

We present two post-stratification weighting methods to validate survey data collected using Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT). Two surveys focused on appliance and consumer electronics devices were administered in the spring and summer of 2012 to each of approximately 3,000 U.S. households. Specifically, the surveys asked questions about residential refrigeration products, televisions (TVs) and set-top boxes (STBs). Filtered data were assigned weights using each of two weighting methods, termed “sequential” and “simultaneous,” by examining up to eight demographic variables (income, education, gender, race, Hispanic origin, number of occupants, ages of occupants, and geographic region) in comparison to reference U.S. demographic data from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Five key questions from the surveys (number of refrigerators, number of freezers, number of TVs, number of STBs and primary service provider) were evaluated with a set of statistical tests to determine whether either method improved the agreement of AMT with reference data, and if so, which method was better. The statistical tests used were: differences in proportions, distributions of proportions (using Pearson’s chi-squared test), and differences in average numbers of devices as functions of all demographic variables. The results indicated that both methods generally improved the agreement between AMT and reference data, sometimes greatly, but that the simultaneous method was usually superior to the sequential method. Some differences in sample populations were found between the AMT and reference data. Differences in the proportion of STBs reflected large changes in the STB market since the time our reference data was acquired in 2009. Differences in the proportions of some primary service providers suggested real sample bias, with the possible explanation that AMT user are more likely to subscribe to providers who also provide home internet service. Differences in other variables, while statistically significant in some cases, were nonetheless considered to be minor. Depending on the intended purpose of the data collected using AMT, these biases may or may not be important; to correct them, additional questions and/or further post-survey adjustments could be employed. In general, based on the analysis methods and the sample datasets used in this study, AMT surveys appeared to provide useful data on appliance and consumer electronics devices.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2014

Secure Information Exchange Gateway for Electric Grid Operations

The major objectives of the SIEGate project were to improve the security posture and minimize the cyber-attack surface of electric utility control centers and to reduce the cost of maintaining control-room-to-control-room information exchange. Major project goals included the design, development, testing, and commercialization of a single security-hardened appliance that could meet industry needs for resisting cyber-attacks while protecting the confidentiality and integrity of a growing volume of real-time information needed to ensure the reliability of the bulk electric system and interoperating with existing data formats and networking technologies. The SIEGate project has achieved its goals and objectives. The SIEGate Design Document, issued in March 2012, presented SIEGate use cases, provided SIEGate requirements, established SIEGate design principles, and prescribed design functionality of SIEGate as well as the components that make up SIEGate. SIEGate Release Version 1.0 was posted in January 2014. Release Version 1.0.83, which was posted on March 28, 2014, fixed many issues discovered by early adopters and added several new features. Release Candidate 1.1, which added additional improvements and bug fixes, was posted in June 2014. SIEGate executables have been downloaded more than 300 times. SIEGate has been tested at PJM, Entergy, TVA, and Southern. Security testing and analysis of SIEGate has been conducted at PNNL and PJM. Alstom has provided a summary of recommended steps for commercialization of the SIEGate Appliance and identified two deployment models with immediate commercial application.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2015

Characteristics and Performance of Existing Load Disaggregation Technologies

Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) or non-intrusive appliance load monitoring (NIALM) is an analytic approach to disaggregate building loads based on a single metering point. This advanced load monitoring and disaggregation technique has the potential to provide an alternative solution to high-priced traditional sub-metering and enable innovative approaches for energy conservation, energy efficiency, and demand response. However, since the inception of the concept in the 1980’s, evaluations of these technologies have focused on reporting performance accuracy without investigating sources of inaccuracies or fully understanding and articulating the meaning of the metrics used to quantify performance. As a result, the market for, as well as, advances in these technologies have been slowly maturing. To improve the market for these NILM technologies, there has to be confidence that the deployment will lead to benefits. In reality, every end-user and application that this technology may enable does not require the highest levels of performance accuracy to produce benefits. Also, there are other important characteristics that need to be considered, which may affect the appeal of NILM products to certain market targets (i.e. residential and commercial building consumers) and the suitability for particular applications. These characteristics include the following: 1) ease of use, the level of expertise/bandwidth required to properly use the product; 2) ease of installation, the level of expertise required to install along with hardware needs that impact product cost; and 3) ability to inform decisions and actions, whether the energy outputs received by end-users (e.g. third party applications, residential users, building operators, etc.) empower decisions and actions to be taken at time frames required for certain applications. Therefore, stakeholders, researchers, and other interested parties should be kept abreast of the evolving capabilities, uses, and characteristics of NILM that make them attractive for certain building environments and different classes of end-users. The intent of this report is to raise awareness of trending NILM approaches. Additionally, three existing technologies were acquired and evaluated using the Residential Building Stock Assessment (RBSA) owner-occupied test bed operated by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) to understand performance accuracy of current NILM products under realistic conditions. Based on this field study experience, the characteristics exhibited by the NILM products included in the assessment are also discussed in this report in terms of ease of use, ease of installation, ability to inform decisions and actions. Results of the analysis performed to investigate the accuracy of the participating NILM products in estimating energy use of individual appliances are also presented.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2011

Comparison of Real World Energy Consumption to Models and Department of Energy Test Procedures

This study investigated the real-world energy performance of appliances and equipment as it compared with models and test procedures. The study looked to determine whether the U.S. Department of Energy and industry test procedures actually replicate real world conditions, whether performance degrades over time, and whether installation patterns and procedures differ from the ideal procedures. The study first identified and prioritized appliances to be evaluated. Then, the study determined whether real world energy consumption differed substantially from predictions and also assessed whether performance degrades over time. Finally, the study recommended test procedure modifications and areas for future research.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2012

Estimate of Cost-Effective Potential for Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards in 13 Major World Economies: Energy Savings, Environmental and Financial Impacts

This study analyzes the financial impacts on consumers of minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPS) for appliances that could be implemented in 13 major economies around the world. We use the Bottom-Up Energy Analysis System (BUENAS), developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), to analyze various appliance efficiency target levels to estimate the net present value (NPV) of policies designed to provide maximum energy savings while not penalizing consumers financially. These policies constitute what we call the “cost-effective potential” (CEP) scenario. The CEP scenario is designed to answer the question: How high can we raise the efficiency bar in mandatory programs while still saving consumers money?

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2012

White Paper on Energy Efficiency Status of Energy-Using Products in China (2011)

This White Paper focuses on the areas and products involved in the above tasks, based on the White Paper - Energy Efficiency Status of Energy-Using Products in China (2010), here referred to as “White Paper 2010”, which analyzed the energy efficiency status of 21 typical energy-using products in five sectors: household appliances, office equipment, commercial equipment, industrial equipment, and lighting equipment. Table 1 illustrates the detailed product coverage for this year’s paper, noting the addition of three household appliance items (automatic electric rice cooker, AC electric fan, and household induction cooktop) and one industrial sector item (three-phase distribution transformer).

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2017

An Evaluation of Energy Storage Options for Nuclear Power

Energy supply, distribution, and demand are continuing to evolve as new generation sources come online and new appliances are installed. A larger percentage of the United States (U.S.) energy mix is provided by variable energy sources such as wind and solar each year, and distributed generation is becoming more common. In parallel, an evolution in consumer products such as electrical vehicles, information technology devices for residential and industrial applications, and appliances is changing how energy is consumed. As a result of these trends, nuclear power plants (NPPs) are being called upon to operate more flexibly than ever before. Furthermore, advanced nuclear power plants (A-NPPs) might operate as part of an electricity system that looks very different than when the current NPP fleet was constructed. A-NPPs face the possibility that they will need to operate in an environment where flexibility (e.g., fast ramping) is more highly valued than stability (e.g., baseload generation for conventional demand curves). The current fleet of NPPs is struggling to remain economical in competitive markets in an era of historically low natural gas prices and renewable sources with very low marginal costs. These factors, overlaid with an ambiguous national policy related to nuclear energy and a decision-making context that struggles with multi-decade capital investments, raise key questions and present significant challenges to the economics of nuclear power in the evolving grid. Multiple factors could improve the economics of A-NPPs, including: (1) minimizing the need for active safety systems, (2) minimizing adoption of one-off reactor designs, (3) establishing policies that credit low carbon emitting technologies, and (4) integrating energy storage technologies that increase revenue and reduce costs through a combination of ancillary services, market hedging, and reduced costs via stable operation. This report focuses on Item (4), containing an overview, synthesis, and examination of energy storage options that could be integrated with nuclear generation. Figure 1 provides an overview of the 2015 energy mix by sector, which shows that NPPs are currently used exclusively for electricity generation that is ultimately consumed in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Some areas for NPP energy growth in the future include power generation for electrified transportation and thermal generation for storage and industrial applications. Currently, most industrial thermal energy users combust fossil resources (i.e., coal or natural gas) to meet the energy needs of the processes, but heat from nuclear operations could also be used in certain specific applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2013

Development of a Context-Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM)

The research reported is part of a collaborative with Honeywell, Inc. to bring novel home energy management concepts and technologies to reduce energy consumption, reduce peak electricity demand, integrate renewable energy and storage technology, and change homeowner behavior to manage and consume less energy. The objective of the collaborative is to create a Context-Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM) that dynamically schedules major home appliances according to conditions and homeowner convenience of service (CoS) preferences, monitors and analyzes energy consumption of appliances, recommends further energy saving actions, and engages/motivates the homeowner to adopt those recommendations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

Draft Plan to Develop Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Test Protocols

This document presents a Draft Plan proposed to develop a common test protocol that can be used to evaluate the performance requirements of Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring. Development on the test protocol will be focused on providing a consistent method that can be used to quantify and compare the performance characteristics of NILM products. Elements of the protocols include specifications for appliances to be used, metrics, instrumentation, and a procedure to simulate appliance behavior during tests. In addition, three priority use cases for NILM will be identified and their performance requirements will specified.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2017

Should the next standby power target be 0-watt?

The standby power use of appliances continues to consume large amounts of electricity. Considerable success has been made in reducing each device’s use, but these savings have been offset by a huge increase in the number of products using standby power and new power requirements for maintaining network connections. Current strategies to reduce standby have limitations and may not be most appropriate for emerging energy consumption trends. A new strategy for further reductions in standby, the “Standzero” option, encourages electrical products to be designed to operate for short periods without relying on mains-supplied electricity. Energy savings are achieved through enhanced efficiency and by harvesting ambient energy. A sensitivity analysis suggests many appliances could be designed to operate for at least an hour without relying on mains power and, in some cases, may be able to operate indefinitely at zero watts until activated.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2016

Direct Current as an Integrating Platform for ZNE Buildings with EVs and Storage: DC Direct Systems – A Bridge to a Low Carbon Future?

Cost effective zero net energy (ZNE) schemes exist for many types of residential and commercial buildings. Yet, today’s alternating current (AC) based ZNE designs may be as much as 10% to 20% less efficient, more costly, and more complicated than a design based on direct current (DC) technologies. An increasing number of research organizations and manufacturers are just starting the process of developing products and conducting research and development (R&D) efforts. These early R&D efforts indicate that the use of DC technologies may deliver many energy and non-energy benefits relative to AC-based typologies. DC ZNE schemes may provide for an ideal integrating platform for natively DC-based onsite generation, storage, electric vehicle (EV) charging and end-use loads. Emerging empirical data suggest that DC end-use appliances are more efficient, simpler, more durable, and lower cost. DC technologies appear to provide ratepayers a lower cost pathway to achieve resilient ZNE buildings, and simultaneously yield a plethora of benefits. This paper draws from the current research effort entitled "Direct Current as an Integrating and Enabling Platform," co-led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the California Institute for Energy and the Environment (CIEE), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and funded under the California Energy Commission’s Energy Program Investment Charge (CEC EPIC). The first phase of this EPIC research is focused on assembling and summarizing known global performance information on DC and DC-AC hybrid end-use appliances and power systems. This paper summarizes the information and insights gained from this research effort.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2017

An Evaluation of Energy Storage Options for Nuclear Power

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗