Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “customize”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Financial Impacts of a Combined Energy Efficiency and Net-Metered PV Portfolio on a Prototypical Northeast Utility

Reductions in electricity consumption from customer-funded energy efficiency (EE) programs and distributed photovoltaic (PV) are expected to dramatically increase over the next ten years. While EE programs and net-metered PV provide numerous utility, customer, and societal benefits, including utility cost reductions, lower customer bills, and achievement of clean energy public policy goals, they may contribute to stagnant or declining retail sales for electric utilities. Investor-owned utilities are concerned about stagnant or declining sales as they undermine existing regulatory and ratemaking approaches to cover fixed costs and may negatively impact utility profitability. Current retail rate designs allocate a large fraction of fixed costs to volumetric energy charges creating challenges for the utility’s recovery of its fixed costs due to reductions in retail sales between rate cases.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Tracking the Sun: Installed Price Trends for Distributed Photovoltaic Systems in the United States - 2018 Edition

Berkeley Lab’s Tracking the Sun report series is dedicated to summarizing installed prices and other trends among grid-connected, distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States. The present report, the 11th edition in the series, focuses on systems installed through year-end 2017, with preliminary trends for the first half of 2018. As in years past, the primary emphasis is on describing changes in installed prices over time and variation in pricing across projects based on location, project ownership, system design, and other attributes. New to this year, however, is an expanded discussion of other project characteristics in the large underlying data sample. Future editions will include more of such material, beyond the report’s traditional focus on installed pricing. The trends described in this report derive primarily from project-level data reported to state agencies and utilities that administer PV incentive programs, solar renewable energy credit (SREC) registration systems, or interconnection processes. In total, data were collected and cleaned for more than 1.3 million individual PV systems, representing 81% of U.S. residential and non-residential PV systems installed through 2017. The analysis of installed pricing trends is based on a subset of roughly 770,000 systems with available installed price data. Key findings from this year’s report include the following: -Installed Prices Continued to Fall through 2017 and into 2018. National median installed prices in 2017 were $3.7 per watt (W) for residential systems (a $0.2/W or 6% decline from the prior year), $3.1/W for small non-residential systems (a $0.4/W or 11% decline), and $2.2/W (a $0.1/W or 5% decline) for large non-residential systems. Data for the first half of 2018 show an additional drop of $0.1/W for residential and small non-residential systems, and effectively no change for large non-residential systems. These recent trends are generally consistent with the pace of price declines since 2014, and mark a slowing from the years immediately preceding (2009-2013) when prices fell by roughly $1/W per year. -Installed Prices Vary Widely Across Individual Projects. Among residential systems installed in 2017, 20% were priced below $3.0/W (the 20th percentile value) while another 20% were above the 80th percentile at $4.5/W. Non-residential systems also exhibit wide spreads, albeit shifted downward, from $2.4/W to $4.1/W for small non-residential and from $1.8/W to $2.8/W for large non-residential projects. These pricing spreads have persisted over time and are both reflective of the heterogeneity in PV systems and markets, as well as suggestive of the potential for further price declines. -Pronounced Pricing Disparities Exist Across States. State-level median installed prices in 2017 ranged from $2.6/W to $4.5/W for residential systems, from $2.2/W to $4.0/W for small non-residential systems, and from $2.1/W to $2.4/W for large non-residential systems. Three of the largest state markets (California, Massachusetts, and New York) are relatively high-priced, pulling overall U.S. median prices upward. These cross-state pricing differences reflect both idiosyncratic features of particular states as well as more-fundamental differences related to market and policy conditions. -Installed Pricing Variation Also Reflects Differences in System Design, Installer, and Customer Characteristics (among other factors). Significant pricing differences were also observed across system sizes within each customer segment (with median prices ranging from $3.2/W to $4.5/W across residential systems of varying size, and from $2.1/W to $3.7/W across non-residential systems), between third-party owned (TPO) and host-owned residential systems ($3.3/W vs. $3.8/W), across residential installers ($2.1/W to $9.6/W for host-owned systems and $1.1/W to $5.1/W for TPO systems), between residential new construction and retrofit systems in California ($2.3/W vs. $3.9/W), between large non-residential systems at commercial sites and tax-exempt customer sites ($2.1/W vs. $2.6/W), and between systems with standard vs. premium efficiency modules ($3.6/W vs. $4.2/W among residential systems). A public version of the underlying dataset can be downloaded at https://emp.lbl.gov/tracking-the-sun.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Community Choice Aggregation: Challenges, Opportunities, and Impacts on Renewable Energy Markets

Community choice aggregations (CCAs) are local governmental entities that procure electricity on behalf of retail electricity customers within some geographic area. CCAs are expanding in seven states that allow CCAs through enabling legislation. In 2017, we estimate that about 750 CCAs procured about 42 million MWh of electricity on behalf of about 5 million customers in 2017. In this report, we seek to summarize the current status of CCAs in the United States. We quantify CCA sales and customer bases in terms of both renewable and non-renewable energy. We summarize trends in CCA renewable energy power procurement. Based on 12 interviews with CCAs and other stakeholders, we identify key factors that could improve or reduce the potential of CCAs to support renewable energy markets. Last, we identify the challenges created and faced by the expansion of CCAs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Scale and Regionality of Nonelectric Markets for U.S. Nuclear Light Water Reactors

This study assesses existing and potential industries that could conceivably be directly coupled to existing nuclear reactors. The goal is to identify the scale, location, and accessibility of the candidate industrial-product markets, as well as process feedstocks that are available near the plants to establish new industries. For example, CO 2 as a feedstock can be combined with H 2 to produce formic acid (FA), transportation fuels, and lubricants. These new plants can be entirely supported with the heat and electricity provided by a nearby NPP. The potential demand for nonelectric industrial products was assessed by documenting current and possible growth of nonelectricity product markets considered. This assessment used DOE- and industry-supported tools, data, and projections to capture regional industrial market opportunities. Electricity-capacity markets that reward large and reliable generators, such as NPPs, were considered because the electricity market will likely continue to be an important revenue source to NPPs. The key is to balance the needs of energy customers so as to optimize revenue for the affiliated energy customers or partners. In most cases, flexible plant energy delivery and power generation for the grid will require either energy storage or a stock of intermediate products to sustain the industrial customers when the NPP dispatches electricity to the grid. A diverse mix of temperate regions with operating NPPs around the U.S.—representing a variety of operating markets, local generation mix, and seasonal climates—were chosen for this market study. Both current and future market opportunities for candidate industrial-product markets surrounding these NPPs were studied. Figure 2 illustrates the regions chosen for this study. The success of developing nonelectric industrial-product markets as alternative revenue-generating sources for LWRs depends, not only on demand from growing existing markets, such as petroleum refining and NH 3 production, but also on the development of new markets such as light-duty (LD) and heavy-duty (HD) hydrogen FCEVs, synfuels, chemical production, biofuels, metal refining, injection of hydrogen into NG pipelines for gas power-generating units, FA, polymers, and close-coupled industrial heat applications, all of which can significantly increase demand relative to current levels while decarbonizing energy sectors. This study also presents a sample analysis of the economics of hydrogen production in an area of Minnesota, considering the capital and operating costs of a hydrogen plant as well as the local market demand for hydrogen. It includes some assumptions on electricity-grid pricing, showing how hydrogen could be integrated with an NPP and be competitive with the incumbent hydrogen-production process, steam methane reforming (SMR). The objectives of this study include: Provide U.S. NPP operators a robust sampling of the market demand location, scale, and accessibility (including storage and transportation) of the wide variety of industrial-product choices that can be produced using nuclear thermal energy and electricity proximate to a subset of U.S. NPPs to inform the industry of the potential opportunity; show examples and trade-off analyses of how U.S. LWR operators can access these markets, including storage and transportation of industrial products to their intended markets; and present a general analysis example for one industrial product (hydrogen) in one region (Minnesota area), including production, storage, and transportation, to show how nuclear-hybrid integrated energy systems (IESs) could access local markets and improve the profitability of an NPP.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cost Efficient and Highly Weather-Resistant Solar Panel Backsheet Produced through Continuous Co-Extrusion Processing

The efficient generation and delivery of ‘clean energy” through photovoltaic (PV) technology relies heavily on the cost, performance and reliability of solar panels, along with the individual components used in assembly of those panels. In order to continue towards the Department of Energy’s (DOE) goals of driving costs down, the lifetime of high-output power generation equipment (i.e. solar modules) must be extended to reduce costs associated with power output degradation and replacement of failed or degraded panels. One of the major sources of module failures in the past 30 years has been the failure of the solar panel backsheet. Failure of this component causes severe output losses due to oxidation and yellowing of the module while creating safety concerns as the major electrical insulation of the module is compromised. Tomark-Worthen LLC was formed in 2012 with the goal of designing and manufacturing novel PV backsheets and encapsulants that would be produced in the United States of America and exceed expectations of domestic and international module producers. These backsheets would improve upon known backsheet design failures (i.e. Isovoltaic’s AAA backsheet) and create domestic manufacturing jobs in the PV sector. This goal became a reality with a first-generation product in 2018 and now, with the support of the DOE, Tomark-Worthen has launched a second-generation product known as PhotoMark® Reflections™ 205-3 and 360-3. This 2+ year effort began in late 2017 with a screening of potential polymeric materials and backsheet structural designs. Performance evaluations of each material provided the necessary data needed to select the proper material combinations and move forward into the design of the manufacturing process. These decisions were made by teaming with a local university, well-respected government laboratories, and private research organizations who provided the tools necessary to predict long-term performance of these materials in much shorter periods of time. Once the go/no-go criteria were met at the mid-point of the project, the effort transitioned to predicting 30+ year performance, achieving certifications, and improving manufacturing efficiencies designed to lower costs in order to be competitive in a cost-driven market. Major project accomplishments include recognition of the new backsheet by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and international certification for 1000V and 1500V modules by TUV Sud. Both 1000V and 1500V products have been proven on several module manufacturing lines and initial customer orders have been received by both domestic and international module producers. Accelerated exposure testing has shown that the performance of this backsheet exceeds the prior polyamide-based backsheet known to fail in the field. Cost-models and initial customer orders have shown the ability to produce this backsheet at a cost acceptable to many domestic manufacturers, while International costs for standard backsheet remains extremely low. Tomark-Worthen remains one of the only U.S. companies manufacturing backsheet domestically and this has drawn interest from many domestic module manufacturers looking to improve their material supply logistics by avoiding long lead times and custom’s headaches while avoiding current tariffs on Chinese-made components. Along with the launch of a new PV backsheet, this project has provided a critical deliverable to the PV R&D community. This deliverable is the knowledge that not all polyamide-containing backsheets are doomed to failure as the earlier versions did. There has been a fear amongst the PV community to consider these materials due to the failure of one design. This effort has brought a new level of interest to the scientific community as it has been shown that polyamides can be used successfully in a well-designed backsheet. As we move forward from this project, we are excited to see how backsheet technology and manufacturing in the U.S. will continue to progress and grow.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Determining Utility System Value of Demand Flexibility From Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings

This report focuses on ways current methods and practices that establish the value to electric utility systems of distributed energy resource (DER) investments can be enhanced to determine the value of demand flexibility in grid-interactive efficient buildings that can provide grid services. The report introduces key valuation concepts that are applicable to demand flexibility that these buildings can provide and links to other documents that describe these concepts and their implementation in more detail.The scope of this report is limited to the valuation of economic benefits to the utility system. These are the foundational values on which other benefits (and costs) can be built. Establishing the economic value to the grid of demand flexibility provides the information needed to design programs, market rules, and rates that align the economic interest of utility customers with building owners and occupants. By nature, DERs directly impact customers and provide societal benefits external to the utility system. Jurisdictions can use utility system benefits and costs as the foundation of their economic analysis but align their primary cost-effectiveness metric with all applicable policy objectives, which may include customer and societal (non-utility system) impacts.This report suggests enhancements to current methods and practices that state and local policymakers, public utility commissions, state energy offices, utilities, state utility consumer representatives, and other stakeholders might support. These enhancements can improve the consistency and robustness of economic valuation of demand flexibility for grid services. The report concludes with a discussion of considerations for prioritizing implementation of these improvements.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2017

Exploration of PG&E Auto DR Incentive Options (Final Project Report)

Demand Response programs offer incentives to customers to modify energy use during times of peak demand. There is a growing trend toward automating demand response. The market benefits from the use of common communication standards to facilitate automation because it allows communication and control companies to build technology using common protocols that reduces the cost of integrating ADR technologies into buildings. Common communication standards also allow electricity providers to build common platforms to communicate with customer or aggregator end-use equipment. This report considers strategies for increasing the use of automated DR technology for residential and small and medium business (SMB) customers within the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) service territory. PG&E is interested in designing new incentive structures for automated DR equipment. In developing these new structures, it is important to understand the incremental cost of the automated demand response (ADR) communication technology. This technology is usually imbedded in end-use controls to communicate with an end-use device. Standards based ADR technologies require that the control system have the ability to communicate using an open standard communication protocol, usually either Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR, certification for which is available through the OpenADR Alliance) or Smart Energy Profile.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Demonstration of μCHP in Light Commercial Hot Water Applications

Internal combustion engine driven combined heat and power (CHP) systems produce power while the waste heat is recovered and used for another purpose. For µCHP systems (less than 50kWe output) overall efficiencies can reach over 90% for products currently on the market throughout the world. On a fuel basis this offers an advantage over using grid-based power and another fuel for heat. Additionally, the cost of natural gas on an energy unit basis is significantly less expensive than electric power. This difference can lead to substantial savings for the end user of a CHP system. In some parts of the world, particularly Germany and Japan, µCHP has become a common part of the heat and distributed generation equipment mix. Market analysis conducted in 2012 showed that in North America there is potential of a 5,300 units per year market for µCHP, resulting in an annual energy savings of approximately 13.5 TBtu and more than $84 million in annual customer savings. However, µCHP still has not seen much market penetration in North America. This study helps to identify some of the reasons why, address roadblocks that still need to be overcome and provide experience to established best practices. Nine commercial sites were initially identified (fitness club, surgical center, senior community, resort and spa, commercial laundry, two multi-family housing, restaurant and manufacturing facility). Systems from two different manufacturers were installed at five sites total, but due to unforeseen circumstances, only three of those sites were finally commissioned: test data were collected by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. While not all systems were installed as intended, the project resulted in the following key findings: Micro combined heat and power is an unfamiliar technology for building owners and plumbing and electrical contractors that serve the buildings most suited for µCHP. Manufacturers will need to be aggressive in providing training and providing broad support to successfully bring the technology to market.; The proper integration of µCHP into other building systems is the most critical part of a successful installation. Manufacturers will need to be able to provide the expertise to train, advise and support the mechanical contractors during the design and installation of the heat integration system.; Regulations governing µCHP varies across the country. There are a few UL standards (UL 2200 and UL 1741) that apply nationally. Emissions are governed by EPA except in California where the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has established their own standard. Requirements that dictate installation and interconnection are dependent on local building codes and local utility processes and requirements. Some out of date building codes do not offer clear guidance for these requirements, leading to confusion. This makes developing training and determining broadly applicable best practices difficult.; Installation costs of µCHP are a key factor in making an installation successful. It is critical that these costs and all national, state and local regulations be understood and accounted for by all parties involved in the installation before a project is undertaken.; A robust customer service organization is important to meet the needs of the customers. These systems require annual maintenance and service and local capability is needed to keep costs inline.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Southwest Wind Power R&D Test Site Development at the National Wind Technology Center (CRADA CRD-12-00472 Final Report)

Southwest Windpower, Inc. (SWWP) has been designing and distributing small wind turbines for more than 22 years and is the recognized global leader in the design, manufacturing and distribution of small wind systems (400-3000 watts). The company has been a pioneer in the development of wind technology and has built and shipped more than 170,000 wind turbines to over 120 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Flagstaff AZ, SWWP has sales representatives in over 88 countries. Applications for SWWP systems include residential homes, commercial properties, micro grids, remote cabins, telecom transmitters, offshore platforms, water pumping and sailboats. In addition, U.S. Department of Defense uses SWWP’s products in Forward Operating Bases (FOB’s), USGS uses them for remote monitoring of glacier movements and the CIA uses them to provide power seismic monitoring. Today, SWWP plans development of new technologies to address distributed energy market needs and become even more aggressive in international markets. This strategy includes extensive Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment (RDD&D) activities to improve existing production line into more simple, reliable, and cost-effective wind turbine systems. Important part of such activities is the field testing of the new systems, which should provide: (i) validation of the reliable operation of hardware and software; (ii) validation of numerical models of the system and its components; (iii) field comparison of various control and optimization strategies; (iv) customized reliability testing; (v) customized monitoring and analysis testing; and (vi) IEC certification testing (vii) filed demonstration of system performance and reliability. Such field testing facility should encompass multiple towers and appropriate data acquisition systems. SWWP is exploring to move part of the engineering department to Colorado, and execute its RDD&D strategies in this new location. Partnership with NREL will provide great insights into SWWP’s RDD&D processes and more efficient commercialization by utilizing NWTC as the field testing site, and working close with NREL personnel. NWTC is ideally suited to strain the design. NREL is very experienced with customized and IEC testing. During this project, Southwest Windpower aims to improve the value proposition of distributed renewable energy, and make it a competitive choice in the energy markets. As of today, more then 170,000 small wind turbines, manufactured in the U.S., are installed in more then 180 countries. With the improved value proposition, Southwest Windpower wants to create and address new market needs, substantially increase its sales domestically and internationally, which should have positive impact on the creation of American jobs, competitiveness of U.S. economy, export or U.S. products, and the use of renewable energy.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Austin Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV [Austin SHINES]. Final Report, Version 2

The Austin SHINES project and solution is a software management platform, for an electric grid with a high penetration of dispersed photovoltaic (PV) solar generation sites, which maintains the traditional power quality and reliability associated with grid service. This project developed and deployed the platform as a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), engaging multiple advanced controls, to evaluate operation and optimization of a fleet of diverse DER assets, installed at several locations among Austin Energy’s customers and distribution system. The project also produced a methodology to create a replicable DERMS template, adaptable to other regions and market structures. Last, Austin SHINES aimed to demonstrate the solution’s methodology would enable the DER grid ecosystem to serve load at a technical cost (System Levelized Cost of Electricity, or System LCOE) of less than the U.S. Department of Energy SHINES program metric of $0.14/kWh, in a defined boundary, while enabling a high penetration of distributed PV. Research was categorized in 6 reports (Final Deliverables = FD) listed below, with titles and descriptions indicating which area of understanding was investigated: FD-1: System Levelized Cost of Electricity (System LCOE) Methodology The creation and use of the System LCOE to Serve Load metric that encompasses the holistic, system-level costs and benefits of all resources, and enables them to be evaluated based on their ability to support an efficient and low-cost integrated grid ecosystem. FD-2: Software Platform Product Description The creation of new DER control methodologies deployable within a utility-grade software platform that enable DER's to maximize their benefit within a grid, that is capable of serving load enabling a high penetration of distributed PV generation. FD-3: Optimal Design Methodology Optimal design methodologies for individual DER installations that enable utilities to determine the optimal combinations and sizing for individual DER sites. FD-4: Austin SHINES Ownership and Operation Models for DER System Performance A comparison of multiple DER aggregation and ownership methodologies including direct utility control, third-party aggregator, and autonomous. FD-5: Economic Modeling & Optimization A comparison of multiple DER technology mixes and configurations within the distribution system, providing insight into an optimal blend of technologies that best enable the distribution system to serve load at the lowest cost at high penetrations of solar. FD-6: Fielded Assets Deployed DER assets within the Austin Energy SHINES circuits. Austin SHINES provided an opening for state-of-the-art technology products to be deployed, providing a rich opportunity for improving how each of the products perform as stand-alone products, and in concert with other complementary products. The Austin SHINES project comprised of two key metrics for System LCOE: SystemLCOE_SHINES<$0.14/kWh Modeled ΔSystemLCOE_SHINES/ΔSystemLCOE_Base≥20% at same solar penetration The System LCOE calculation uses the costs of the utility-owned infrastructure as it exists today, the cost of the DERs that exist in the system today, and the cost of the purchase of energy from ERCOT wholesale markets over the course of the calendar year. All costs are on an annualized basis. The capital and operating costs are derived from the rate case, which produces a yearly cost. The net cost of energy and services imported to the system is integrated over the test year, as is the load served and solar penetration. The first metric was easily achieved by every scenario considered. The goal was set when the Department of Energy’s SHINES Funding Opportunity Announcement was written in 2015 and was a more difficult target at the time. Due mostly to rapidly declining costs for DERs and the significant decrease in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) energy market prices, which results in lower net cost of energy purchases, the System LCOE is well below this target for all scenarios considered. A fleet of DERs can assume different mixtures, each of which serves the load at a different LCOE. The optimal mixture of DERs serves load at the smallest System LCOE. The second metric (hereinafter %delta metric) asks that the holistic DERMS controls reduce the incremental cost above the baseline of going to a high solar penetration future by at least 20% as compared to the case of a DER deployment with no sophisticated controls (autonomous). Many comparison sets were created throughout this project. Physical technology was installed for informing utility engineering and testing several types of operational control schemes, through the DERMS. The types of operational control which were compared for valuation of the System LCOE Metric were: Holistic control = using the full suite of the DERMS platform to decide and optimize how/why the systems operate depending on weather, market, and reliability signal input. Autonomous control = a local mode at the asset site, wherein a schedule operates the asset, with visibility into performance only No control = the baseline for comparing value against the other two types of control The types of ownership control included: Direct Utility control = the utility dispatches a signal to each asset Third-Party Aggregator = a third party aggregates a fleet of assets and the utility dispatches one signal for all Autonomous = a local mode is set for operation at the asset site, wherein a schedule operates the asset, with visibility into performance only The types of control methodologies deployable within a utility-grade software platform included: Utility Peak Load Reduction = Lower transmission cost obligation Day-Ahead Energy Arbitrage = Realize economic value through price differential Real-Time Price Dispatch = Realize economic value from real-time price spikes Voltage support = Reduce losses and increase solar generation Distribution Congestion Management = Increase local grid reliability Demand Charge Reduction = Lower customer bills and realize system benefit The fielded assets deployed for the project were: Utility Scale Kingsbery Energy Storage System: 1.5 MW / 3 MWh Li-Ion battery storage Mueller Energy Storage System: 1.75 MW / 3.2 MWh Li-Ion battery storage, 7 Energy Storage Units (250 kW each) La Loma Community Solar: 2.6 MW Commercial Scale Aggregated storage installations at 3 sites, with existing solar (300+ kW): One 18 kW / 36 kWh Li-Ion battery storage Two 72 kW / 144 kWh Li-Ion battery storage Residential Scale Aggregated storage installations: -Six stationary battery storage systems (10 kWh each) at homes with existing solar -One Electric Vehicle installed as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Utility-Controlled Solar via Smart Inverters at 12 homes Autonomously-Controlled Smart Inverters at 6 homes Over the course of the project, Austin SHINES undertook installing more than 3 MW of distributed battery energy storage, smart PV inverters, a DER control platform, and other enabling technologies utilizing customer and utility locations and aggregation models. All of these resources were to be integrated and optimized at the utility level. DER assets and control methodologies were designed to achieve a credible pathway to a System LCOE for energy delivered to load of $0.14//kWh or less by 2020, while maximizing distributed solar generation and maintaining acceptable standards of power quality. The project also established a template for other regions to follow, to maximize the adoption of distributed solar PV in support of an economic and efficient grid. In total, the Austin SHINES project added value to the DER subject area in each layer of integration. From utility, to commercial to residential scales, the sheer hierarchy of communication and coordination was a significant accomplishment in addition to learnings from what these communications revealed was unique to each. Economically, the most effective method demonstrated was the criticality of planning phases. Contingencies and multiple projection scenarios helped guide the project to deploy optimal design as close as feasible, in real world conditions. The project and reports will serve public benefit by outlining specific areas of DER strategy and installation where many stakeholders and needs can be addressed with improved efficiency. Overall, communities and utilities should use the results to guide the increasing options available for powering the grid with DER, renewables, and carbon considerate energy.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

An Overview of Behind-the-Meter Solar-Plus-Storage Program Design: With Considerations for India

Indian consumers have been deploying behind-the-meter generation (predominantly diesel backup, and, more recently, photovoltaic) and storage systems (predominantly lead-acid and other kinds of batteries as uninterrupted power supplies) by the millions for decades) to address reliability issues within the Indian power system. The same energy storage systems could provide additional services to the consumer and distribution companies if properly regulated and designed from the outset to be grid interactive. Grid-connected distributed solar PV (DPV), or rooftop solar, has also seen wide deployment in India and features prominently in the Government of India’s plans for a transition to clean, reliable, and affordable energy for all. At the same time, many utilities and state governments, as well as the central government in India are currently funding-constrained for both operational and future capital expenditures in the power sector, and some perceive customer-sited resources as exacerbating existing financial challenges. In that context, behind-the-meter energy storage systems paired with distributed photovoltaic (DPV) - with the capability to act as both generation and load - represent a potentially unique and disruptive power sector technology capable of providing a range of important services to customers, utilities, and the broader power system in India. This report aims to offer a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to designing customer programs based on experience in the United States that can help regulators, utilities, and policymakers in India manage the range of challenges and opportunities that increased behind-the-meter energy storage deployment will bring to the power system, in particular when these systems are paired with DPV.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Aerospace Industry Trends [Slides]

The aerospace industry’s customer base is expanding. These customers bring new expectations formed by exposure to other industries. New & existing customers are shaping each other’s expectations.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Hamilton: Flexible, Open Source $10 Wireless Sensor System for Energy Efficient Building Operation

Sensors for improving building performance are rapidly populating the market, driven in part by the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from energy production as well as improve the interior environment for healthy and more productive spaces. UC Berkeley has led wireless sensor development over the past 25 years (e.g., Telos mote), with the Hamilton (named after Alexander Hamilton on the US $10 bill) as the most recent. The Hamilton sensor was designed as a low-cost high-performance sensor that is modular and interoperable. The objective of the Hamilton project was to create, evaluate and establish the technological foundations for secure and easy to deploy building energy efficiency applications utilizing pervasive, low-cost wireless sensors integrated with traditional Building Management Systems (BMS), consumer-sector building components, and powerful data analytics. The project included iterative hardware design, incorporating a high-performance database (BTrDb, http://btrdb.io/), creating and iterating the development of secure data middleware (BOSSwave, WAVE/WAVEMQ), working with and pushing the development of an open-source tiny operating system RiotOS, and implementing and improving protocols such as Thread/OpenThread and TCP/IP. The hardware benefited from careful design to drive down the cost; the design included a System-on-a-Chip (SoC), chip antenna, single crystal and five passive components. Careful design of the operating system created a low-power design to enable a long life with small batteries. The hardware included several sensors: temperature, radiant temperature, relative humidity, magnetometer, accelerometer, and light, with an optional occupancy (Passive InfraRed) sensor. The project was the basis of several applications, both internal to the research team and other researchers and professionals at other institutions. Several applications used the sensor hardware as the basis for other complex devices. Other applications used the sensors to improve building performance through interoperating with the building Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system, such as using occupancy and/or distributed temperature sensing to reduce HVAC zone energy while still providing thermal comfort and to reduce peak loads in small commercial buildings. We demonstrated cloud-based energy analytics, implemented a schedule and a Model Predictive Controller in a small commercial building to optimize HVAC energy, occupancy and electricity price. Initial integration of these technological innovations was performed through the creation of execution containers containing the WAVE agent and various driver, proxy, or building system function logic. The research added to the understanding of efficient sensor hardware, secure middleware, time-series data management (high performance database), efficient communication protocols, and interoperating with applications and building systems. The project showed the technical effectiveness and economic feasibility of creating a low-cost, modular, and easy-to-deploy sensor. Through conversations with multiple end users, the research team discovered that many customers wanted data management and services in addition to the sensors. HamiltonIOT developed packages of sensors, border router, and data services to provide a seamless “plug-and-play” sensor deployment. Some customers were willing to pay for higher quality sensors (such as light); some customers wanted a robust enclosure (waterproof).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tamper-Indicating Enclosures with Visually Obvious Tamper Response (Final Project Report)

Sandia National Laboratories is developing a new method for detecting penetration of tamper - indicating enclosures (TIEs). This method incorporates the use of "bleeding" materials (analogous to visually obvious, colorful bruised skin that doesn't heal) into the design of TIEs. As designed, it will allow inspectors to use simple visual observation to detect attempts to penetrate the external surfaces of a TIE, without providing adversaries the ability to repair damage. A material of this type can enhance tamper indication of current TIEs used to support treaty verification regimes. Current TIE inspections are time - consuming and rely on subjective visual assessment by an inspector, equipment such as eddy current or camera devices, or involve approaches that may be limited due to application environment. The complexities and requirements that volumetric sealing methods (or TIEs) must address are: (1) enclosures that are non - standard in size/shape; (2) enclosures that may be inspectorate - or facility - owned; (3) finding tamper attempts that are difficult and time consuming for an inspector to locate; (4) enclosures that are reliable and durable enough to survive the conditions that exist in the operating environment (including facility handling); and (5) methods that prevent adversaries from repairing penetrations. Early project R&D [1] focused on encapsulated transition metals. Due to the challenges associated with the transition metal - based approach, a mitigation approach was investigated resulting in two separate research paths — one that involves fabricating custom TIE molds that meet the specific (size and shape) needs of safeguards equipment a nd one that can be deployed as a sprayed on or painted coating to an existing TIE or surface. The "custom mold" approach is based on creating thin layers of materials that , when penetrated, expose an inner material to O 2 which causes an irreversible color change. The "in-situ coating" approach is based on applying a sensor solution containing color changing microcapsules that bleed when the microcapsule is ruptured. The anticipated benefits of this work are passive, flexible, scalable, robust , cost-effective TIEs with visually obvious responses to tamper attempts. This provides more efficient and effective monitoring , as inspectors will require little or no additional equipment and will be able to detect tamper without extensive time - consuming visual examination. Applications include custom TIEs (cabinets , equipment enclosures or seal bodies ), or spray-coating/painting onto facility-owned items, walls or structures, or circuit boards. The paper describes research and testing completed to-date on the method and integration of select system components.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Smart Building Start (SBS) (CRADA 480)

The idea of Smart Building Start (SBS) is to manage the on/off scheduling of HVAC equipment in buildings in an optimal way in order to achieve comfort conditions at the designated times with the minimal use of energy. This concept is also known as Optimal Start and it has typically been used in buildings to start up equipment based on predictions made for a representative (or average) zone in a building. This means that zones that could have waited longer to receive conditioned air are activated too early leading to unnecessary energy loss. The approach proposed in this project is to develop and implement a distributed version of optimal start that will consider the individual requirements of all treated zones. The developed control strategy will enable smart start of the central plant as well as further localized control over each individual zone by means of setpoint adjustment so that zones are not conditioned too early thereby reducing energy use compared to the current state of the art. This project is a collaboration between PNNL and Verdicity with the goal being to bring the research concept of SBS to commercialization. The SBS algorithm(s) will be implemented and hosted on the PNNL-developed open-platform VOLTTRON which will accelerate bringing the research to practice. It is anticipated that this project will lead to new IP surrounding the algorithm and its decentralized deployment. The project will also further demonstrate the success of VOLTRON as a flexible platform for implementation of innovative algorithms for improving energy efficiency in buildings. Previous studies on smart building start carried out by PNNL have indicated potential energy savings on the order of 10-15% for multi-zone buildings compared to conventional strategies. Verdicity currently has a number of customers who can benefit from the use of this technology. PNNL will work with Verdicity to identify any key gaps in the integrated software and jointly work to enhance and customize it for Verdicity and to integrate it with their existing products for use at their customers’ sites. The proposed work will help previously funded Federal research and development technology investments find their way into a viable commercial market.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Opportunities and Challenges to Capturing Distributed Battery Value via Retail Utility Rates and Programs

Distributed battery deployment is increasing with advanced metering, control, and communication technologies, leaving electric utilities with an under-utilized, flexible grid resource in aggregate. Rates can reflect locational and temporal prices while utility incentive-based programs allow DERs to provide direct grid services. However, utilities must balance accurately reflecting dynamic grid conditions versus simple and feasible design that encourages customer participation. Currently, most rates and incentive-based programs are simple, but as penetration of DER and advanced controls increase, dynamic designs could become prevalent. Utilities could encourage providing multiple services to optimize distributed battery dispatch and value streams, however, challenges persist when stacking services across distribution and bulk systems. A DER committed to multiple discrete services concurrently necessitates coordination between operators and a clear hierarchy of commitments. One way to address this is to separate commitments by time or capacity. For services that follow cyclic, predictable patterns, or those that are peak driven with predictability, an operator could ensure sufficient state of charge for participation, leaving time where a distributed battery could otherwise provide different services by segmenting participation temporally. To provide continuous or unexpected services, a battery operator may use state of charge management to reserve some percentage of the battery and segment participation by capacity. Macroeconomic trends, load patterns, generation profiles, and grid configurations drive variation in value and the subsequent implications for utility offerings and how a customer might participate. As distributed battery adoption increases, both regulators and utilities will need to ensure no adverse grid impacts and encourage provision of societal value beyond the customer domain.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Smart Monitoring and Diagnostic System (SMDS) for Packaged Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps for Small/Medium Commercial Buildings: Preparation for Commercialization: CRADA 478 [Abstract only]

This project will enable Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and industry partner, mCloud Technologies, to work collaboratively to ready the Smart Monitoring and Diagnostic System (SMDS) for commercial deployment and validate its performance under real-world conditions at field sites. This project will specifically focus on 1) implementing the SMDS algorithms in a scalable cloud-based software architecture, 2) designing new, innovative, complimentary commercial services based on the SMDS, 3) enhancing the SMDS energy and cost impact algorithms to reduce uncertainty in estimates, 4) determining the lower limits on SMDS performance degradation detection, 5) validating algorithm performance and default values of adjustable thresholds with existing data from controlled physical testing and from customer packaged air conditioners and heat pumps (commonly referred to as rooftop units or RTUs), 6) field testing to validate the system on multiple customer buildings in diverse environments, and 7) expanding field deployment to a larger set of mCloud’s customer buildings. Project results by validating, enhancing, and quantifying the performance of the SMDS will position mCloud, and potential future licensees, to implement the SMDS in commercial offerings that encourage and enable use of condition-based and predictive maintenance, leading to significant reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with space conditioning by RTUs. Furthermore, these enhancements will increase the value of the SMDS for users and increase the potential market for its use and impacts.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development and Validation of Algorithms That Analyze Communicating Thermostat Data to Identify Enclosure Retrofit Opportunities

Annual energy savings of up to $\$ 4$ to $\$ 5$ billion could be achieved nationwide through basic insulation and heating system retrofits of existing homes. However, current utility energy efficiency programs are costly and challenging to scale. Customer acquisition occurs primarily through energy bill mailers, mass media, and online advertising that lack specificity about home-specific retrofit opportunities, expected energy savings, and cost-effectiveness. Specific retrofit opportunities are identified via on-site home energy assessments (HEAs) that are inconvenient to homeowners, expensive, and of variable accuracy. We developed computational algorithms that automatically analyze communicating thermostat (CT) heating data that could be used to increase the customer uptake of insulation and air sealing energy conservation measures (ECMs) by identifying homes with the most significant retrofit opportunities, estimating post-retrofit energy savings, and formulating home-specific outreach. The algorithms are based on an extended second-order grey-box model that characterizes a building’s thermal response using lumped elements, coupled with an empirical model of infiltration that accounts for both wind and stack effects. The basic parameters of the model correspond to actual physical parameters of the home, i.e., the home’s overall R-value of and the building envelope ACH50. Unlike the conventional approach, which estimates model parameters based on the best fit to the observed time-dependent room temperature, our approach derives correlations between the daily heating system runtime and temperature difference (indoor-outdoor) that are more robust to data quality issues in real-world applications. We also used HEA data for algorithm development and validation. With the help of our utility partners, Eversource and National Grid, we obtained data sets for hundreds of Massachusetts homes. For each home, these data sets included three sets of information anonymized by the utility: (1) CT data (HVAC runtime, room temperature, and, for some vendors, outdoor temperature and wind speed) collected by the CT vendor (one of three) over a heating season, (2) HEA report performed by the HEA vendor (same vendor for all homes), (3) Monthly utility gas bills coincident with the CT data (3 to 24 per home, depending on availability). For some homes, we also obtained blower-door test results. Initially, we applied the algorithms developed to homes with a single CT and then extended them to homes with two CTs by using an equivalent home approach. Finally, we developed algorithms for prediction of energy savings and a methodology of comparing our predictions with those generated by HEAs. The main technical results indicate that we can reliably identify homes with insulation and/or air sealing retrofit opportunities and provide accurate savings predictions. Our hypothesis is that the algorithms could be applied to utility energy efficiency programs to identify homes that could realize significant energy savings from insulation and/or air sealing retrofits. This information could then be used to reach out to those homes with highly customized outreach, thereby delivering increased program energy savings and cost-effectiveness. This would: Significantly increase the uptake rate of on-site HEAs, and Significantly increase the fraction of HEAs resulting in ECM implementation. To test these hypotheses, we designed and conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The RCT results suggest that personal messaging leads to a two- to five-fold increase in the HEA uptake rate.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗