Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Distributed Energy Resources, Interconnection”

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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Transactive Coordination of Flexible Loads with Energy Storage through Day-ahead Scheduling

We are motivated by the problem faced by the aggregator (market coordinator) to optimally schedule the day-ahead operation of flexible loads and energy storages through transactive coordination. The aggregator, which may be the ISO/DSO/LSE/Utility company/Microgrid controller depending on the system considered, aims to maximize social welfare of interconnected distributed energy resources (DERs) by determining the optimal hourly prices for the next operating day. Arbitrage and private objectives are incorporated to ensure participation of third-party energy storages. We show that the coordination problem can be mathematically formulated as a multi-period optimal control problem with global power flow constraints and local DER-level constraints, and propose an iterative hierarchical decentralized solution method which respects the privacy of DERs. Under proper convexity assumptions, the algorithm will converge to the optimal day-ahead market clearing prices. We illustrate the algorithm using a four-bus power system with DC power flow constraints. Results show that incorporating degradation cost decreases the energy storage's ability of peak shaving and that social welfare of the system increases when discharging and charging efficiencies increase.

Ma, Ke↗
DOE OSTI2015

Alternatives to the 15% Rule

The third solicitation of the California Solar Initiative (CSI) Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment (RD&D) Program established by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) is supporting the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with collaboration from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), in research to improve the Utility Application Review and Approval process for interconnecting distributed energy resources to the distribution system. Currently this process is the most time - consuming of any step on the path to generating power on the distribution system. This CSI RD&D solicitation three project has completed the tasks of collecting data from the three utilities, clustering feeder characteristic data to attain representative feeders, detailed modeling of 16 representative feeders, analysis of PV impacts to those feeders, refinement of current screening processes, and validation of those suggested refinements. In this report each task is summarized to produce a final summary of all components of the overall project.

Broderick, Robert Joseph↗
DOE OSTI2015

Alternatives to the 15% Rule: Modeling and Hosting Capacity Analysis of 16 Feeders

This project is part of the third solicitation of the California Solar Initiative (CSI3) Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment Program created by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2006 to support solar research in California. The program focuses on research to improve the utility application review and approval process for interconnecting distributed energy resources such as solar to the distribution system. The CSI3 program is supporting EPRI, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in their collaboration on the process with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). At present, the application review and approval process is the most time-consuming of any step on the path to generating power for delivery through the distribution system.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Standards Development [Final Report]

Currently, the solar industry is operating with little application-specific guidance on how to protect and defend their systems from cyberattacks. This 3-year Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office-funded project helped advance the distributed energy resource (DER) cybersecurity state-of-the-art by (a) bolstering industry awareness of cybersecurity concepts, risks, and solutions through a webinar series and (b) developing recommendations for DER cybersecurity standards to improve the security performance of DER products and networks. Drafting DER standards is a lengthy, consensus-based process requiring effective leadership and stakeholder participation. This project was designed to reduce standard and guide writing times by creating well-researched recommendations that could act as a starting place for national and international standards development organizations. Working within the SunSpec/Sandia DER Cybersecurity Workgroup, the team produced guidance for DER cybersecurity certification, communication protocol standards, network architecture s, access control, and patching. The team also led subgroups within the IEEE P 1547.3 Guide for Cybersecurity of Distributed Energy Resources Interconnected with Electric Power Systems committee and pushed a draft to ballot in October 2021.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Options for Upgrading Low-Voltage Spot Network Protection to Increase DER Interconnection Capacity

Existing standards and policies for interconnecting distributed energy resources (DERs) into low voltage spot networks severely limits the amount of DER installed on those networks to avoid negative impacts on protection systems. This report investigates options for upgrading the protection systems of spot networks to allow for additional DER installations beyond the normal limits (i.e., no reverse power flows allowed onto the MV system). Eight potential upgrade options are discussed that span various methods for new network protector algorithms, hardware upgrades, and the addition of communication. Each method has tradeoffs in terms of accuracy of detecting faults, requirements to upgrade equipment in the spot networks, need for communication, and sensitivity to false trips—all of which are explored in this report.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Least-cost Optimal Distribution Grid Expansion (LODGE): Utility Pilots

The Least-cost Optimal Distribution Grid Expansion (LODGE) model provides the optimal portfolio of distribution system upgrades—e.g., voltage regulators, feeder reconductoring, transformer upgrades and non-wires alternatives (NWA), such as strategic siting of storage and distributed generation—to interconnect distributed energy resources (DERs) and enable load growth. It can be used to assess grid infrastructure costs and explore policy and regulatory solutions for distribution planning and DER valuation.In 2025, Berkeley Lab conducted three pilot analyses to validate LODGE results with empirical utility data before the model’s first release in 2026. The pilots, done with utilities in Washington, Colorado, and New Mexico, provide examples that illustrate how the model works, what it can do, and the value of the analysis.

Heleno, Miguel↗
DOE OSTI2024

Voltage Optimization

Voltage optimization refers to a volt-var optimization technique which was originally designed to minimize energy consumption and improve end-use efficiency on the distribution system. This reduces source voltage at a substation, which lowers generation demand, reduces system losses, and improves system stability. This has been the conventional implementation of voltage optimization: focusing on regulation of voltages throughout the distribution system via coordinated adjustments of load tap changers, line-voltage regulators, switched shunt compensation, and the targeted placement of new shunt compensation. These methods have received increased focus following a growth in distributed-energy resources (DERs) interconnecting at the distribution level, given their developing capability to participate in voltage regulation. This is paired with the intermittency challenges they pose, load imbalances, and voltage fluctuations. Voltage optimization has long been an area of extensive research within the distribution system, with various strategies and philosophies demonstrating a range of effects. The conventional focus on the distribution system owes to the typical operation of transmission systems, which assumes firm local resources and flows strictly from generation resources to loads. The strategies employed in distribution have also been optimized for this typically radial configuration and operation of the distribution system.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Considerations for Distributed Energy Resource Integration in Puerto Rico: DOE Multi-Lab Grid Modeling Support for Puerto Rico; Analytical Support for Interconnection and IEEE Std 1547-2018 National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Task 3.0)

To ensure the sustainable long-term recovery of Puerto Rico's electric power grid from hurricanes María and Irma and to build capacity to manage future potential natural disasters in the most secure and resilient way, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) convened experts from multiple national laboratories to develop a comprehensive set of data, models, analytic tools, and studies, considering inputs from a wide variety of stakeholder groups, to support technically sound recommendations for Puerto Rico's energy investment decisions. A resilient electric grid is vital to Puerto Rico's security, economy, and way of life, and it will provide the foundation for essential services that people and businesses on the island rely on every day. This report shows progress for a grid modeling task under the DOE-sponsored project that is a collaboration among the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and other national laboratories. In Phase 1 of the multilab effort to support Puerto Rico's recovery, NREL provided the utility company Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) recommendations for a new framework of interconnection standards to accelerate the integration of utility-scale, transmission-connected renewable electrical generation and energy storage that ensure cross-technology compatibility and enable high deployment levels without compromising grid reliably, safety, or security. This Phase 2 report focuses on the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs) to the electric distribution system in Puerto Rico. This report is intended to familiarize the reader with Puerto Rico's distribution infrastructure and operational practices and procedures that are relevant to DER interconnection. The report also provides considerations for streamlining the interconnection process given the expected increase in deployments resulting from Puerto Rico's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal of 100% renewables by 2050. Accordingly, the report identifies considerations and concerns associated with the increase in intermittent generation, strategies for DER interconnection best practices, and the potential use of the latest technological solutions identified in the latest revision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1547-2018 interconnection standard.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

GMLC Technical Assistance to States: DER Interconnection Workshop #3

NREL hosted this workshop to help state public utility commissions (PUCs) understand the materials and support available to assist in distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection activities. This workshop focused on DER interconnection and included four speakers, whose material will be posted at https://www.nrel.gov/grid/ieee-standard-1547/workshops.html. The slides in this deck were for the facilitator to provide context to the attendees as well as additional resources on the topics discussed.

DER↗
DOE OSTI2023

GMLC Technical Assistance to States: DER Interconnection Workshop #2 [Slides]

NREL hosted this workshops to help state public utility commissions (PUCs) understand the materials and support available to assist in distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection activities. This workshop focused on "Modern DER Capabilities and Deployment Concerns" and included four speakers, whose material will be posted at https://www.nrel.gov/grid/ieee-standard-1547/workshops.html. The slides in this deck were for the facilitator to provide context to the attendees, as well as additional resources on the topics discussed.

1547↗
DOE OSTI2020

Clause-by-Clause Summary of Requirements in IEEE Standard 1547-2018

The revised IEEE 1547 standard (IEEE Std 1547-2018) contains eleven chapters (clauses) and eight annexes that comprise 136 pages. Each clause specifies information or requirements that apply to certain aspects important to the interconnection of distributed energy resources to the electric power system. Implementation of the requirements needs a careful study of the underlying technical concept and also needs the appropriate information that may be required to calculate various settings and configurations. This document aims to provide an introductory text to assist users of IEEE Std 1547-2018 in identifying the following questions: what is the primary audience of the clause/subclause? What knowledge is required to understand the technical subject matter? What information is required to apply/implement the requirements specified? What level of fluency with the subject matter is required to apply/implement the requirements?

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Energy Resilient Recovery in Puerto Rico: Hurricane Maria Recovery Support

This report covers microgrids as a special application of distributed energy resources (DERs) in Puerto Rico. This is one of a series of reports describing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) multi-laboratory efforts undertaken. To ensure the sustainable, long-term recovery of Puerto Rico's electric power grid from hurricanes Maria and Irma and to build capacity to manage future potential natural disasters in the most secure and resilient way, DOE convened experts from multiple national laboratories to develop a comprehensive set of data, models, analytic tools, and studies, considering inputs from a wide variety of stakeholder groups, to support technically sound recommendations for Puerto Rico's energy investment decisions. In Phase 1 of the multi-laboratory effort to support Puerto Rico's recovery, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provided the utility company Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) recommendations for a new framework of interconnection standards to accelerate the integration of utility-scale, transmission-connected, renewable electrical generation and energy storage that ensure cross-technology compatibility and enable high deployment levels without compromising grid reliability, safety, or security (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/73848.pdf). In Phase 2, NREL published a report focused on the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs) to the electric distribution system in Puerto Rico (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77127.pdf). This report familiarized the reader with Puerto Rico's distribution infrastructure and operational practices and procedures that are relevant to DER interconnection. The report also provided considerations for streamlining the interconnection process given the expected increase in deployments resulting from Puerto Rico's renewable portfolio standard goal of 100% renewables by 2050. Accordingly, the report identifies considerations and concerns associated with the increase in intermittent generation, strategies for DER interconnection best practices, and the potential use of the latest technological solutions identified in the latest revision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1547-2018 interconnection standard. Additionally, the report identified ways to improve the physical resiliency of installed DERs. This task describes how distributed energy systems may participate in and contribute to improving the resiliency of Puerto Rico's energy infrastructure in the future. This report presents an analysis of the Puerto Rico grid to illustrate the possible different microgrid and minigrid scenarios. The capability to form sustained microgrids and minigrids has the potential to provide a high level of resiliency during disturbances on the grid. DERs, on the other hand, have the capability to aid in the microgrid operation by providing grid support as well as grid-forming functionality. Other tasks in Phase 3 include voltage regulation in distribution networks using DERs and transmission-and-distribution co-simulation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Multi-layered Resilient Microgrid Networks

Distribution grid resilience, especially when the grid is under high penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER), e.g. PV and energy storage, is essential to ensure the quality of electric power services. The resiliency aspect is particularly important for critical loads that typically include hospitals, police/fire stations, and national security facilities. Networks of multiple interconnected reconfigurable microgrids help to increase renewable energy penetration and may be used as basic building blocks for implementing future resilient power grids. However, this integration requires additional layers of communications, both horizontal and vertical, which may substantially increase the potential cyber attack surfaces as well as escalate risks for wide-spread malfunctions of automation systems. The Mulit-layered Resilient Microgrid Networks project is an industry-academic collaboration between ABB, Duke Energy and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) that has developed and demonstrated a cyber-physical resilient control and communication architecture for deployment of multiple microgrid networks, as well as retrofitting the existing distribution grids by increasing DER penetration levels.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2017

Supplemental Information for New York State Standardized Interconnection Requirements

This document is intended to aid in the understanding and application of the New York State Standardized Interconnection Requirements (SIR) and Application Process for New Distributed Generators 5 MW or Less Connected in Parallel with Utility Distribution Systems, and it aims to provide supplemental information and discussion on selected topics relevant to the SIR. This guide focuses on technical issues that have to date resulted in the majority of utility findings within the context of interconnecting photovoltaic (PV) inverters. This guide provides background on the overall issue and related mitigation measures for selected topics, including substation backfeeding, anti-islanding and considerations for monitoring and controlling distributed energy resources (DER).

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating Interconnection Queue Impacts Using Hosting Capacity Analysis

The interconnection queue has been identified as a bottleneck in the efforts to shift the nations generation resources towards renewable sources and meet various state and federal goals. Efforts such as the interconnection innovation e-Xchange (i2X) are therefore trying to come up with ways in which the queue could be altered to make interconnection faster, cheaper, and fairer. This paper proposes using hosting capacity analysis methods to simulate the evolution of a power system as new resources are added. Modeling the interconnection process in this way enables simulation based study of various policy decisions for queue management and cost allocation. Sample results are presented to illustrate how some queue modifications might play out both in distribution and transmission systems.

Distributed Energy Resources, Interconnection↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evaluating the Role of Pre-Application Reports in Improving Distributed Generation Interconnection Processes

Several tools have emerged in recent years to increase data exchange and transparency in the distributed generation interconnection process with the goal of reducing interconnection costs. One example is pre-application reports. These reports are generated by a utility at the request of prospective interconnection applicants to provide technical information about a specific point of interconnection. Formal pre-application report processes have been established in 12 states at the distribution system level as well as at the transmission level by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. These reports are a relatively low-cost method of informing applicants of grid conditions and potential interconnection limitations early in the interconnection process. Thus, this information may encourage interconnection in locations with little to no detrimental impact to the grid and low interconnection costs. Increasing transparency of these grid conditions may also enable applicants to better plan for interconnection costs and requirements, such as system modifications and complex engineering studies. By providing these benefits, pre-application reports are expected to reduce the number of canceled interconnection applications. This report evaluates this hypothesis by quantifying the impact pre-application report processes have on application approval rate. To evaluate this hypothesis this analysis uses utility-reported distributed generation interconnection data from four utilities in Massachusetts. The analysis considers a four-year time period before and a five-year period after pre-application report process were implemented. The results indicate that once pre-application reports were required for projects 500 kilowatts and larger the approval rate of applications increased by 24%. This suggests that pre-application reports may decrease the percentage of canceled projects. However, due to data and other limitations, these results do not necessarily connote causation. This analysis is an important first step and a prerequisite for future analyses regarding the impact of pre-application reports. Other potential impacts also recognized during this analysis included reducing sunk costs and reducing the number of projects requiring a complex review. Collection of additional data would allow for forming more robust conclusions about these impacts in the future. Such data include circuit-level data, interconnection cost data, policy and regulatory background, national-level data, and utility and developer attributes. These data provide necessary context to account for interrelated factors while evaluating pre-application reports. Filling such knowledge gaps ultimately aids regulators in applying best practices within the industry. As more and more distributed energy resources are interconnected, these best practices will become an integral aspect of efficiently transitioning to an electric grid capable of meeting the needs of the 21st century.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cybersecurity Assessments on Emulated DER Communication Networks

An increasing number of public utility commissions are adopting Distributed Energy Resource (DER) interconnection standards which require photovoltaic (PV) inverters, energy storage systems, and other DER to include interoperable grid-support functionality. The recently updated national standard, IEEE 1547-2018, requires all DER to include a Sun Spec Modbus, IEEE 2030.5, or IEEE 1815 communication interface in order to provide local and bulk power system services. Those communication protocols and associated information models will ensure system interoperability for PV and storage systems, but these new utility-to-DER communication networks must be deployed with sufficient cybersecurity to protect the U.S. power system and other critical infrastructure reliant on dependable power. Unlike bulk generators, DER are commonly connected to grid operators via public internet channels. These DER networks are exposed to a large attack surface that may leverage sophisticated techniques and infrastructure developed on IT systems, including remote exploits and distributed attacks. Although DER make up a growing portion of the national generation mix, they have limited processing capabilities and do not typically support modern security features such as encryption or authentication. In this work, Sandia National Laboratories constructed simulated DER communication net- works with a range of security features in order to study the security posture of different communication approaches. The experimental test environment was created in a Sandia-developed co-simulation platform, called SCEPTRE, which emulated Sun Spec-compliant DER equipment, the utility DER management system, communication network, and distribution power system. Adversary-based assessments were conducted and a quantitative scoring criteria was applied to evaluate the resilience of various architectures against cyber attacks and to measure the systemic impact during such attacks. The team found that network segmentation, encryption, and moving target defense improved the security of these networks and would be recommended for utility, aggregator, and local DER networks.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Secure Scalable Control and Communications for Distributed PV (Final Technical Report)

An increasing number of jurisdictions are adopting Distributed Energy Resource (DER) interconnection standards which require photovoltaic (PV) inverters, energy storage systems, and other DER to include interoperable grid-support functionality. These functions provide grid operators the nobs to support local and bulk power system operations with DER equipment, but the associated grid operator-to-DER communications networks must be deployed with appropriate cybersecurity features. In some situations, additional security features may prevent control system scalability or increase communication latencies and dropouts. These unintentional consequences of the security features would therefore hinder the ability of the grid operator to implement specific control algorithms. This project evaluated the tradeoffs between power system performance and cybersecurity metrics for several grid services. This was conducted in two parts.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗