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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.

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At least 127 records · Page 7

Analytical Voltage Sensitivity Analysis for Unbalanced Power Distribution System

Large scale integration of distributed energy resources and electric vehicles in a transactive energy environment present new challenges in terms of voltage stability and fluctuations in a power distribution system. The impact of different level of DER/EV penetration on the voltages across the network is typically quantified through voltage sensitivity analyses. Existing methods of voltage sensitivity analysis are computationally expensive and prior efforts to develop analytical approximation lacks generality and have not been effectively validated. The objective of this work is to provide a new analytical method of voltage sensitivity analysis that has low computational cost and also allows for stochastic analysis of voltage change. This paper first derives an analytical approximation of change in voltage at a particular bus due to change in power consumption at other bus in a radial three phase unbalanced power distribution system. Then, the proposed method is shown to be valid for different load configurations, which demonstrates its generality. The results from our analytical approach is validated via classical load flow simulation of the test system based on IEEE 37 bus network. The proposed method is shown to have good accuracy, and computation complexity is of order O(1), compared to O(n3) in classical sensitivity analysis approaches.

Munikoti, Sai↗

Blockchain Smart Contract Reference Framework and Program Logic Architecture for Transactive Energy Systems

This paper proposes a reference framework for a transactive energy market based on blockchain. The framework was designed based on the engineering requirements of a distribution-scale market; including participant needs, expected market transactions, and the cybersecurity constructs required to support a fair, secure and efficient market operation. It leverages the existing blockchain primitives to provide clear value propositions to the transactive market, including identity management (access control), data security (integrity), resiliency (decentralization, scalability and performance). The validity of the proposed framework is demonstrated using a real-time 5-min double-auction market. The results highlight its benefits while providing strong validation of applicability to blockchain within transactive energy systems.

Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil Gupta↗

Transactive HVAC Agent - Design and Performance Evaluation

Transactive energy systems are playing an increasingly important role in the efficient and reliable marketbased operation of the power grid. Since a significant portion of the residential building energy consumption is from heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, HVAC is one of the most promising resources to provide load flexibility. However, utilizing HVAC flexibility to provide various grid services while simultaneously maintaining consumer comfort and cost-reductions is challenging. This paper presents a design of a transactive HVAC agent (T-HVAC) to be used as a supervisory control for the HVAC system that can simultaneously ensure comfort and cost-reduction. In particular, the T-HVAC a) estimates HVAC thermal dynamics, b) ensures optimal operations of the HVAC system, and c) participates into markets, and d) implements a market-based control via controlling the thermostat temperature set-point. The T-HVAC performance is demonstrated through multiple scenarios and illustrations.

Demand flexibility, distribution system, HVAC, Tra↗

Peak Reduction in a Residential Community Through Bayesian Optimization of Transactive Control Signals

Daily residential power consumption in aggregate tends to have a large peak that places stress on the distribution system and induces high operational costs. This work shows that coordinated transactive control of noncritical loads within a residential community or microgrid can help to alleviate peak-time stress on the distribution system by flattening the aggregate load curve. Treating the load forecaster as a high-fidelity, expensive black-box function, a new algorithm utilizing Bayesian optimization (BO) is proposed to achieve the best solution under uncertainty with minimal computing effort. The proposed BO algorithm manipulates the shape of the load based on transactive signals sent to each home. The thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) act out of self-interest in response to the given price while maintaining comfort, and the optimizer exploits the thermal energy retention of the homes for the benefit of the community. Simulations confirm consistent neighborhood-level peak power reduction and energy cost savings.

Schomer, Ian↗

Modeling Value Flows in Utility Rate Structures

As the increased adoption of distributed energy resources continues to challenge flat utility rate structures, time-varying rates and more dynamic mechanisms like transactive energy systems can better leverage customer-sited distributed energy resources to provide grid services. However, adopting new utility policies can be a timely process and requires a high level of transparency into the energy system. A wide range of stakeholders must understand who may be affected by policy changes and how. This work employs the valuation methodology developed under Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Transactive Systems Program to outline the functional differences in value flow under a series of conventional rate structures and a transactive energy system. The resulting value model illustrates the nuances that arise and highlights future avenues of work that will be necessary as utilities across the country continue to develop new rate structures and market mechanisms.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Enabling Evaluation of a Southern Company Distribution Feeder on NREL ADMS Test Bed: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report)

The objective of this project is to enable evaluation of a Southern Company distribution feeder on the Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) test bed. The long-term goal is to evaluate a federated distributed energy resource (DER) management solution that aggregates DERs through either direct control, transactive control or an aggregator to provide bulk services while observing distribution system voltage and power constraints. The DER aggregation needs to be coordinated with an ADMS that is responsible for reliable power delivery across the distribution systems. This project takes the first step towards enabling such evaluation by deploying an ADMS from Oracle (Southern Company's ADMS supplier) with a Southern Company feeder at NREL.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Taming the wild edge of smart grid – Lessons from transactive energy market deployments

For two decades, the idea of using market-based approaches in field deployments that coordinate the flexible operation of electricity customer assets has occupied the efforts of transactive energy practitioners. While the purported benefits of this distributed decision-making approach have been well explored, the practical aspects of implementing such a system to address real-world problems are just beginning to emerge. This report surveyed 24 field-deployed programs and interviewed experts instrumental in these deployments. The results of the survey and interviews reveal the diversity of designs and applications. They highlight the technical promise of the approaches as well as challenges with system integration, sustainable business strategy, and regulatory policy obstacles. Insights from the survey offer considerations to direct future effort and investment.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

An open-source automated continuous condition-based maintenance platform for commercial buildings

This paper describes one such reference process that can be deployed to provide continuous automated conditioned-based maintenance management for buildings that have BIM, a building automation system (BAS) and a computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) systems. The process can be deployed using an open source transactional network platform, VOLTTRON™, designed for distributed sensing and controls and supports both energy efficiency and grid services.

Katipamula, Srinivas↗

The Transactive Network Template Metamodel

While transactive energy—an allocation of electricity based on dynamically discovered values or prices—has been extensively studied, its uptake and use has been slow. This report describes a tool, the transactive network template, which should hasten the creation and uptake of transactive energy networks. The transactive network template is a metamodel meant to guide implementers as they configure their own transactive agent within a network of such agents. The transactive network template’s object–oriented design approach provides implementers basic code object types, which may be used and extended to represent each of the assets in the implementer’s circuit region. These objects further facilitate the transactive agent’s necessary computations, which are divided among responsibilities to schedule assets’ power usage, to balance electric supply and demand, and to coordinate the exchange of electricity with the other transactive agents. This report addresses the conceptual transactive network template design. Implementers are directed to more formal design documents and reference implementations. A Python™-based [Python 2018] reference implementation of the transactive network template has been coded, and three implementations have been configured to represent a national laboratory and two university campuses. In the future, the author wishes to make the transactive network template more generally applicable to networks that require more accurate power flow and those employing alternative transactive coordination mechanisms.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Spot: A Programming Language for Verified Flight Software

The C programming language is widely used for programming space flight software and other safety-critical real time systems. C, however, is far from ideal for this purpose: as is well known, it is both low-level and unsafe. This paper describes Spot, a language derived from C for programming space flight systems. Spot aims to maintain compatibility with existing C code while improving the language and supporting verification with the SPIN model checker. The major features of Spot include actor-based concurrency, distributed state with message passing and transactional updates, and annotations for testing and verification. Spot also supports domain-specific annotations for managing spacecraft state, e.g., communicating telemetry information to the ground. We describe the motivation and design rationale for Spot, give an overview of the design, provide examples of Spot's capabilities, and discuss the current status of the implementation.

validation↗

Transactive Energy Rationing in an Islanded Electric Power System

A battery energy storage system (BESS) has been installed on Nantucket Island to provide service continuity during the N-1 contingency of partial electricity supply interruption from the mainland. During the N-2 contingency of complete interruption from the mainland, most of the loads will have to be disconnected so that a combustion gas turbine (CTG) can supply critical facilities. This work proposes an alternative transactive rationing mechanism that would provide some service to all of the loads, and still fully serve the critical loads, through market-based control during the N-2 contingency. A BESS operating strategy is proposed that would enhance the transactive rationing mechanism. The necessary enabling changes to communication systems, controls and utility tariffs are discussed, along with some ancillary benefits.

transactive energy, power distribution, energy sto↗

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Topic 2 Final Report: End-to-End Communication and Control System to Support Clean Energy Technologies

This document is the final report of a two-year development, test, and demonstration project, 'Cohesive Application of Standards- Based Connected Devices to Enable Clean Energy Technologies.' The project was part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Integrated Network Testbed for Energy Grid Research and Technology (INTEGRATE) initiative hosted at Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF). This project demonstrated techniques to control distribution grid events using the coordination of traditional distribution grid devices and high-penetration renewable resources and demand response. Using standard communication protocols and semantic standards, the project examined the use cases of high/low distribution voltage, requests for volt-ampere-reactive (VAR) power support, and transactive energy strategies using Volttron. Open source software, written by EPRI to control distributed energy resources (DER) and demand response (DR), was used by an advanced distribution management system (ADMS) to abstract the resources reporting to a collection of capabilities rather than needing to know specific resource types. This architecture allows for scaling both horizontally and vertically. Several new technologies were developed and tested. Messages from the ADMS based on the common information model (CIM) were developed to control the DER and DR management systems. The OpenADR standard was used to help manage grid events by turning loads off and on. Volttron technology was used to simulate a homeowner choosing the price at which to enter the demand response market. Finally, the ADMS used newly developed algorithms to coordinate these resources with a capacitor bank and voltage regulator to respond to grid events.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Blockchain-Based Smart Contracts Use for Photovoltaic Energy Trade Transactions

In recent decades, interest in renewable energy via solar energy has increased, especially in California and Nevada. In a region that can produce enough solar power for self-use, prosumers must use or sell surplus energy. Solar energy self-consumption is essential in modern energy transactions in the grid. This paper proposes an approach towards grid services that includes photovoltaic hardware to store the excess energy in battery storage. Such energy can then be sold to power companies while the transaction is handled using blockchain. Software, security architecture and data flow requirements based on the Ethereum Blockchain are included. Furthermore, this solution protects the private information of seller and buyer and secures transactions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Zero Export Feeder Through Transactive Markets

This project is aimed at creating a transactive energy market to address the challenges faced by utility providers when increasing distributed energy resource (DER) adoption in their service area. One major challenge is mitigating export back to the grid during times of excess production. The transactive energy market operates at the distribution level and balances the supply and demand on the feeder, thus maintaining a zero-energy export at the primary feeder head. The market participants in this case are the residential customers on the feeder, who bid into the market. Building controls are then optimized based on the settled price. Market performance was demonstrated in this study by simulating different levels of DER penetration on a selected Pepco feeder. The feeder successfully achieved a zero export while providing cost-effective electricity to the participants, demonstrating that this market design can enable high DER penetration on existing feeders.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

On deadlock detection in distributed systems

A hierarchically organized and a distributed protocol for deadlock detection in distributed databases are presented in a previous study Menasce and Muntz (1979). In this paper, it is shown that the distributed protocol is incorrect, and possible remedies are presented. However, the distributed protocol remains impractical because 'condensations' of 'transaction-wait-for' graphs make graph updates difficult to perform. Delayed graph updates cause the occurrence of false deadlocks in this as well as in some other deadlock detection protocols for distributed systems. The performance degradation that results from false deadlocks depends on the characteristics of each protocol.

Gligor, V. D.↗

Power Grid Simulation Testbed for Transactive Energy Management Systems

To effectively engage demand-side and distributed energy resources (DERs) for dynamically maintaining the electric power balance, the challenges of controlling and coordinating building equipment and DERs on a large scale must be overcome. Although several control techniques have been proposed in the literature, a significant obstacle to applying these techniques in practice is having access to an effective testing platform. Performing tests at scale using real equipment is impractical, so simulation offers the only viable route to developmental testing at scales of practical interest. Existing power-grid testbeds are unable to model individual residential end-use devices for developing detailed control formulations for responsive loads and DERs. Furthermore, they cannot simulate the control and communications at subminute timescales. To address these issues, this paper presents a novel power-grid simulation testbed for transactive energy management systems. Detailed models of primary home appliances (e.g., heating and cooling systems, water heaters, photovoltaic panels, energy storage systems) are provided to simulate realistic load behaviors in response to environmental parameters and control commands. The proposed testbed incorporates software as it will be deployed, and enables deployable software to interact with various building equipment models for end-to-end performance evaluation at scale.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Modeling an Application's Theoretical Minimum and Average Transactional Response Times

The theoretical minimum transactional response time of an application serves as a basis for the expected response time. The lower threshold for the minimum response time represents the minimum amount of time that the application should take to complete a transaction. Knowing the lower threshold is beneficial in detecting anomalies that are results of unsuccessful transactions. On the converse, when an application's response time falls above an upper threshold, there is likely an anomaly in the application that is causing unusual performance issues in the transaction. This report explains how the non-stationary Generalized Extreme Value distribution is used to estimate the lower threshold of an application's daily minimum transactional response time. It also explains how the seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average time series model is used to estimate the upper threshold for an application's average transactional response time.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗