Grid Coordination

Grid Coordination

For Residential Customers

DC Jackson

DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Two Grid Coordination Problems

"Macro" Grid Coordination

Managing the Grid

  • Highly dynamic prices
  • Demand-response events
  • Functional control of devices
  • Grid events (FlexAlerts)

"Micro" Grid Coordination

Managing the Distribution Network

  • Functional control at the device level (EVSE, DER inverter)
  • Dynamic control of customer-site service level (import & export)
  • Can't do much of this today: static sizing based on predicted worst-case load
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Trends: Grid

  • Increasing agreement that highly dynamic pricing is superior to traditional DR events
  • CPUC & CEC vision: transition to highly dynamic pricing, with LSE/IOU pilots underway
  • The number of flexible-demand appliances per household is growing
    • Multiple appliances need to be managed "in concert"
    • Unlikely that all appliances share the same manufacturer
  • Grid coordination is transitioning from the device to the site
    • Set a dynamic power import/export limit on the site, not per device
    • The site manages loads & appliances via PCS & HEMS (NEC-705.13 & UL-3141)
  • Site power & energy management will most likely occur locally, not in the cloud
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Trends: Smarter Infrastructure

Smart Meters

  • Improved sensors with high sample-rate ADCs
  • Network connectivity to the home LAN and Internet
  • Third-party meter apps and platform standards (GEISA)

Smart Electric Panels

  • Revenue-grade metering on I/O lugs & every circuit
  • Relays on each circuit
  • Network connectivity: Ethernet and Wi-Fi
  • Integrated Power Control Systems (NEC-705.13 & UL-3141)
  • Integrated Home Energy Management System (HEMS)
  • Gateway processor running Linux
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Trends: Matter

  • Widespread agreement & adoption of Matter as the open standard for smart-appliance & IoT interoperability
    • Apple, Google, Amazon, LG, 800+ others
  • However, Matter does not provide grid-to-customer coordination
  • Matter alone cannot provide a complete grid-to-customer flexible demand solution

The Combination

  • HEMS + OpenADR 3.1 can shift appliance energy usage via Matter
  • PCS can attenuate appliance power via Matter
    • Better customer experience than power-cycling via relays
    • Relays provide a fail-safe backstop
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Grid Coordination with Matter

Use OpenADR 3.1 to obtain DR events and electricity prices from the cloud/Internet to the home

Use Matter within the home to control the power and shift energy of appliances

Two Protocol Layers

Layer Protocol Scope
Grid-to-home OpenADR 3.1 Prices, DR events, power limits
Within-home Matter Device control, energy management
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

The Future Residential Utility Customer

Smart Meter capabilities:

  • Power import & export measurement
  • Grid health monitoring via high sample-rate measurements
  • Communication with LSE via private wireless mesh
  • Connection to home LAN and Internet
  • Communication with home energy infrastructure: smart panels, DERs, EVSE, HVAC, water heaters

Smart Panel capabilities:

  • Integrated MID (Microgrid Interconnect Device)
  • Revenue-grade metering on every circuit with relays
  • Integrated PCS (NEC-705.13 & UL-3141)
  • Local APIs: MQTT + mDNS today, Matter and OpenADR 3.1 VEN in future
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Smart Meter and Smart Panel Integration

Use Cases (prioritized)

  1. Meter sets Dynamic Service Rating (DSR) on Panel PCS
  2. Meter subscribes to circuit power measurements from panel
  3. DR events from meter to panel
  4. Panel subscribes to high sample-rate waveform analysis from meter

Protocol Options

Protocol Strengths Timeline
Matter Standard, local, appliance integration Key clusters in 1.5-1.6
eBus Simple, proven (MQTT, Homie v5, mDNS) Working today
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Matter Taxonomy & Roles

Cluster Server

  • The device you want to control or read state from

Controller (Client)

  • Entity that talks to the cluster server
  • Can be simple bindings (e.g., light switch controlling a bulb)

Commissioner

  • Controls pairing and owns the fabric
  • Assigns Node Operational Certificates (NOCs)
  • Devices with NOCs signed by the same Root CA trust each other
  • Sets Access Control Lists (ACLs): which node can do what
  • ACLs can be granular: specific node, specific attribute, specific endpoint
DC Jackson
Grid Coordination

Functional Control and Demand Response

  • Device behavior is ultimately altered via functional-control commands
  • Optimally translating a DR event into a functional-control command requires detailed knowledge & context of the customer
  • The further from the customer this translation occurs, the less context is available
  • Local optimization cannot occur at the grid/LSE or aggregator level

Key Principles

  • The "location" where translation occurs must be flexible — customer's choice
  • The DR event must be accessible at: the device, a local HEMS, or a delegated ASP
  • This translation must not be locked within the manufacturer's cloud

Local HEMS is the best location to translate price & DR events to functional-control commands

DC Jackson