An Electric Connection: Homes Helping the Grid

Appliance connections.

Home Helping the Grid.  By Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. May 26, 2022

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the University of Oklahoma have invented technology that could reduce strain on the national power grid by controlling residential appliances more efficiently.

PNNL's Michael Brambley said the project sought an affordable, easy-to-install system that residents control, and which households are incentivized to adopt through "a more favorable electricity rate."

The researchers designed the system with smart technology firms pecobee and Shifted Energy, to transform electric resistance furnaces, electric resistance water heaters, heat pumps, and air conditioners into smart appliances that are connected to the grid and managed on demand.

Brambley explained that the retrofitable system "is designed for the millions of homes that could benefit from this method but don't prefer or can't afford to buy smart appliances."

From Pacific Northwest National Laboratory  Full article. 

Simulating Building Energy use in Context with Digital Twins

A good example of the use of 'digital twins'.    Challenge will be to get the required detail for so many buildings with different ages, designs, updates, designs. Shows both the possibilities and the complexity involved.

ORNL's Simulation Tool Creates Digital Twins of Buildings From Coast to Coast

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, August 11, 2021 

Modeling software designed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) can simulate the energy profiles of all 129 million buildings in the U.S. The researchers developed the Automatic Building Energy Modeling (AutoBEM) software suite to realize ORNL's five-year Model America vision of producing digital twins for all U.S. buildings. AutoBEM uses high-performance computing to collect publicly available data like satellite imagery and street views, then generates a building energy model to forecast which energy-saving technologies could be implemented. ORNL's Joshua New said, "Before this program, no one had the capability to perform that analysis with detailed, building-specific energy modeling at this scale. Individual utilities now have the capability to perform modeling to show the potential of reducing demand and greenhouse gas emissions."

Making Smart Plugs Smarter

Considering a broader view of 'smart', more like cooperative towards goals.

Engineers make smart plugs smarter  by National University of Singapore

Singapore is in the midst of its Smart Nation transformation, and researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have a new invention that could take it a big step forward.

It is a network of smart electrical sockets controlled by a central computer, optimizing energy use throughout a building or even across buildings. The team that created this was led by Associate Professor Sanjib Kumar Panda from the NUS Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

So far, most people have used smart appliances in a very piecemeal way. For example, an appliance, such as a television or an air conditioner, is connected to the Internet, and then controlled remotely from a mobile app. However, this approach is actually inefficient, so the NUS team set out to improve it.

"The current trend is to put a computing unit in every new appliance, which generates a lot of e-waste and drives up costs, so we are avoiding that," said Dr. Krishnanand Kaippilly Radhakrishnan, who worked with Panda to develop the technology.  ... " 

Smart Electrical Outlet/Socket (SEOS) system

The NUS researchers' Smart Electrical Outlet/Socket (SEOS) system monitors and controls every socket in a building in real-time.

Each socket has a chip that communicates with the central server over WiFi. When an appliance is connected, the socket recognizes it through an electronic sticker on the plug, known in the industry as Near Field Communication. This is a concept similar to tapping a person's staff pass to enter the office. The electrical specifications of the appliance are then called up from a database.

Operators of a SEOS-enabled network can track and quantify how much energy various devices consume—including calculating energy costs—and then configure the system to deliver power only when needed.

The SEOS system can be programmed to completely switch off appliances when not in use, rather than waste electricity by leaving them on idle or standby. Appliances left on when not in use make up 25 percent to 50 percent of a building's electricity consumption. ... " 

AI in Energy Management Marketing

Note the use of AI in analysis and forecasting in this space.

BUSINESS WIRE: AI in Energy Management Market Industry - Opportunity Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2024 - ResearchAndMarkets.com

AI in Energy Management Market Industry - Opportunity Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2024 - ResearchAndMarkets.com

February 5, 2020, 10:24 AM Eastern Standard Time From $4,439.1 million in 2018, the artificial intelligence (AI) in energy management market is projected to grow to $12,200.9 million in 2024, at a 19.8% CAGR during 2019-2024 (forecast period). Based on end user, the market was dominated by the utility category, in 2018, as AI solutions are being deployed by numerous companies, including Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corporation, to bridge the gap between the demand and supply  .... "