DERConnect Test Bed Helps Shape Future of Energy Management

“Creating the DERConnect test bed addresses an outstanding national need for large-scale testing capabilities across universities, national labs, industry, utility companies and independent system operators to validate future technologies for autonomous energy grids in real-world scenarios,” says Kleissl. “A significant obstacle to adopting such technologies in the operations of real energy systems is the development of realistic test cases at relevant scales.”

Ultimately, the researchers aim for DERConnect to help utility companies balance their power generation with the power demands of people by creating space for researchers to study both.

DERConnect allows researchers to better understand what demand exists at various points in a day, week, month and year. This information can help balance power supply with power demand at a granular level. For example, for campus office spaces, the physical system can tell when no workers remain on a floor, so lights and air conditioning can be put on standby to save energy. It can also redirect surplus power generated by renewable energy to batteries if it isn’t needed immediately or draw power from these batteries when demand outstrips what energy is currently produced from renewable sources.

“We designed DERConnect as a flexible research platform to allow researchers to dig into some of the hardest hardware, software and controls questions related to distributed grids of the future,” says Kleissl. “The reality is that no one knows exactly what grids of the future will look like. The energy sector is changing fast — and at the same time, energy demand is rising and the grid-control tools at our disposal, including tools incorporating artificial intelligence, are moving fast and could potentially change the grid landscape.”

The research made possible by DERConnect will help provide the answers.