Lead Performer: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – Berkeley, CA
July 17, 2023
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Lead Performer: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – Berkeley, CA
Partners:
-- National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Golden, CO
-- Efficiency Vermont – Winooski, VT
-- All-Electric California – San Francisco, CA
-- Redwood Energy – Arcata, CA
-- e-Radio – Redwood City, CA
-- Legrand – West Hartford, CT
-- Atom Power – Hustersville, NC
-- Green Mountain Power – Colchester, VT
-- Washington Electric Co-op – East Montpelier, NY
-- Vermont Electric Co-op – Johnson, VT
DOE Total Funding: $2,000,000
Cost Share: $15,000
Project Term: October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2025
Funding Type: AOP Project (Direct-Funded Lab Project)
Project Objective
Decarbonization of homes will require electrification of currently fuel-fired end uses and introduce new electric end uses such as electric vehicles and heat pumps. In many cases, low-capacity and space-limited panels in vintage homes cannot accommodate the new loads according to current rules in the National Electrical Code (NEC). Due to long wait times or high costs, upgrading panels is not always feasible— especially for low-income families—and there are upstream impacts on the distribution grid.
In this collaborative project, NREL and LBNL, along with industry partners, will characterize the panel capacity problem by estimating the population of homes that may require panel upgrades, thereby informing future policy and program design. They will then characterize the existing solutions for avoiding panel and service upgrades and evaluate the gaps in addressing the panel capacity problem. To overcome those gaps, NREL and LBNL will develop and perform laboratory validation of a low-cost digital capacity management solution to manage total demand and avoid overcurrent through communication and solid-state electronics. Technoeconomic analysis will be performed at the building scale and applied at the national scale to evaluate alternatives to panel upgrades. We will develop resources and tools for homeowners, code officials, and practitioners to avoid panel upgrades and will propose changes to the NEC to advance affordable and equitable electrification.
Project Impact
This project will develop publicly available resources and tools to characterize residential electrical panel capacity constraints and advance affordable and equitable solutions to electrify the U.S. housing stock under electrical panel and service constraints.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Wyatt Merrill
Lead Performer: Iain Walker, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory