The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) hosted a virtual webinar series about DOE’s work to develop and demonstrate technologies that enable large amounts of distributed solar power on the electric grid on June 24-25, 2021.
In 2016, DOE issued a funding opportunity, ENabling Extreme Real-time Grid Integration of Solar Energy (ENERGISE), to address challenges to high penetrations of distributed solar generation in distribution networks. ENERGISE projects ended with innovative approaches to improving distribution network planning and real-time operations.
Utilities, researchers, and electric power industry stakeholders joined to learn how these projects helped enhance situational awareness at the grid edge and enhanced the ability to respond to contingencies in grids with high penetrations of solar generation.
Slides from the workshop presentations are available below.
DAY 1: June 24, 2021
On the first day of the workshop, SETO’s systems integration team discussed DOE’s vision and priorities related to high penetrations of distributed solar. ENERGISE awardees presented on their commercially ready, highly scalable distribution system planning and real-time operation solutions that seamlessly interconnect and integrate solar in existing grid architecture, with centralized generation, transmission, and distribution.
- SETO Systems Integration Team
Enhanced Control, Optimization and Integration of Distributed Energy Applications (ECO-IDEA)
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Voltage Regulation and Protection Assurance using DER Advanced Grid Functions
- Sandia National Laboratories
Integrated Distributed Energy Management System in Riverside
- University of California: Riverside
Keystone Solar Future Project : DERMS Implementation and Integration
- PPL Electric Utilities
Electric Access System Enhancement (EASE)
- Southern California Edison
Day 2: June 25, 2021
On the second day of the workshop, ENERGISE awardees presented on transformative and highly scalable technologies that support distribution system planning and real-time operation of advanced grid architectures containing distributed generation. Examples of these architectures include dynamic network topology, microgrid, and the distribution-level energy market. These solutions are designed to enable extremely high solar penetration—more than 100% of distribution peak load—in a cost-effective, secure, and reliable manner.
Grid Optimization with Solar (GO-Solar)
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- University of Central Florida
Robust Distributed State Estimator for Interconnected Transmission and Distribution Networks
- Northeastern University
- University of Vermont
Phasor-Based Control Scalable Solar Photovoltaic Integration
- University of California Berkeley
Learn more about the projects featured in these webinars. These projects were awarded support through the ENabling Extreme Real-Time Grid Integration of Solar Energy (ENERGISE) funding program.