SBIR-STTR Award

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to create a viable control system that will optimize microgrids in a decentralized manner and create additional flexibility for electric grid operators. Current microgrids' combinations of power generation, storage, and consumption that may or may not be integrated with the broader electric grid?mostly depend on a centralized dispatch approach, with one single operator making decisions regarding which assets to utilize and when. Centralized systems require large efforts to set up and do not efficiently adapt to changes in generation or consumption. The proposed technology will employ a different logic for controlling assets, automatically and continuously optimizing the dispatch decisions by using a decentralized blockchain ledger. The benefits of this control system include dramatically increased flexibility when assets are added or removed from the system, and much greater resiliency as there is no single point of failure of the system. Electric utilities will be able to leverage the system to more effectively manage the grid and deploy "virtual power plants" rather than depend on inefficient and costly "peaker" plants. Overall the technology will accelerate adoption of microgrids, improving the nation's energy infrastructure. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to design the decentralized control logic for microgrids, test it via computer simulations, and conduct a limited physical test at an active site with solar panels, batteries, and other types of energy assets. Current control systems generally utilize a rigid, centralized dispatch logic that does not automatically adapt to changing conditions. A substantial body of research has been conducted demonstrating the benefits of decentralized ledgers in controlling electric grids. The proposed research will put the theoretical foundation into practice by developing the related algorithms to be able to commercialize a microgrid control system. While the benefits of decentralized systems are clear, the complexity is also drastically increased when compared with existing centralized systems. The software must be robust enough to handle the transactions with stability and redundancy, while also simple enough to not strain telecommunications and computing resources within the system. The proposed research is expected to establish proof-of-concept dispatch logic based on a blockchain ledger, producing an effective and scalable solution that will optimize microgrid operation, nearly reaching the theoretically ideal conditions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to accelerate the widespread adoption of clean distributed energy resources (DERs) by developing and commercializing a decentralized control and optimization platform capable of aggregating and managing millions of independent energy assets connected across the U.S. electric grid. The resulting end-to-end solution will enable private and public project developers, as well as utilities to quickly commission and cost effectively operate DER systems composed of solar arrays, batteries, generators, fuel cells and many other kinds of energy assets in residential, commercial, and industrial sites with complete confidence on the reliability, seamless grid integration, and economic performance of the systems. By making it that much easier and cheaper to own, integrate, and operate clean energy equipment, the resulting solution will transform the energy industry from the ground up, using DERs as the pillars of a new clean, resilient, and equitable grid. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will drastically simplify the way distributed energy resources (DER) systems are commissioned, aggregated, and operated. Such deployments are complex due to an endemic lack of standardization, the sheer number of key variables to control and optimize, and the lack of modularity in conventional approaches. Properly coordinating them as they continue to rapidly increase in number on the grid requires a decentralized approach that puts the decision-making at the DER level. The project consists of two stages: (1) A development phase, where the algorithms will be integrated into a best-in-class solution, which will include all the necessary end-user facing tools, cloud infrastructure, and edge devices to enable full automation of deployments and satisfy technical requirements of customers in the mainstream market; and (2) a demonstration phase, where the resulting solution will be used at two different sites and benchmarked against critical use cases to validate its benefits and leverage the results to scale up market penetration. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.