SBIR Phase II: Decentralized Control and Optimization Platform for Advanced Microgrids

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是，通过开发和商业化一个能够聚合和管理美国电网中连接的数百万独立能源资产的分散控制和优化平台，加快清洁分布式能源(DER)的广泛采用。由此产生的端到端解决方案将使私人和公共项目开发商以及公用事业公司能够在住宅、商业和工业现场快速调试和经济高效地运营由太阳能电池板、电池、发电机、燃料电池和许多其他类型能源资产组成的DER系统，并对系统的可靠性、无缝电网集成和经济性能充满信心。通过使拥有、集成和运营清洁能源设备变得更容易、更便宜，由此产生的解决方案将彻底改变能源行业，使用DER作为新的清洁、有弹性和公平的电网的支柱。这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将极大地简化分布式能源(DER)系统的委托、聚合和运营方式。由于普遍缺乏标准化，需要控制和优化的关键变量数量太多，以及传统方法缺乏模块化，这样的部署很复杂。当它们在电网上的数量继续快速增加时，适当地协调它们需要一种分散的方法，将决策置于DER级别。该项目包括两个阶段：(1)开发阶段，算法将被集成到一流的解决方案中，其中将包括所有必要的面向最终用户的工具、云基础设施和边缘设备，以实现部署的完全自动化，并满足主流市场客户的技术要求；以及(2)演示阶段，最终的解决方案将在两个不同的地点使用，并以关键用例为基准，以验证其好处并利用结果来扩大市场渗透。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.