Power Engineering Seminar given by Dr. Chris Marnay: Economic and Environmental Optimization of Microgrids

Abstract

This presentation provides background on microgrid perspectives on evolution of the power supply system, and describes a systemic approach for optimal building energy service provision using the Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM). DER-CAM is a mixed integer linear program that minimizes the annual energy costs, carbon emissions, or multiple objectives of providing services to a building-scale microgrid. It has been licensed by several national and international research institutes and commercialization efforts are ongoing, particularly by providing DER-CAM over the web. A relatively simple innovative web version (WebOpt) offers a web-based service providing broad access to LBNL’s DER optimization platform. Other versions of DER-CAM provide users with the ability to determine economically or environmentally optimal solutions to the challenge of installing and operating microgrid energy equipment (e.g. storage technologies, PV, EVs, solar thermal, fuel cells, etc.). Recent work is focused on Operations DER-CAM, which is intended to actually produce operations scheduling for installed systems. It is currently being used to optimize a complex absorption chiller and thermal storage system at a University of New Mexico building, again as a web service. Another variant of Operations DER-CAM will be also used to optimize plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging and discharging at a southern California Air Force Base, about a half of whose projected PEV fleet will participate in the California Independent System Operator Regulation Up and Down markets. Most recent additions to DER-CAM include stochastic optimization and the addition of building passive measures. Results from studies performed for the USDOE, USDoD, NEC, and CEC will be shown.