An intelligent electrical outlet for autonomous load control for electric power grids with a large percentage of renewable resources

Author

Lentine, A.L. ; Ford, J.R. ; Finn, J.R. ; Furrer, C.T. ; Bryan, J.R. ; Gonzalez, S. ; Spires, S.V. ; Goldsmith, S.Y.

Author_Institution

Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque, NM, USA

fYear

2012

fDate

22-26 July 2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

8

Abstract

We describe an experimental intelligent electrical outlet that is capable of autonomously controlling loads in a smart grid or micro-grid environment without a centralized computer. The outlet comprises four receptacles, each with voltage sensing, current sensing, actuation, a CPU for implementing closed loop control, and an Ethernet bridge for communicating with other outlets and for transmitting data to a collection PC. The outlet can measure the direction of power flow, and the real and reactive components to power. We demonstrate multiple outlets adapting the collective load to the available supply from one and two photovoltaic inverter sources, responding to changes in ~ 100ms intervals.

Keywords

closed loop systems; data communication; distributed power generation; electric sensing devices; intelligent actuators; invertors; load flow control; local area networks; photovoltaic power systems; smart power grids; CPU; Ethernet bridge; autonomous load control; closed loop control; collective load; current sensing; data collection PC; data transmission; electric power grids; intelligent actuators; intelligent electrical outlet; load management; microgrid environment; photovoltaic inverter sources; power flow direction; reactive power components; real power components; renewable resources; smart grid; voltage sensing; Current measurement; Inverters; Power measurement; Reactive power; Relays; Sensors; Voltage measurement; Cooperative systems; Green buildings; Intelligent actuators; Intelligent systems; Load management; Smart grids; Smart homes;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power and Energy Society General Meeting, 2012 IEEE

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

ISSN

1944-9925

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2727-5

Electronic_ISBN

1944-9925

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PESGM.2012.6345438

Filename

6345438