Projects:
Program: Electric Grid

Completed

CIEE and partners Power Standards Lab and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab developed a new instrument called a micro-phasor measurement unit (μPMU) to make ultra-precise, time-synchronized measurements in electric power distribution systems. These synchrophasor data provide unique information about power flows and stability of the grid, by revealing magnitudes and phase angles (i.e, subtle time shifts between the measurements at different locations) of voltage and current. The project also created a powerful and extremely fast new tool called the Berkeley Tree Database (BTrDB), to enable users to actually consume and analyze rich data streams like those from μPMUs, which report measurements 120 times per second.

ARPA-E Micro-Synchrophasors for Distribution SystemsRead More »

Active

Since 2015 CIEE has been assisting the California Public Utilities Commission in the analysis of the potential for demand response (DR) in California. As part of a continuing effort, CIEE is now managing a $5,000,000 prime contract. CIEE’s primary role is to identify and subcontract with researchers who can perform the work needed by the CPUC.

Demand Response AnalysisRead More »

Completed

In 1993 the California Energy Commission founded the Demand Response Research Center (DRRC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Its purpose was to develop ways to reduce electricity demand in response to price, monetary incentives, or utility directives to maintain reliable electric service or avoid high electricity prices.

Demand Response Research CenterRead More »

Active

The goal of the EcoBlock research project is to explore strategies for resilience and the rapid, equitable, and affordable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through urban block-scale retrofitting.

Oakland EcoBlockRead More »

Completed

This interdisciplinary eXtensible Building Operating System–Vehicles (XBOS-V) project focused on controlling plug-in electric vehicle charging at residential and small commercial settings using a novel and flexible open-source, open-architecture charge communication and control platform.

Open-Source, Open-Architecture Software Platform for Plug-In Electric Vehicle Smart Charging in California (XBOS-V)Read More »

Completed

Phasor-Based Control (PBC) is a radically new layered control framework for managing high penetrations of solar and other variable energy resources on electric utility distribution circuits. This project integrates several threads of research and development including high-precision micro-synchrophasor (µPMU) measurements, analytics relating phasor profiles to dynamic and unbalanced power flows, decentralized adaptive control algorithms, and simulation capabilities to effectively characterize large networks.

Phasor-Based Control for Scalable Solar PV IntegrationRead More »