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Microdistribution Management
Bringing intelligent power to the customer
Overview
Most of the world’s power grids were built when
energy was inexpensive, plentiful, and thought to
be environmentally benign. That’s no longer the
case. Demand is expected to double by 2050 and
the need for peak electricity is growing.1 In the U.S
alone, growth in peak demand for electricity has
exceeded transmission growth by almost 25 percent
every year since 1982, thanks to a burgeoning
population that inhabits more houses and uses
more TVs, air conditioners, and computers than
ever.2 And this is happening at a time when the grid
must respond to new stresses it was never designed
to handle — from electric vehicle fast chargers
to intermittent renewable sources of energy to
community energy storage. With the top four
renewable technologies growing at more than 20
percent a year and the worldwide annual investment
in all renewables topping $70 billion in 2007,3 the
grid is quickly changing, one neighborhood at a time.
To stay ahead, many utilities have implemented
demand response management systems. Only
recently have these systems moved into managing
large loads coming from residential devices at
the edge of the grid, such as thermostat controls,
pool pumps, and water heaters, and large energyconsuming appliances such as electric dryers,
dishwashers, and refrigerators. However, customers
don’t like giving up control. Instead, they’re
demanding not just more power, but intelligent
power, where they have more control and more
options. And with the first mass deployment of
electric vehicles coming in 2011 and local solar
photovoltaic (PV) energy production accelerating
annually, demand and supply balances are
changing dramatically. To keep up, utilities need
a microdistribution management solution that
balances the supply and demand directly on the lowvoltage grid.
Echelon offers an innovative solution to the
chaos at the edge of the grid: the Echelon Control
Operating System (COS). Built on Echelon’s 20 years
of proven, trusted, and unmatched experience
in controls innovation, COS provides an open,
secure multiapplication framework for monitoring
and controlling devices at the edge of the grid —
the critical point where the distribution network
connects with customers. Like loading apps onto
a smart phone, utilities can quickly and easily
deploy COS apps that perform microdistribution
management, sharing grid data in nearly real time
and using distributed intelligence at the edge of
the grid.
Unleashing the Power of Microdistribution
Management Apps
A microdistribution management system will
make control errors if it has faulty knowledge of
which loads are connected to which distribution
transformer. For instance, if the microdistribution
management system is scheduling the fast-charging
of several electric vehicles so the distribution transformer
doesn’t overload and fail, incorrectly believing that a charger
is serviced by another transformer can be disastrous. And
even if a utility thinks it has an accurate knowledge of the
low-voltage grid topology at a certain point in time, as the
low-voltage grid is rewired over time due to technical reasons
or outage restoration, the chances of error grow ever greater.
Fortunately, Echelon’s Edge Control Node (ECN) 7000 series
includes sophisticated software and hardware that maps
the low-voltage grid and automatically provides subscribing
COS apps with accurate information about the location of
intelligent devices connected to the transformer secondary.
Only with this intelligence, provided by COS and the ECN, can
load-scheduling and control decisions be made correctly.
support to ensure development efficiency and app quality.
Scalable COS management software running at the utility
operations center lets utilities deploy new apps to ECNs in
the field quickly and easily.
Open, Secure, and Extensible Hardware
The ECN provides an open, secure, and extensible hardware
platform ruggedized and purpose-built for the smart grid,
designed from the ground up to support any device and
network technology, including wireless transceivers and
antennas. Up to nine antennas are supported, and four of
the six available expansion slots include an extra layer of RF
shielding to provide a quiet RF environment that optimizes
radio performance.
The ECN also provides built-in
The microdistribution management
connectivity to a wide variety
apps also need to integrate many
of devices, including power line
different types of information,
Fewer outages, happier
networked devices for utility use
including information from distribution
customers, and a more
(CENELEC 50065-1 LV PLC), as
transformer and medium-voltage
intelligent grid: That’s the
well as commercial and consumer
line sensors, systemwide distribution
devices (ISO/IEC 14908-3 LV PLC).
management and demand response
power of control at the
A number of other connectivity
systems, local PV and other
edge of the grid.
options are available, such as
renewable generation, community
Ethernet, 2.4/5GHz IEEE 802.11bgn
energy storage systems, electric
(Wi-Fi) access point and Node-tovehicle charging requests, and
Node network, ISO/IEC 14908-2
other large loads on the low-voltage
twisted pair network, serial ports for
grid such as air conditioning, water
connecting to DNP/DNP3 distribution
heating, and large home appliances.
automation devices or any other device with a serial
By putting an ECN at each distribution transformer,
interface, and digital I/O interfaces.
utilities can deploy apps to constantly balance energy use
and supply on the edge of the grid. This ensures reliable
A community of third-party hardware developers use the
and efficient power delivery, protects utility assets from
published hardware and software interfaces to create
overstress and failure, and provides customers with
function- and geography-specific expansion cards, whether
intelligent power.
wired or wireless, to meet any integration need. The ECN is
thus a flexible platform that preserves investment, allows
COS apps can not only share data with other apps locally,
greater value to be extracted out of those investments,
but also with apps on other ECNs using the optional Wi-Fi
and enables new systems to be seamlessly integrated in
Node-to-Node network. This gives the microdistribution
the future.
management system the unprecedented ability to know
what’s happening across many low-voltage networks and
onto the medium-voltage network.
Utilities and third parties can rapidly develop COS apps,
including microdistribution management apps, using the
COS SDK. Echelon also provides comprehensive training and
How It Works
Third-party COS apps running on the ECN perform
microdistribution management by balancing and optimizing
power use at the edge of the grid in nearly real time, using
a combination of local sensor inputs and control outputs
integrated into COS through a variety of networks, devices,
and local I/O connections. Here’s how this solution would be
implemented by third-party COS apps running on the ECN:
1. The Microdistribution Management (MicroDM) app
initiates communication with the distribution management
system. The connection can be to the centralized
distribution management system at the utility operations
center, to the substation, or to a distribution management
network.
2. The MicroDM app initiates communication with the
systemwide demand response system located at the
utility operations center.
3. Using the Wi-Fi Node-to-Node network, the MicroDM app
initiates communication with the MicroDM apps running
on other ECNs serviced by the same substation, in order
to share information about the medium-voltage feeder
network.
4 COS data points are updated from local and networked
sensors and systems, such as:
• Smart meters (voltage, current, power quality, and
low-voltage grid mapping data)
• Distribution transformers (voltage, current, and
power quality)
• Medium voltage feeder (current, temperature)
• Electric vehicle fast chargers (charge requests,
current, expected charge duration)
• PV inverters (generation status)
• Community energy storage (generation status)
• Demand response signals (available power)
5. C
OS data points are connected to local and networked
control points to control thermostats, pool pump
controllers, water heaters, electric vehicle fast chargers,
and other power-hungry controllable consumer
appliances, as well as to inform customers of status
through an in-home display or smart phone.
6. The MicroDM app processes the data point inputs, and
writes to the data point outputs based on its control
objective. The app uses its knowledge of the distribution
transformer and medium-voltage feeder ratings, as well as
customer service agreements and pre-established priority
preferences, to make local control decisions to protect the
distribution infrastructure while scheduling loads across
all customers serviced by that distribution transformer.
The MicroDM app also responds to systemwide demand
response signals, lowering local demand when needed,
balanced with availability of local generation.
7. The MicroDM app records its actions by writing a data
point, which is logged by the built-in Data Logger app. The
Data Logger app also logs power condition anomalies
such as voltage sags, swells, and total harmonic distortion
that exceed established thresholds. These logs can
be retrieved by the distribution management system if
needed. Otherwise, they are never transferred, saving
costs and reducing network bandwidth requirements.
Empowering Customers and a Smarter Grid
Rising peak loads on low-voltage networks, customer
demand for intelligent power, and increased use of
renewable energy and community energy storage systems
— they’re all creating chaos at the edge of the grid. The
intelligent distributed control provided by COS is needed
to restore order at the edge and deliver more control to
customers. Cleaner energy, a greener environment, reduced
costs, and empowered customers: That’s the power of
control at the edge of the grid, delivered by COS apps
running on the ECN.
For more information about Echelon and our smart grid
solutions, call +1 408 938 5200 or visit us online at
www.echelon.com.
1. The Smart Grid: An Introduction. The Department of Energy
2. http://www.rwbeck.com/neea/
3. The Smart Grid: An Introduction. The Department of Energy
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