Subscriber Only Bonus Content - Smart Grid

Raymond Yin
Welcome to In Between the Tech where we're wrapping up Mouser’s look at the Smart Grid. Today we're joined by Del Stevens, Principal Technical Delivery Lead at Summit Human Capital, to hear his thoughts on the momentum behind this technology and the opportunities for engineers in this space. Listen as he shares his unique perspective of the smart grid's role in clean energy. 

Host 
Del, thank so much for joining us today on In Between the Tech. Please tell our audience a little about yourself and your role in Smart Grid technology.

Del Stephens 
First, let me say thank you for having me on this morning. So, I'm Del Stevens. I've been in the industry for about 24 years now. Started out in the testing space moving transportation, but the bulk of my career has been in the utilities. 

I started at a utility in New York City where I focused on planning and design of the grid. And at some point, I decided to become an engineering supervisor and I taught a few classes, and we were actually building out the entire borough of the Bronx, and I got an interesting case that came across my desk where someone had solar panels on their roof and they just wanted to export to the grid, no load. And the question came, how would you model this? 

That's when I recognized that my degree is about to change and that I need to understand how renewables work and how clean energy is going to affect the grid. So, I actually went back to school and got a master's degree in clean energy tech. 

From there, I moved into the clean energy side of the utility, and it was a nice mid-level job until an order called 2222 dropped. Where now all utilities that are under an ISO, or independent system operator, had to create a marketplace to allow distributed energy resource assets access to the grid and then compensate them for set clean energy actions. And so now as the person who oversaw DERMS, my job got super important. What was good was my master's thesis was actually on clean tech and how to enable it in urban areas. And so, I wrote a proposal for the city of New York describing how we would interconnect all of these DER assets and then how we would create a management system to allow these DER assets ability and access to the bulk or the high voltage energy transmission market. 

So then after that, I spent a few years at General Motors where I was a senior platform engineer who helped build out the EV infrastructure software platform that allowed General Motors’ EVs seamless access into the grid. And now I'm doing consulting work for another utility, and we're focused on the Carolinas and PGM and Miso territory.

Host
What are the advantages of a “smart grid” system?

 
Del Stephens
It serves two key persons. One is the utility who is essentially serving up a grid for the older consumers of energy. And then once someone has the ability to buy and sell back energy, they become a prosumer. And so, the smart grid, it enables prosumers to interact with energy in the way that can actually create an ROI or return on investment for set customer.

Host
As energy demand grows and increases burden on the grid – how will smart grids alleviate and stabilize energy consumption to maximize system reliability?

Del Stephens
Yeah, excellent question there. What's interesting is that someone did a study, I forget exactly where, but if we were to electrify heating and transportation, there simply isn't enough cable you could put in the ground to cover everyone's needs. So, if you think about a hybrid vehicle, when it first came out, it wasn't as if they were able to take gas and somehow create a barrier out of it. It was just two separate technologies. But the management system is what enabled a hybrid vehicle. And so, the smart grid essentially is that hybrid version of the utility where, through a management system, the smart grid can understand where there are issues on the grid, where there are opportunities on the grid, and then line those two together so that the opportunities will alleviate the constraints.

Host
Can you talk about some of the grid modernization technology and what that market looks like? 

Del Stephens 
Historically the grids were a top-down strategy. You would generate the electricity at some sort of bulk level, then that electricity would be transported to the actual needs or the loads on the grid. That top-down approach is what we've had for decades. With this new smart grid, we're now seeing two-way power flow where generation can be created at the edge, and it can supply itself. So, in this future smart grid world, we see that folks have the ability to create power in a decentralized manner at the lower distribution level. So, would that mean at some point you won't ever need transmission? In my humble opinion, no. We will always need a transmission system, but we need to have that go-between where the shortcomings of that decentralized distribution system is being supplemented by some bulk transmission system. So how do you actually do that?

Well, that's where a D-E-R-M-S, or a distributed energy resource management system, is key to smart grid enablement. And this distributed energy resource management system, it should have core components that allows a utility to understand what's happening both with the assets that it controls and then the assets that it does not control - these distributed energy assets - but that play a huge role in how they plan and operate. So having insights on both, I want to say, use the phrase grid edge where the customers are generating their own power and the grid end where the utilities live is key. And so now the question though is, how do you incentivize someone to take some sort of clean energy action that can benefit the grid? And this is where the enticement, the return on investment, for the customers are crucial. So, if I say buy an EV, my EV, it is essentially a battery on the wheels, and so I can just simply take from the grid, or if I decide to, I can be a helper to the grid or a prosumer.

In what ways? Well, if there's an issue on the grid and I'm asked to stop charging, I can stop charging. And now if I stop charging, I then lower the overall demand on the grid at a given time. But say for example, I have a more advanced EV, in certain cases I can export back to the grid to help out. And now exporting back to the grid, some have used the phrase, V2G, and that's what we would enable in this smart grid. So now the inherent challenge though is that you have tons of OEMs at the grid edge. How do you then speak to each disparate DER system and then have them act as a…virtually, as a power plant? And so that phrase, VPP, is something that the industry is keenly interested. How do I aggregate all of these DERs so that they can act in unison and benefit the grid? And so, enabling VPP tech, enabling V2G tech, enabling what some call microgrid tech, is crucial to enable this smart grid of the future.

Host
Is it accurate to say that would help with potential grid failures? 

Del Stephens 
It’s accurate. And I would add also that it alleviates the grid from needing to have construction to supplement new load growth. So, if a new load comes onto the grid, and is smart grid enabled, and it has the ability to curtail when requested or it has the ability to export back to the grid, it opens up options for the utility that did not exist when the customer was a consumer, not a prosumer.

Host
We want to be sure that our design engineers listening today understand where the greatest need is. So, what other renewable technologies might play an important role in the future? 

Del Stephens 
Yeah, excellent. If I was just starting out (again), I would focus on control systems. And if you think about a control system is really not that sexy part of engineering, it's kind of the boring part, but it's also the crucial part. I want to set up a scenario. Imagine we have a tight urban area and in this urban area there's tons of assets that can be utilized and as a result of those assets being utilized, we can help out the grid. But, the inherent challenge is how do I communicate with those assets and how do I ensure that they can turn on when I need them and at the speed that I need them? The interesting thing about fossil fuels is that they have, or I should say they bring a phenomena called inertia, so that when I have a spinning turbine, say it’s coal or it's gas, even if the grid starts to collapse, these spinning turbines, they still produce energy.

And as a result, I can ride through spikes on the grid. Now, if you get rid of these fossil fuel turbines, you start to lose the inertia on the grid. And to make up for that loss of inertia, you need power electronics that can act really quickly when they sense an issue on the grid. And that speed and that reaction is crucial to keeping the grid reliability. And so, as we start to build out this smart grid, having systems and electronics and software that can sense an issue on the grid and take the appropriate action, is key. So, if I have say that urban area with all of these assets, it may be difficult for a single human being to have a control center and try to operate each neighborhood on its own. But if there's a distributed intelligent scheme where each neighborhood understands what it can do as far as capabilities and then each neighborhood can understand what action it should take without being told, that distributed intelligence at the edge will essentially replace the need for the inertia that we lost due to the sun setting of fossil fuel turbines. 

Host
What are the design considerations for smart grid implementation? 

Del Stephens 
There's essentially two paradigms. There's the hub and spoke, where you have a centralized intelligence, and all of the data is being aggregated into a single location. And then you have a decentralized paradigm where you have disparate assets at the edge that are essentially publishing their status and then a centralized body is subscribing to those assets. So now if you go the centralized way, there's pros and cons. If you know exactly what assets you have at the edge and you don't expect much scaling, say for example in a rural area, a centralized method may be best. But if you're in say, a suburban or urban area and there's a huge regulatory commit to scale, a decentralized platform is probably the best way to go. And that decentralized platform is exactly what I was describing earlier, where you have distributed intelligence at the edge… actors who can understand what they're capable of and what they need to do and take said action, and then you have a centralized command center that can override. But the fact is that as we move into the future world, speed and reaction, is going to be key for reliability. So having these DERs able to recognize there’s an issue on the grid and take action without being told, is a key component or a key infrastructure need as we start to move into the smart grid world.

Host
What role do EVs play within the grid system?

Del Stephens 
EVs are interesting because when they first started out it was just simply a battery and a car. And once the industry started to understand that you now have a battery that can move from one section of the grid to the other, the options start to open up. And then as you look at autonomous vehicles being able to essentially drive themselves, that now opens up even more options for grid operators. So, say for example, there's an issue on the grid and there's a set of autonomous EV vehicles that have the right state of charge, if the utility can call on them to essentially drive themselves over to an area where there is an issue with the grid, the operators can use those essentially, rolling batteries, to help out in areas of the grid. So there's so much untapped potential with EVs and autonomous vehicles and AI that if we can bring those three technologies together, we can start to solve really complex issues on the grid. And then typically you think of an EV as providing active power or real power, but there's other power components that EVs will, in the future, start to fulfill, for example, reactive power or the power needed to create magnetism. As the specifications start to come out for EV reactive power and the other more complex features, EVs are going to be a huge tool in a toolbox that the utilities can use to keep their grids more reliable.

Host
Can you tell us about some of the actual specifications guiding EV concepts?

Del Stephens 
Sure. So, with EVs, the Underwriters Laboratory, or UL, they have a specification, 1741, and there's a few supplements, supplemental A, supplemental B, which is more advanced grid functions, and there's a new supplemental C coming out. And that supplemental C specifically is for EVs and advanced grid functionalities. So as the manufacturers start to build to this UL certification, this UL 1741 SC, more EVs off the shelf will have the ability to do complex grid forming actions.

Host
What’s the timeframe for this specification?

Del Stephens 
Yeah, so if not the end of this year, early next year, we're going to see the specification out. And then if you think about the manufacturing cycle, probably by the year ‘26, ‘27, we're going to see these EVs out there with these advanced grid functionalities.

Host
Can you explain microgrids and how they factor into energy usage, design considerations, etc.

Del Stephens 
When I think of microgrids, first, there's many definitions, but the IEEE, they actually have a spec. It is IEEE 2030.7. And if you think about that spec and its implementation of microgrids, a microgrid essentially is a plant that can isolate itself from the grid and still stay whole. So if you can imagine you're a grid planner and the grid is starting to see some constraints, and now because of those constraints, we have some overloads. If I can essentially drop a customer off of the grid completely and that customer is still able to function, that's a major tool in the tool bag for a grid operator, grid planner. And that's essentially what a microgrid is. They can isolate themselves off of the grid, still keep themselves whole, and then when needed reconnect back to the grid. And so, I come from New York City, and being able to isolate, say an entire section of neighborhoods or an entire skyscraper, and that skyscraper is still maintaining its power, but it's no longer on the grid. That's a way to keep everyone a bit more reliable and safe. And so, these microgrids are super crucial to the smart grid of the future. So, I can see utilities embracing microgrids or even incentivizing microgrids in the future.

Host
What information that we haven’t touched-on would you like our audience to know regarding smart grids?

Del Stephens
Yeah, I would say with clean energy, there's several segments of engineering that has to come together in order to create this smart grid. So, say for example, if I'm a mechanical engineer, I may think, well, smart grid, there’s nothing I can do. That's not actually true. As we start to think about the hardware and the power electronics and then also moving and spinning mechanisms, mechanical engineers are needed in a smart grid as well. And say for example, I'm an IT expert and I know cybersecurity. Well, cybersecurity is going to be super important in order to understand how to get these assets at the edge to become safe and reliable and still communicate seamlessly to the utility control center. Think about if say a bad actor tries to attack a set of assets that could disable the grid, if the grid is expecting those assets to perform.

So, IT, cybersecurity, database creation, even when it comes to the front end UI/UX of software, all of these aspects of engineering have to come together in order to solve these issues associated with the creation of a smart grid. So, I would highly recommend, for any form of engineering, to start to understand how smart grids work and find your specific niche that you can fulfill. And not only is it a good career, it’s doing good work. Building out the clean energy, clean tech, it gives you a feeling that you probably won't get anywhere else - knowing that you're making the planet a cleaner and a better place for the next generation. So I just advocate for everyone, get into clean tech, figure out where you fit in and learn as much as you can about it.

Raymond Yin
We hope you enjoyed this episode of In Between the Tech. This podcast is part of Mouser's in-depth. Look at the smart grid and its impact on both energy consumption and delivery. Explore the entire empowering innovation together offering on this subject with articles, videos, and more at mouser.com/empowering-innovation.