Berkeley Lab Launches The Energy Reliability Occasion Simulator Instrument

Accompanying technical transient demonstrates its use for evaluating the backup energy efficiency of distributed photo voltaic+storage methods

Most energy interruptions are comparatively brief, usually lasting minutes to hours, however they’re additionally unpredictable. Assessing the potential of photo voltaic photovoltaic (PV) and vitality storage methods (PVESS) to mitigate these interruptions requires the flexibility to account for each the unpredictability of those occasions in addition to typical patterns in when and for a way lengthy they have a tendency to happen in any given location.

Energy Reliability Occasion Simulation Instrument (PRESTO)

To handle this problem, Berkeley Lab has developed the Energy Reliability Occasion Simulator TOol (PRESTO) an easy-to-use, publicly accessible mannequin that can be utilized to simulate the incidence of short-duration energy interruptions in any county within the continental United States. An accompanying case examine reveals how PRESTO can be utilized to investigate the efficiency of a PVESS in offering backup energy throughout short-duration interruptions.

Berkeley Lab will host a free webinar presenting the device and case examine on November seventh at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Please register for the webinar right here: https://lbnl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xpf40e0uQribiqE3zMp_LQ.

What does PRESTO do? PRESTO simulates the incidence of interruption occasions over a big quantity (as much as 20,000) of simulation years. In every simulation 12 months, PRESTO produces a time-series of interruption occasions with stochastic frequency, length, and timing. The mannequin depends on a set of probabilistic capabilities skilled on historic hourly energy interruption knowledge on the county stage, obtained from PowerOutage.US for the years 2017-2021. In consequence, the patterns and statistical properties (e.g. imply, commonplace deviation) of simulated energy interruption occasions match the statistical properties of precise historic energy interruptions for the chosen county.

use it. PRESTO is versatile and straightforward to make use of. Upon deciding on a county for evaluation, PRESTO masses default common interruption length and frequencies primarily based on energy reliability knowledge from the Vitality Data Administration, which the consumer can readily use or override. The consumer can visualize the statistical properties of the produced dataset – together with distributions of length and frequency in addition to seasonal and time-of-day profiles, and obtain the detailed leads to a CSV file. Along with the web-based interface, an Software Programming Interface (API) can be accessible for batch processing of bigger variety of counties.

What are you able to do with it? PRESTO is primarily designed to be used in Monte Carlo or different probabilistic analyses of the impacts of short-duration energy interruptions. One supposed utility is to help in evaluating the backup energy capabilities and buyer reliability worth of onsite PVESS or different methods for mitigating short-duration energy interruptions. To display its use on this context, Berkeley Lab developed an accompanying case examine evaluation that explores a number of key determinants of PVESS backup energy efficiency, for consultant single-family houses in three distinct areas of the U.S.

Case examine highlights. Amongst different components, the case examine highlights how PVESS backup efficiency (outlined as the proportion of backup load served), is impacted by how the shopper operates the battery underneath regular day-to-day situations, which impacts the battery’s state of cost each time the facility interruption happens. Within the instance proven in Determine 2, backup efficiency is particularly low for interruptions occurring throughout night hours. On this case, the shopper is assumed to be taking service underneath the utility’s residential time-of-use fee, which has a peak interval extending from 4-8 pm. This incentivizes the shopper to discharge its battery throughout that timeframe and leaves little cost remaining for any energy interruption that occurs to strike quickly thereafter. The case examine additionally illustrates how PVESS backup efficiency is impacted by system sizing, backup load configuration, whether or not or not the shopper is ready to cost from the grid, and regional variations in heating and cooling demand.

Initially revealed by Lawrence Berkeley Nationwide Laboratory

We recognize the funding help of the U.S. Division of Vitality Photo voltaic Vitality Applied sciences Workplace in making this work potential.