Examining the Impact of Renewable Energy on the Electric Power Grid

[jpak]

http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=1826

Troy, N.Y. — With a $1.23 million grant, researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will be creating a distributed power “test-bed” to study how the electricity distribution grid might be affected by the widespread adoption of clean, renewable energy sources.

The two-year project, which is funded by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR), is designed to help understand the potential effects of meeting New York state’s key alternative energy goal — by 2012, more than 25 percent of power generation through renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and fuel cells.

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“Global energy security is the greatest challenge of our time,” President Jackson said at today’s event. “The solutions rest in redundancy of supply and diversity of source, and will require innovation: innovation in the discovery, extraction, and transportation of fossil fuels; innovation in conservation; and innovation to develop alternative energy sources which are reliable, cost-effective, safe, and environmentally benign. This project — which seeks to enhance our understanding of the effect of adding an increasing number of small-scale renewable electricity generating sources to the utility grid — further demonstrates the leadership role Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and New York state are taking to secure our global energy future. I applaud NYSTAR for its support of this vital research.”

As people begin adopting small-scale renewable sources to power homes and businesses, problems in the utility grid could arise because these sources are likely to be connected at the local distribution level. “For example, I do not want my photovoltaic system’s inverter to go off when my neighbor’s central air conditioner comes on,” said CFES Director Nag Patibandla. “We want to understand how the distribution grid functions at a high degree of renewable resources penetration.”

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[amandabeech]

1. It's about time someone took this issue seriously.

I hope that more studies will follow.