Drexel Smart Campus Project
Chika Nwankpa
Center for Electric Power Engineering
Drexel University
(power.ece.drexel.edu)
Outline
 Project Overview
 Overview of the Electric Grid
 Existing Grid structure
 Smart Grid structure
 Drexel Smart Campus
 Equipment installations
 Operation
 Project achievements
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Project Overview
 Sub-Award of DOE Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) to
PECO:
 “Smart Future Greater Philadelphia: Promoting Innovation,
Opportunity and Sustainability Through Smart Grid Technology”
 Create a “Smart-Campus” microgrid interoperability
demonstration capable of providing :
 lower electricity costs
 lower peak demand (with load reduction)
 Drexel University and Viridity Energy
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Project Objectives
 Maximize benefits of smart grid technology
 Create intelligent network to manage energy use by
balancing building operational needs with grid operations
and costs
 Offer a template for replication in other markets
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Fundamentals
 How does the electric grid operate?
 What is the current state of grid operation?
“Centralized control”
 What does the smart grid initiative propose?
“Distributed/Decentralized control”
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The Electric Grid
 Presently supply (generation) has to match demand (loads
and losses) instantaneously
 Grid operators strive to maintain equilibrium by
forecasting load profiles and utilizing all available
generation/load resources
 Electricity markets ensure economical operation of
generation/load resources
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Alternate Energy Sources
Generation
Station
Distribution
substation
Fuel Cell
Wind
Solar
Distributed
Generation
Residential
Loads
Commercial
Loads
Electric
Vehicles
Energy Storage Systems
Industrial Loads
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Existing Electric Grid
 Centralized control
 Predetermined generation/load resources
 Relies heavily on transmission infrastructure for power delivery
 Limited ability to improve power system efficiency with modern
technology
 Unidirectional communication with load resources (metered load)
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Local
Controller
Alternate Energy Sources
Generation
Station
Distributed
Generation
Residential
Loads
Centralized
Control
Commercial
Loads
Electric
Vehicles
Energy Storage Systems
Industrial Loads
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The Smart Grid
Many definitions exist …
The following are its important properties
Multi-directional communication among generation and
load resources
Improvement in efficiency and reliability of power systems
In our work we focused on:
 New controllers with the ability to sense and actuate load
resources – to alleviate power imbalances by controlling load
resources (as opposed to just generation)
 Alleviation of problems stemming from insufficient generation
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Alternate Energy Sources
Generation
Station
Residential
Loads
Central
Control
Interconnected
Communication
Network
Distributed
Generation
Commercial
Loads
Electric
Vehicles
Energy Storage Systems
Industrial Loads
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Example
 Load spike due to surge in plug-in Electric Vehicle charging
 Generation resources operating at full capacity
 Available solutions
 Distributed Generation Resources
 Energy Storage Systems
 Controllable Building Load Consumption (Demand Response)*
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Full Capacity
Generation
Station
Alternate Energy Sources
Central
Control
Interconnected
Communication
Network
Residential
Loads
DG available
Distributed
Generation
Commercial
Loads
Load Spike
Available
Reduce
Consumption
Electric
Vehicles
Energy Storage Systems
Industrial Loads
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Drexel Smart Campus
 Building Management System (BMS) serves as the local
controller for multiple buildings
 BMS accepts external demand control inputs (from
Viridity) and changes load consumption as needed
 BMS communicates with utility/equipment meters and
actuators
 Requires installation of a digital metering infrastructure
 Existing meters that meet telemetry requirements have to connect
through a digital interface
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BMS Overview
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BMS Overview
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Demand Control
 BMS accepts external demand control inputs and changes
load consumption as needed
 Example:
Demand control request to reduce load consumption
BMS
Raise building temperature set points (cooling load)
HVAC Equipment
Decreased building load consumption
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Demand Control Input
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Demand Control Action
 Demand
Control
Input (via
temperature
set point,
°F)
 Building
Demand
(kW)
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Digital Metering
Connections
 New digital meter installation for
increased metering requirements
 Increased sampling rates
 Real time voltage measurements
 Existing Meters on Switchgear
that comply with increased
metering requirements
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Digital Metering
Connections
 Connecting existing utility meter to
digital metering interface
 Digital metering interface connects to
Building Management System (BMS)
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Digital Metering
Connections
Digital metering
connections for
chilled water
temperatures
and flow rates
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Project Achievements
 Cumulative Energy reduction and savings (to date)
 PJM Energy Market – Estimated net retail savings of $15,140
 PJM Capacity Market –Estimated net revenue of $80,354
 Technical papers published covering the following topics




Dynamic Building Load modeling and simulation
Building-Grid load interaction modeling
Enhanced Demand Response modeling and simulation
Battery Energy Storage System modeling and effects on demand
dispatch
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Project Achievements
 Energy Management Simulator Development
 Hardware/software platform for developing and testing smart grid
applications
 Laboratory components can replicate building load behavior to test
potential Energy Management approaches
 Platform will be used for future senior design projects, research,
and course development
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Acknowledgements
 The authors would like to acknowledge and thank:
 The United States Department of Energy for their financial
support under grant No. DE-OE0000207
 PECO, Viridity Energy, and Drexel University Facilities (Bill Taylor)
for their support throughout the project
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Graduate Students
Tiffany
Lakins
Jonathan
Berardino
Jesse Hill
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Mohammed
Muthalib
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Thank you
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