In 1945, economist F.A. Hayek wrote an article entitled The Use of Knowledge in Society. In it, he described flawed thinking he found to be endemic in the world of economic planning. His arguments centered around how knowledge was used and where the limits to …
The current discussion around Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and grid modernization often relies upon a magic box called optimization to make everything work. According to its proponents, it will coordinate tens of millions of grid-connected devices, unlock loads of latent value, and avoid the need …
The US electric power grid has a remarkably sophisticated and capable control system that has centralized, distributed, and autonomous components and in some regions is integrated with real time optimizing electricity markets – sophisticated and capable that is, for the 20th Century grid. Depending on …
In the discipline of Grid Architecture, we recognize that an architecture is composed of three types of things: structure, back box components, and externally visible characteristics. Components are black box in the sense that we are not concerned with how they work or are implemented …
Changing the grid to meet 21st Century needs is a serious business, involving hard work at all stages. There is much discussion in the industry about grid transformation, but most proposals and efforts are in fact incremental steps that make essentially small linear changes to …
Building the Grid We Need: Incremental Change vs. Core Grid Transformation Read More »
In the field of electronics, the concepts of small and large signals are well understood. For example, a simple transistor audio amplifier must be designed for a combination of large and small signals to work. The large signal (also known as the bias in electronics) …
Energy storage for the grid has generally been viewed as an optional add-on device to bolster reliability of the grid, as a special case reliability improvement in place of other measures, and as a tool for postponing infrastructure investment (Non-wires alternatives). These uses of storage …
Storage: It’s Not Just for Grid Services Anymore Read More »