Autonomous Energy Grids: Controlling the Future Grid With Large Amounts of Distributed Energy Resources

Distributed energy resources (DERs)-which can include solar photovoltaic (PV), fuel cells, microturbines, gensets, distributed energy storage (e.g., batteries and ice storage), and new loads [e.g., electric vehicles (EVs), LED lighting, smart appliances, and electric heat pumps]-are being added to electric grids and causing bidirectional power flows and voltage fluctuations that can impact optimal control and system operation. Residential solar installations are expected to increase approximately 8% annually through 2050. Customer battery systems are anticipated to reach almost 1.9 GW by 2024, and current forecasts project that approximately 18.7 million EVs will be on U.S. roads in 2030. With numbers like these, it is not unreasonable to imagine a residential electricity customer having at least five controllable DERs.AEGs are multilayer, or hierarchical, cellular -structured electric grid and control systems that enable resilient, reliable, and economic optimization. Supported by a scalable, reconfigurable, and self -organizing information and control infrastructure, AEGs are extremely secure and resilient, and they can operate in real time to ensure economic and reliable performance while systematically integrating energy in all forms. AEGs rely on cellular building blocks that can both self -optimize when isolated from a larger grid and participate in optimal operation when interconnected to a larger grid.