TOWARDS A GENERIC ONTOLOGY FOR SOLAR IRRADIANCE FORECASTING

The growth of solar energy resources in recent years has led to increased calls for accurate forecasts of solar irradiance for the reliable and sustainable integration of solar into the national grid. A growing body of academic research has developed models for forecasting solar irradiance, identified metrics for comparing solar forecasts, and described applications and end users of solar forecasts. In recent years, many disciplines are developing ontologies to facilitate better communication, improve inter-operabiity and refine knowledge reuse by experts and users of the domain. Ontologies are explicit and formal vocabulary of terms and their relationships. This report describes a step towards using ontologies to describe the knowledge, concepts and relationships in the domain of solar irradiance forecasting to develop a shared understanding for diverse stakeholders that interact with the domain. A preliminary ontology on solar irradiance forecasting was created and validated on three use cases

An ontology for solar irradiation forecast models

The growth of solar energy resources in recent years has led to increased calls for accurate forecasts of solar irradiance for the reliable and sustainable integration of solar into the national grid. A growing body of academic research has developed models for forecasting solar irradiance, identified metrics for comparing solar forecasts, and described applications and end users of solar forecasts. Ontologies are explicit and formal vocabulary of terms and their relationships that facilitate better communication, improve interoperability, and refine knowledge reuse by experts and users of the domain. This paper describes a step towards using ontologies to describe the knowledge, concepts, and relationships in the domain of solar irradiance forecasting to develop a shared understanding for diverse stakeholders that interact with the domain. A preliminary ontology on solar irradiance forecasting, SF-ONT, was created and validated on three use cases

Chapter 7: Incorporating community: opportunities and challenges in community engaged research

ommunity-engaged research projects include members of the public, practitioners or community organizations as partners in research projects along with scientific teams. Scientists and community members collaborate to understand and address environmental or social problems. Such partnerships have been shown to result in multiple benefits for both science and practice, but they are difficult to carry out and often neither scientists nor community members have much experience working together. This chapter identifies two key issues that make partnership projects difficult – disciplinary challenges, owing to multiplicity of terms, standards and approaches, and implementation challenges, owing to lack of clear road maps or training programs on employing concepts in practice. The chapter addresses these issues by providing an overview of what it means to do community-engaged research and by offering some insight into practical challenges to expect and ways to address them. We review multiple perspectives (i.e. citizen science, action research, community-based research, participatory research) and key terms and offer tools for developing a common language and understanding of different ways in which scientists and community members might work together. The chapter concludes by discussing common challenges that transdisciplinary teams face along with practical examples from our own experiences to illustrate how these might be addressed

Survey of multi-agent systems for microgrid control

Multi-agent systems (MAS) consist of multiple intelligent agents that interact to solve problems that may be beyond the capabilities of a single agent or system. For many years, conceptual MAS designs and architectures have been proposed for applications in power systems and power engineering. With the increasing use and modeling of distributed energy resources for microgrid applications, MAS are well suited to manage the size and complexity of these energy systems. The purpose of this paper is to survey applications of MAS in the control and operation of microgrids. The paper will review MAS concepts, architectures, develop platforms and processes, provide example applications, and discuss limitations

Emerging economic viability of grid defection in a northern climate using solar hybrid systems

High demand for photovoltaic (PV), battery, and small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) technologies are driving a virtuous cycle of technological improvements and cost reductions in off-grid electric systems that increasingly compete with the grid market. Using a case study in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, this paper quantifies the economic viability of off-grid PV+battery+CHP adoption and evaluates potential implications for grid-based utility models. The analysis shows that already some households could save money by switching to a solar hybrid off-grid system in comparison to the effective electric rates they are currently paying. Across the region by 2020, 92% of seasonal households and ~75% of year-round households are projected to meet electricity demands with lower costs. Furthermore, ~65% of all Upper Peninsula single-family owner-occupied households will both meet grid parity and be able to afford the systems by 2020. The results imply that economic circumstances could spur a positive feedback loop whereby grid electricity prices continue to rise and increasing numbers of customers choose alternatives (sometimes referred to as a “utility death spiral”), particularly in areas with relatively high electric utility rates. Utility companies and policy makers must take the potential for grid defection seriously when evaluating energy supply strategies

Chapter 11: Applying transdisciplinary research to enhance low-to-moderate income households’ access to community solar

Community solar programs are promoted as an effective strategy to reduce economic, technological and social barriers preventing households and businesses from accessing the benefits of photovoltaic solar electricity. More recently, community solar has been identified as a tool to address the challenge of energy poverty facing low-to-moderate income households. However, many community solar programs fail to achieve high participation rates from this population. This chapter reflects on utilizing the transdisciplinary research process to design a viable community solar program using an on-going case study in a remote rural community with a high proportion of low-to-moderate income households in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Our research team, comprising university scientists and local public policy practitioners, gained access to social, technical and political context which helped to shape a more socially acceptable community solar program. Utilizing a transdisciplinary research approach, our current study suggests that program designers should consider community-scale criteria when considering participation, such as the retention of energy generation in the community, the opportunity for community-level decision-making and to benefit local non-profit organizations, and community pride that stems from innovation and leadership. The work offers additional support to previous findings that suggest that trusted technical experts, such as institutions of higher learning and local leaders, can assist in sociotechnical transitions like renewable energy adoption