“SunShot is working to lower the cost and complexity of integrating solar with the electric grid,” says SunShot Director Charlie Gay. “These projects give grid operators the tools to manage a modern electric grid.”
SunShot selected 13 projects under the ENERGISE funding program to enable grid operators to access up-to-the-minute measurement and forecasting data from distributed energy sources and optimise system performance using sensor, communication and data analytics technologies. These projects will help to improve the reliability of the nation’s energy grid by providing utilities with a dynamic, automated and cost-effective management of solar and other distributed energy sources. These software and hardware solutions will be highly scalable, data-driven, and capable of fully optimising system operation and planning.
As part of the Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI), these projects are designed to address not only solar power interconnecting with the grid at scale but also other technologies like electric vehicles that interconnect with the grid. GMI is an accelerated, Department-wide effort to develop the concepts, tools, and technologies needed to measure, analyse, predict, protect, and control the grid of the future. Led by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis, and EERE, GMI looks to solve challenges like integrating conventional and renewable sources with energy storage while ensuring that the grid is resilient and secure to withstand growing cyber security and energy challenges.
These projects build upon current and past research in grid integration technologies that support the widespread deployment of solar energy while maintaining the reliability of the electricity grid. The SunShot Initiative, which is managed by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is a collaborative national effort to drive down the cost of solar electricity and accelerate solar adoption.
