Showing papers by "Robert J. Thomas published in 2009"
26 Jul 2009
TL;DR: This paper describes the optimal power flow (OPF) architecture implemented in MATPOWER, an open-source Mat-lab power system simulation package, which utilizes an extensible architecture that allows the user to easily add new variables, constraints and costs to the standard OPF problem formulation while preserving the structure needed to use pre-compiled solvers.
Abstract: This paper describes the optimal power flow (OPF) architecture implemented in MATPOWER, an open-source Mat-lab power system simulation package. It utilizes an extensible architecture that allows the user to easily add new variables, constraints and costs to the standard OPF problem formulation while preserving the structure needed to use pre-compiled solvers. A software object is used to encapsulate the definition of the problem formulation, manage the corresponding named sets of variables, constraints and costs, and handle all of the tedious index maintenance tasks. The software design has the advantage of minimizing the coupling between variables, constraints and costs, making it possible, for example, to add variables to an existing model without having to explicitly modify existing constraints or costs to accommodate them. The example of adding joint co-optimization of reserves to the OPF, based on fixed zonal reserve requirements, is used to illustrate the capabilities of MATPOWER's extensible OPF architecture.
270 citations
TL;DR: The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) delivered its "smart grid" and storage reports to Congress in 2008 as mentioned in this paper, which are available on the DOE Web site, and interested readers are encouraged to read the storage report.
Abstract: In December of 2008, The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) delivered its "smart grid" and storage reports to Congress. They are available on the DOE Web site, and interested readers are encouraged to read the storage report. In writing the report and making its recommendations on storage for the U.S. electricity industry to the Energy Secretary, the EAC was fulfilling two objectives. The first was to counsel the Secretary of Energy and the Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability on implementing the Energy Policy Act of 2005, executing the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), and modernizing the nation's electricity delivery infrastructure. The second objective was to fulfill the congressional requirements of EISA Section 641(e)(5)(B). According to the requirement, no later than one year after the date of the Act's enactment and every five years thereafter, the EAC, in conjunction with the Secretary, "shall develop a five-year plan for integrating basic and applied research so that the United States retains a globally competitive domestic energy storage industry for electric drive vehicles, stationary applications, and electricity transmission and distribution." The Energy Storage Technologies Subcommittee of the EAC was established in March of 2008.
26 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effect of including a soft price cap in a uniform price auction as a means of mitigating high prices and found that when prices are driven above the soft cap, offer curves become flat, in contrast to the hockey stick shape observed in typical uniform price auctions for electricity.
Abstract: This paper presents the results from an auction experiment using industry professionals and student participants who compete in a simulated wholesale market for electricity. Motivated by the intervention by FERC in response to the “meltdown” of the California spot market, we investigate the effect of including a “soft” price cap in a uniform price auction as a means of mitigating high prices. When prices are driven above the soft cap, offer curves become flat, in contrast to the hockey stick shape observed in a typical uniform price auction for electricity. This flat offer curve leads to market prices that are relatively insensitive to both generation costs and demand reductions.
23 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents a complete description of what it is believed to be a promising scatternet formation protocol – BlueNet, which was first proposed in [15] and an extension of the work presented in [14, 15].
Abstract: The interest in Bluetooth technology has stimulated much research in algorithms for topology creation and control of networks comprised of large numbers of Bluetooth devices. In particular, the issue of scatternet formation has been addressed by researchers in a number of papers in the technical literature. This paper is an extension of the work presented in [14, 15]. In this paper we present a complete description of what we believe to be a promising scatternet formation protocol --- BlueNet, which was first proposed in [15]. Some modifications and enhancements are made to improve the connectivity of resulting scatternets. The metrics are chosen to evaluate the performance of resulting scatternets, such as the reliability, the routing efficiency, the piconet density, and the information carrying capacity. Based on the chosen metrics, performance is then compared among the scatternet samples generated by BlueNet and other two representative multi-hop scatternet formation protocols, i.e., BlueTrees [16] and LSBS [1]. Finally in the conclusion a discussion is presented on the compared scatternet formation protocols.
17 citations
TL;DR: This paper studied both the topological and electrical characteristics of power grid networks based on a number of synthetic and real-world power systems and proposes an algorithm that generates random power grids featuring the same topology and Electrical characteristics found from the real data.
10 citations
20 Jan 2009
TL;DR: It is shown that, with careful planning, it is feasible for a low energy or net zero energy community to become environmentally friendly and economically profitable at the same time.
Abstract: This paper presents our study in designing a 700 acre low-energy community on the Island of Hawaii. This study was an interdisciplinary collaboration among engineering, architecture, landscape architecture and business management. We took an integrated approach, which encompasses reducing energy demand, optimizing on-site renewable energy generation, implementing an efficient energy distribution system as well as effective energy management, and conserving natural resources. Technologies and their system integration were modeled and analyzed including solar photovoltaics, battery and compressed air energy storage, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, demand response, microgrid, energy aggregator, passive and deep source cooling, microclimate and alternative landscaping. Various business models were developed. We showed that, with careful planning, it is feasible for a low energy or net zero energy community to become environmentally friendly and economically profitable at the same time. This community will benefit its residents, developers, investors, the utility company and the rest of the world.
6 citations