Upcoming Smart Energy Talks and Presentations by QualityLogic

One of the ways that QualityLogic contributes to the massive task of decarbonizing both the electrical grid and the transportation industry is to help develop the communications standards that will enable the scaling requirements to be done at a reasonable schedule and cost. Another way we contribute is to help the industries (not just utilities but the different DR/DER manufacturers, DERMS suppliers, system designers, and system implementers) understand the current and emerging communications standards.

As much as we at QualityLogic see the world as a series of standard protocols, not everyone has this subject as a priority. Helping managers and engineers understand the standardized communications world is one way to accelerate adoption. This is why we periodically give talks and presentations at industry events and publish white papers, guides, and recordings of our free webinars. In addition, for those seeking mastery of the technical aspects of the DER protocols we work with, QualityLogic offers fee-based virtual and recorded training classes.

The focus of this email is to highlight the upcoming event contributions from QualityLogic at both virtual and, hopefully, in-person events (but who can predict these days). Here’s what’s on the schedule for the next four months:

CEATI Joint Protection and Control and Smart Grid Conference

November 2-3, 2021 (Virtual). QualityLogic is giving two presentations:

• IEEE 1547-2018 Interoperability: Game-Changing Impact on the Modern Grid-DER Integration. This presentation summarizes and simplifies the new IEEE 1547-2018 Interoperability requirement. There are numerous new concepts and nuances requiring support for standard interoperability protocols that are important to clarify. The author was an active member of the Interoperability workgroup for IEEE 1547.1-2020.
• Standardizing V1G and V2G Communications Protocols. This paper summarizes the various activities on vehicle-grid integration (known as VGI and includes both V1G and V2G applications), including control architectures for managed EV charging and V2G applications, key regulatory mandates driving the adoption of standards for VGI, and more.

Smart Grid Observer 8th Annual DR and DER Forum

December 7-8, 2021, San Diego, California (and remote). QualityLogic is co-chairing a panel session and organizing a 3-hour workshop:

• OpenADR and DER Use Cases. Co-chaired with Rolf Bienert of OpenADR, the session will include presentations by both of us, plus Albert Chui of PG&E and Denver Hinds of SMUD. In the real world, utilities need to be able to manage both loads and DERs in order to optimize grid operations while simultaneously optimizing customer investments. The session will explore the nature of DER management versus load management (DR); look at hybrid use cases that require both DR and DER capabilities and explore how OpenADR can be used to bridge the gap between managing loads and managing DERs.
• Workshop: Standardizing EV Integration into Grid Operations. This half-day workshop will review applicable standards by electric vehicle use-case. This includes managed charging (EV charging optimized for both EV owner/operator and grid operations), V2G-DC (where the bi-directional inverter is on the EVSE), and V2G-AC (where the bi-directional inverter is on the EV itself). This workshop will summarize the various standardization activities on vehicle-grid integration, including work in process by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Underwriter’s Lab, IEEE, and the SunSpec Alliance. Two additional experts will participate in presenting the workshop material.

DistribuTech

January 25-28, Dallas, Texas. This will hopefully be the first major in-person major industry conference in the US since the last DistribuTech in 2020.

• QualityLogic will be exhibiting in the OpenADR booth and is co-leading UU 205: IEEE 1547-2018 interoperability: Accelerating DER Integration with Ben Ealey from EPRI and Babak Enayati of National Grid. This will be a ½ day Utility University Workshop with the goal to 1) educate utility, regulator, and vendor decision-makers and implementers on the new IEEE 1547.1 Interoperability requirements (section 10 in IEEE 1547-2018); 2) help the audience understand what is/is not included in certified UL 1741 SB products vis-à-vis interoperability; 3) provide guidance on the implications of the new Interoperability requirement for utilities, regulators and vendors; and 4) suggest strategies for leveraging the game-changing inverter technology.

We certainly hope that you can join us at one or more of these conferences. If not, and you would like to have a private discussion about the topics above or other areas of QualityLogic expertise, please let us know, and we’ll set up a call.