Based on some very preliminary discussions in Dublin, I've set up a
new discussion list to talk about the intersection of Internet
protocols and energy management. The goal is NOT how to make
protocols, routers or servers more energy-efficient, but rather how to
use Internet (application) protocols to better manage energy consumers
and (local) producers. There has been a fair amount of work in this
area, but mostly focused on lower layers, such as ZigBee. The initial
goal of the discussion is to identify whether there is a need for work
here or not. I'm also in discussion with a major local utility.
The discussion will take place at recipe@xxxxxxxx, with subscription
details at https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/recipe
A bit more detail is below:
In the next few years, the demands on the electric grid will change
substantially. New power sources, such as wind and solar, delivery
varying amounts of power based on the time of day, while new
consumers, such as plug-in hybrids, impose additional demands. Local
generators, such as small-scale solar and wind turbines, can produce
additional energy. Grid control can better match energy supply and
demand, and flatten peak usage by deferring non-time-critical demands
to low-usage times. For example, an office building can use low-cost
off-peak energy to produce ice, which is then melted during the day to
provide air conditioning. In the home, dishwashers and washing
machines can defer their operation. There has even been discussion of
using plug-in hybrids as energy storage devices that charge their
batteries at night and release energy to the power grid during the
peak usage periods.
In addition, end users need to be able to determine easily what
devices are consuming how much energy. For example, energy monitoring
may alert a homeowner that a hot water pipe is leaking or that an AC
air vent has been disconnected.
All of these new usages demand a much smarter grid that interacts with
power consumers and producers at the edges of the grid. With near-
universal broadband and wireless data network deployments, this is
becoming quite feasible. Given the diversity of consumer and
industrial products that need to be controlled, we need standardized,
light-weight protocols that can provide core control functions.
We envision at least three core functions related to energy control:
(1) A device should be able to query a grid controller to get
permission to start operation. It would obtain a time-of-day when the
device should start operation (or ask again). The query may indicate a
"class-of-service", such as off-peak tariff.
(2) The grid controller may ask a household or company to reduce its
energy consumption to a certain level for load management during peak
power periods. The household or company would then shut down non-
essential consumers or defer energy-consuming tasks, such as hot-water
heating or vehicle charging.
(3) A controller can ask a device about its power usage or total
energy consumption.
Particularly for the first two cases, devices need to be able to
discover their energy controller, since different consumers within the
same region may use different distribution or energy management
companies. Particularly for the second case of grid-controlled
devices, strong authentication is needed to prevent malicious or
accidental shutdown of electrical systems.
---
Henning
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