Software Defined Power

[freebeard]

In times past I've provide links on 'software defined power'. Theoretical stuff.

Comes now Now You Know:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snqBKk4Rpjw

VPP is exactly that. The implications go pretty deep.

What do all y'all think about this? I need to have a PowerWall in my trailer.

[Piotrsko]

Except for the DC to AC portion, you'd be better off rolling your own as that is much cheaper without the rebate.

[freebeard]

I'm not sure what you are seeing. This is software running on a distributed hardware platform.

What rebate? Do you have more information on the roll-out.

[Piotrsko]

Oops, I was commenting on the powerwall, I don't do youtube so most of your posts are not read unless there is verbage.

[freebeard]

I now understand.

Here's some background. The concept come out of data centers and their obsession with uptime. Here's a Tesla-free example: spectrum.ieee.org/energy/the-smarter-grid/the-softwaredefined-power-grid-is-here

My colleagues and I have been spending a lot of time on a project in Onslow, a remote coastal town of 850 in Western Australia, where a wealth of solar, wind power, and battery storage has come on line to complement the region’s traditional forms of power generation. We’re making sure that all of these distributed energy resources work as a balanced and coordinated system.
[snip]
The basic thing a PMU measures is called a phasor. Engineering great Charles Proteus Steinmetz coined this term back in 1893 and described how to calculate it based on the phase and amplitude of an alternating-current waveform. Nearly a century later, Arun G. Phadke and his team at Virginia Tech developed the phasor measurement unit and showed that the PMU could directly measure the magnitude and phase angle of AC sine waves at specific points on the grid.

Those specific points on the grid can now be Tesla-branded Powerwalls. I wonder how open the Tesla patents will be. Can Jehu Garcia's powerwalls work with it?

[Piotrsko]

As I understand the article, the sources can be anything that the distribution company computer controls directly, generic or branded. So maybe no tesla patents, and Jehu is safe.

[freebeard]

The distribution company computer is Tesla's Virtual Power Plant.

Their software would run over the Internet Of Things. It comes down to how open the protocols employed are. Elon Musk has a pretty grasp of the big picture, but it remains to be seen.

[freebeard]

According to this, VPP participants won't be compensated during this roll-out in California.

Dr. Know-it-all Knows it all: Tesla Virtual Power Plant to help California--this is huge!!

Sounds like Beta testing. The 0.xx release.

I checked with the local electric coop. They said there are no Powerwalls in use at this time in this location.

edit:
Lots of interesting comments.

michaelfink64 1 day ago
Hi John, you mentioned the grid scale battery in South Australia, but maybe you are not aware that there is also a Tesla VPP in South Australia. They anticipate that the SA VPP will expand to 50,000 households.


Fred Bloggs 1 day ago
It’s not obvious to me how a home contributing to the local grid can get power beyond the local substation.

Dr. Know-it-all Knows it all 1 day ago
I'm not sure about that either, but that could be enough to help... Anyone have more specific knowledge of this??

[Piotrsko]

Originally Posted by freebeard

The distribution company computer is Tesla's Virtual Power Plant.

Their software would run over the Internet Of Things. It comes down to how open the protocols employed are. Elon Musk has a pretty grasp of the big picture, but it remains to be seen.

Central control won't work, has to be done at the power source by the power source. I can't see tesla putting software control hardware somewhere else not under their control, but I'm often wrong.

[freebeard]

The basic thing a PMU measures is called a phasor. Engineering great Charles Proteus Steinmetz coined this term back in 1893

Did you note the name Steinmetz? If you don't watch Youtube [watching you], then you may not have seen the History and Theory of Electricity, here are five copies on B*tch*te. He was an important figure. He took the calculus out of engineering equations.

The problem with anarchism is in interfacing with authority. Big AC won't negotiate with the selfish solar people. The VPP allows Tesla to negotiate with the utilities as a provider. I guess your not watching the videos, but at t=3:51 it shows the user interface. Peaker power is expensive and VPP has high temporal resolution.