Date of Award
December 2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Engineering and Science Education
Committee Member
Ramtin Hadidi
Committee Member
Randy Collins
Committee Member
Zheyu Zhang
Abstract
Special electricity rates are offered by some utilities to incentivize certain energy consumption behaviors in an attempt to garner a cost effective demand profile to service. One area of concern for a utility is the maximum demand of a building during the times of day when electricity usage is typically at its peak. Regulated utilities are required to have the capacity to meet the electrical demand of customers, though, the peak demand of customers can oftentimes be relatively brief. Therefore, it is not cost effective for a utility to have generation units online to only cover momentary peak demands. Electricity provider Dominion Energy offers a time-of-use demand and energy rate structure, Rate 21A, that is available to buildings such as the Zucker Graduate Education Center (ZGEC). The ZGEC is a two-story educational building located on the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI) campus in Charleston, SC. The purpose of this project is to implement a battery energy storage system (BESS) scheduler for demand-side management of the ZGEC which has attached to it a 50 kW, 96 kWh battery. There are three components of the demand management algorithm that are investigated for the real-time implementation:1. Demand Data Collection 2. Building Load Forecaster 3. BESS Scheduler Demand data collection is done using a database management system developed in MATLAB 2019b capable of reading power meters that communicate using Modbus. By design, only three types of power meters are compatible: PowerLogic Series 800 (PM800), PSL PQube 3, EIG Shark 100. Load forecasting and BESS scheduling are done by a Simulink model, developed in MATLAB 2020b, that operates in Real-Time Normal Mode. A time series forecasting model provides 24 hours of ZGEC demand predictions to a BESS scheduler which uses Model Predictive Control (MPC). Currently, the ZGEC is subjected to a standard energy charge rate structure, Rate 9. Cost comparisons are provided for switching to Rate 21A as well as for implementing the developed forecaster and BESS scheduler.
Recommended Citation
Harrell, Armien, "Real-Time Battery Energy Storage Scheduling for an Educational Building" (2021). All Theses. 3655.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/3655