The SPARK research group affiliated with the Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) will participate in a newly awarded research project led by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), in collaboration with utilities and industry, and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). At EPRI, the large collaborative project is led by Dr. Aminul Huque, Principal Project Manager; at UK, Dan M. Ionel, electrical and computer engineering professor, L. Stanley Pigman Chair in Power, SPARK and PEIK Director, serves as PI. 
 
The research will develop and test an end-to-end aggregation and control architecture for Distributed Energy Resources (DER). The architecture would be designed to enable behind-the-meter (BTM) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to be co-located with other DER to provide both bulk power and distribution grid services. The multi-institutional team will conduct advanced transmission, distribution, and DER simulations to validate the merit and performance of DER-provided services, and better estimate the potential need for network upgrades. The multi-year project is entitled “Enable BTM DER-provided Grid Services that Maximize Customer and Grid Benefits (ENGAGE)”, received a DOE award of $3 million and will additionally benefit of a $1.1 million cost-share budget contribution.
 
The SPARK and PEIK research contributions to the project will build upon expertise in DER optimization and co-simulation of smart homes and grids with the EnergyPlus and OpenDSS open-source software, as illustrated in recently published papers. These are available, in authors’ manuscript versions, from the SPARK Lab website, and include contributions by PEIK faculty Dan M. Ionel and Don Colliver, and SPARK Lab Ph.D. and research students Huangjie Gong, Evan S. Jones, and Rosemary E. Alden.

The SPARK research group affiliated with the Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) will participate in a newly awarded research project led by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), in collaboration with utilities and industry, and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). At EPRI, the large collaborative project is led by Dr. Aminul Huque, Principal Project Manager; at UK, Dan M. Ionel, electrical and computer engineering professor, L. Stanley Pigman Chair in Power, SPARK and PEIK Director, serves as PI. 
 
The research will develop and test an end-to-end aggregation and control architecture for Distributed Energy Resources (DER). The architecture would be designed to enable behind-the-meter (BTM) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to be co-located with other DER to provide both bulk power and distribution grid services. The multi-institutional team will conduct advanced transmission, distribution, and DER simulations to validate the merit and performance of DER-provided services, and better estimate the potential need for network upgrades. The multi-year project is entitled “Enable BTM DER-provided Grid Services that Maximize Customer and Grid Benefits (ENGAGE)”, received a DOE award of $3 million and will additionally benefit of a $1.1 million cost-share budget contribution.
 
The SPARK and PEIK research contributions to the project will build upon expertise in DER optimization and co-simulation of smart homes and grids with the EnergyPlus and OpenDSS open-source software, as illustrated in recently published papers. These are available, in authors’ manuscript versions, from the SPARK Lab website, and include contributions by PEIK faculty Dan M. Ionel and Don Colliver, and SPARK Lab Ph.D. and research students Huangjie Gong, Evan S. Jones, and Rosemary E. Alden.