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The Smart Grid opens the door to the development of many companion technologies which will in turn enable the development of a variety of devices for household electricity-consuming appliances that can communicate with it; especially, many major appliance manufacturers (such as Whirlpool and General Electric) have made public commitments to design their appliances to be Smart Grid-compatible over the next several years. Yet during that same time period, customers will purchase many millions of long-lasting appliances which are not compatible with the Smart Grid. This research project's purpose is to bring significant Smart Grid compatibility to previously-installed appliances that were not specifically designed for any Smart Grid communications, in a way that is both economical and attractive for users who want to share in the energy cost savings and reduction of peak power demand opportunities provided by the evolving Smart Grid infrastructure. The focus of this effort is to identify and research smart control solutions which take advantage of the effective strategies of demand-response (DR) communications from utilities [including time-of-day (TOD) and peak-demand pricing options] and function apart from any need for operational changes to be designed into the non-smart appliances. Our Phase I concepts promote technological advancements for enabling devices that shift the available-use time of millions of different appliances which otherwise have no Smart Grid capability. We researched low-cost microcontroller-based ways of creating devices with the ability to: (1) maintain an accurate time and day (with no need for battery backup throughout a power outage); (2) perform two-way wired and wireless communications directly with the utility company's demand management signals, to identify both low-cost time periods as well as critical-reduction periods when the cost of energy use would otherwise be much higher; (3) measure the power usage of the connected non-smart appliance; and (4) remove power for a period of time from the appliance (such as a dehumidifier, portable heater, or pool pump) in response to both time-pricing schedule and critical peak-load information from the utility, or inform the user of a batch-type appliance (such as a clothes dryer or dishwasher) regarding the current cost associated with using the appliance. The new products that could be developed as a result of this research into new consumer-centric features and characteristics includes smart wall outlets, smart outlet power-monitoring adapters, smart load switches and smart remote electric rate indicators associated with the non-smart appliances. Our Phase I goal of determining the feasibility of the above technologies was successful. The objectives were also met of developing concepts for a family of microprocessor-based control/indicator devices that can provide the above capabilities while connected in series between an appliance and its electrical power source and/or while indicating cost-of-use status to the appliance user.
DOI: 10.2172/989207