DC Microgrids Scoping Study. Estimate of Technical and Economic Benefits
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Microgrid demonstrations and deployments are expanding in US power systems and around the world. Although goals are specific to each site, these microgrids have demonstrated the ability to provide higher reliability and higher power quality than utility power systems and improved energy utilization. The vast majority of these microgrids are based on AC power transfer because this has been the traditionally dominant power delivery scheme. Independently, manufacturers, power system designers and researchers are demonstrating and deploying DC power distribution systems for applications where the end-use loads are natively DC, e.g., computers, solid-state lighting, and building networks. These early DC applications may provide higher efficiency, added flexibility, reduced capital costs over their AC counterparts. Further, when onsite renewable generation, electric vehicles and storage systems are present, DC-based microgrids may offer additional benefits. Early successes from these efforts raises a question - can a combination of microgrid concepts and DC distribution systems provide added benefits beyond what has been achieved individually?
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Electricity (OE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1209276
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-15-22097
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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