Adoption Pathways for DC Power Distribution in Buildings

Vossos, Vagelis; Gerber, Daniel L.; Gaillet-Tournier, Melanie; Nordman, Bruce; Brown, Richard; Bernal Heredia, Willy; Ghatpande, Omkar; Saha, Avijit; Arnold, Gabe; Frank, Stephen M.

doi:10.3390/en15030786

Title: Adoption Pathways for DC Power Distribution in Buildings

Journal Article · 21 January 2022 · Energies

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en15030786 · OSTI ID:1844206

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^[1]; Gaillet-Tournier, Melanie ^[1]; Nordman, Bruce ^[1];

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^[2];

^[2]; Saha, Avijit ^[2]; Arnold, Gabe ^[3];

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Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Driven by the proliferation of DC energy sources and DC end-use devices (e.g., photovoltaics, battery storage, solid-state lighting, and consumer electronics), DC power distribution in buildings has recently emerged as a path to improved efficiency, resilience, and cost savings in the transitioning building sector. Despite these important benefits, there are several technological and market barriers impeding the development of DC distribution, which have kept this technology at the demonstration phase. This paper identifies specific end-use cases for which DC distribution in buildings is viable today. We evaluate their technology and market readiness, as well as their efficiency, cost, and resiliency benefits while addressing implementation barriers. The paper starts with a technology review, followed by a comprehensive market assessment, in which we analyze DC distribution field deployments and their end-use characteristics. We also conduct a survey of DC power and building professionals through on-site visits and phone interviews and summarize lessons learned and recommendations. In addition, the paper includes a novel efficiency analysis, in which we quantify energy savings from DC distribution for different end-use categories. Based on our findings, we present specific adoption pathways for DC in buildings that can be implemented today, and for each pathway we identify challenges and offer recommendations for the research and building community.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Building Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; AC02-05CH11231; AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1844206

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5500-80378; MainId:42581; UUID:6f030ab2-29be-479f-a6f2-4ef5fed61b1c; MainAdminID:63810

Journal Information:: Energies, Journal Name: Energies Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 15; ISSN 1996-1073

Publisher:: MDPICopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
DC lighting
DC power distribution
direct current
direct current microgrid
direct-DC
efficient buildings
feasibility of DC power distribution
microgrids
renewable energy

Title: Adoption Pathways for DC Power Distribution in Buildings

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