Wireless Automated Demand Response
Proof of Concept Demonstration of New Wireless Protocols
Subcontractor: Charles Glorioso 1) Explore reliability and robustness of low-level protocol (ISO layer 2) used for inter node communication for energy monitoring and control applications. 2) Implement the most promising of these protocols, 802.15.4e, on a suitable hardware platform and demonstrate its effectiveness in a suitable energy monitoring/control context.
Barrier Immune Radio Communications for Demand Response
Various wireless technologies were field-tested in a six-story laboratory building to identify wireless technologies that can scale for future DR applications through very low node density power consumption, and unit cost. Data analysis included analysis of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), packet loss, and link quality at varying power levels and node densities. The narrowband technologies performed well, penetrating the floors of the building with little loss and exhibiting better range than the wideband technology. 900 MHz provided full coverage at 1 watt and substantially complete coverage at 500 mW at the test site. 900 MHz was able to provide full coverage at 100 mW with only one additional relay transmitter, and was the highest-performing technology in the study. 2.4 GHz could not provide full coverage with only a single transmitter at the highest power level tested (63 mW). However, substantially complete coverage was provided at 2.4 GHz at 63 mW with the addition of one repeater node.
Wireless Demand Response Controls for HVAC Systems
The objectives of this scoping study were to develop and test control software and wireless hardware that could enable closed-loop, zone-temperature-based demand response in buildings that have either pneumatic controls or legacy digital controls that cannot be used as part of a demand response automation system. We designed a SOAP client that is compatible with the Demand Response Automation Server (DRAS) being used by the IOUs in California for their CPP program, design the DR control software, investigated the use of cellular routers for connecting to the DRAS, and tested the wireless DR system with an emulator running a calibrated model of a working building. The results show that the wireless DR system can shed approximately 1.5 Watts per design CFM on the design day in a hot, inland climate in California while keeping temperatures within the limits of ASHRAE Standard 55: Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy.
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