Residential Solar+Storage Control Unit for Providing Grid Services and Demand Side Management
A control unit will be developed (to enable control of multiple solar plus storage systems to achieve benefits for the residents and the grid) and will be included in residential solar plus storage systems for deployment at fifteen housing units in
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the Riverside campus
Recipient
Riverside, CA
Recipient Location
31st
Senate District
60th
Assembly District
$367,182
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
Throughout 2025, the prototype controller was developed and validated through hardware-in-the-loop testing. The project team is currently assembling duplicate units of the final controller for site installation. The project team, including electrical technicians, homeowners, vendors, developers, technical staff, and utility partners are working collaboratively to select the 15 homes where the project technology will be installed.
The Issue
Existing methods for scheduling battery storage systems focus on providing utility services (e.g., resource adequacy, congestion relief, voltage regulation), or on demand side management such as time of use (TOU) management, backup power, and maximizing solar use. Combining these two applications would maximize the value of energy storage to residents and the grid. However, there is currently no approach to optimizing energy storage operation to maximize value in this manner.
Project Innovation
A control unit will be developed and included in residential solar plus storage systems for deployment at fifteen housing units in low-income, disadvantaged, and Native American tribal communities in High Fire-Threat Zones. The combined systems will be controlled remotely through a new platform which will use optimization logic to enable control of solar plus storage systems to maximize benefits to residents and the grid. The grant recipient will evaluate use cases and develop and test various innovative tariff options.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
The project will demonstrate approaches to maximize the value of energy storage systems to residential customers and the grid by optimizing participation in demand side management and grid services simultaneously. This technology will control residential solar and storage systems to mitigate extreme voltage fluctuations, enabling safer operations, and reduce line and transformer losses on feeders, allowing grid operations close to the minimum allowable voltage level.
Affordability
The technology developed in this project will help residential solar and storage systems manage peak electricity consumption, thereby reducing associated ratepayer electricity funds.
Consumer Appeal
The proposed technology is a hands‑off, automated system designed to simplify how residents manage their solar and battery systems for participation in both demand side management and grid services.
Reliability
Voltage volatility caused by solar intermittency and reverse power flow is one of the main barriers that limits solar uptake. This new technology will control the residential systems to mitigate extreme voltage fluctuations, enabling greater reliability and safer operation on the grid.
Key Project Members
Dr. Alfredo Martinez-Morales
Dr. Hamidreza Nazaripouya
Subrecipients
Match Partners
