FLAIR²
Local and Automatic Control for Flexible Loads
The aim of the FLAIR² research project is to be able to respond locally and as decentralized as possible to the challenges posed by decentralized generation plants and flexible loads, such as heat pumps and, in future, e-mobility. If generation and consumption can be overlaid locally, the existing power grid is better utilized. Together with LEW Verteilnetz, Stromnetz Berlin and the mobile network operator e*Message, the partners are testing an intelligent control solution developed for the project. This enables flexible loads to make selective use of a locally generated surplus of electricity in the grid.
FLAIR² technology
The core of the concept are control boxes (StromPager DX) including the FLAIR² module, which are provided to households free of charge. These devices, developed specifically for FLAIR², are designed to control wallboxes for electric vehicles, storage heaters or heat pumps in such a way that they do not additionally load the grid as much as possible, while at the same time using renewable energy from the local power grid.
The decentralized control system uses the local grid status data as well as the information available in the control box about the type of controllable consumption device and the contract conditions. The control box, which operates largely autonomously, can thus adapt previously fixed blocking and release times directly to the grid condition. In grids with high generation capacities, this is intended to ensure that consumption is shifted to times when a lot of locally generated energy is available.
In grids without feed-in, the power peaks that occur, for example, due to simultaneous charging, are reduced. In this way, the FLAIR² control box is intended to utilize the flexibility potential provided by the customers in each grid.
Start of the field study
The field study will start in winter 2021 and is scheduled to run for a maximum of two years. In selected grid sections, 60 households each in Bavarian Swabia and Berlin will be equipped with the FLAIR² control box. In order to obtain valid measurement results for research, per-minute voltage and current readings from the control box will be sent to Munich University of Applied Sciences.
Publications
Regulatory framework for the real laboratory of a decentralized load management concept
Practical implementation of a real laboratory for a decentralised load management concept
Potential of a self-sufficient control for flexible loads in low voltage grids
Algorithm for the self-sufficient grid-serving control of temporally flexible loads
Field testing of a local and automatic control for flexible loads
Staff at HM:
- Sonja Baumgartner
- Veronika Barta
General project information:
- Period: 01.11.2020 - 31.10.2023
Project partners:
- LEW Verteilnetz GmbH
- Stromnetz Berlin GmbH
- e*Message Wireless Information Services Deutschland GmbH
