IEEE revisits interconnection standards for DG, microgrids, and smart grid.
Dick DeBlasio is chief engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and chairs the IEEE SCC21 Standards Coordinating Committee on fuel cells, photovoltaics, dispersed generation, and energy storage, which sponsors and leads the family of standards for IEEE 1547 and IEEE 2030.
Which comes first: standard-setting or innovation?
In the business of grid interconnection, markets continue to confront new standards and requirements, even as technologies for distributed generation and microgrids emerge and mature, and as the smart grid rolls out around the world. Yet, at the same time, the development of new and revised standards continues to be driven by these same market needs. One of the newest examples of this revolving cycle of innovation is the ongoing development of IEEE P1547a “Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems – Amendment 1.”
The initial IEEE 1547 standard, on which the planned amendment is based, has proven itself as an industry milestone since its original publication in 2003 – not only with regard to delivering a giant leap forward in supporting integration of distributed power sources with the grid, but also in terms of demonstrating the power of the open consensus process in development of global standards. The standard’s success, in fact, has led to development of a whole family of interconnection standards to support wider deployment of distributed generation and microgrid technologies.