Distributed solar generation (DSG) offers several potential benefits for consumers including lower cost of electricity, price protection, reliability and power quality, and a diversified portfolio of heat and power. In addition, DSG has the potential to change how utilities provide power for customers and how customers interact with the power system. To this effect, the goal of this project is to understand the evolution of an electric grid toward DSG by understanding how customers and utilities respond to incentives in their investments in new resources. The associated educational component will: (1) integrate research findings into courses at Missouri University of Science and Technology and the University of Tennessee - Knoxville using problem-based-learning; (2) attract underrepresented students; and (3) enhance public awareness by carrying out several panel sessions and exercises in national conferences, regional workshops, and local meetings with stakeholders.
The project will work closely with the southeastern electric grid of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and study its market structure, electricity rates, and per capita electricity usage. More specifically, the project will: (1) gather information about the physical components of the TVA electric grid (i.e. transmission lines, AC transmission grid, and generating units) and the different associated stakeholders (i.e. utility, residential customers, and commercial/industrial customers); (2) use surveys directed at residential customers to study the social-psychological and economic factors affecting solar adoption, intent and motivation to participate in various demand response programs, and daily energy practices; and (3) conduct focus groups with commercial/industrial customers in relation to their experiences with DSG technologies, their motivations and concerns about DSG, and anticipated breakthroughs in DSG technologies of interest. After the data is collected, the research team will use structural equation modeling (SEM) to understand factors that affect the decision making of the different stakeholders concerning electricity use and DSG adoption. The insights learned through this project will be important to be integrated in understanding utilities? investment and operation decisions concerning a grid network.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
