Grid Connected Systems Mini Project (100 pts) Due 2/11 by 2 PM

In teams of two, you will be randomly assigned a city to base your analysis in this project on. In
that city, you will be studying the electricity impacts of living in a 2000 sq-ft single-family home.

Note: Since every area has different resources available online, if you are unable to answer
one of the following requirements, please state this in an extra page at the end of your report.
If you make reasonable assumptions, please state them.

Requirements and Questions to answer (not limited to these):

- Describe the general characteristics of your city, including any natural resources, potential
for renewable generation, electricity price, population and general electricity consumption,
market structure, which system operator/balancing authority/utility, etc.

- What demand response (DR) programs exist for your home? Are there any demand side
management resources?

- What opportunities for purchasing renewable energy credits or installing rooftop solar/
energy storage exist for your home, if any?

- Investigate typical appliances that your home might have and estimate reasonable power
rating assumptions and hourly usage patterns for these appliances in the summer season (a
rough sketch or plot of a daily usage pattern might be beneficial for the report). Answer the
following questions:

o What do you estimate your home’s monthly summer electricity bill would be?

o Based on the electricity rate you’ve assumed for your home, how much money could
you potentially save by participating in a Demand Response program?

o If dynamic pricing (i.e., not a fixed electricity rate) exists for residential consumers
in your area, do you recommend enrolling in these programs based on how you use
electricity? Could you change how you use energy to benefit from these programs?

- Find a map of the power plants in your home’s area if possible. Based on assumptions of
generation marginal costs (write these in your report), where is it likely your home’s
electricity is coming from? This is a complex question (and the main product that
companies like WattTime market to building owners); it may help to look at LMP maps (if
available) and import/export within your state from adjacent areas.

- 30 years from now, what do you envision will change, if anything, with where your home’s
electricity comes from? Will electricity prices increase or decrease? Will DR programs
become more prevalent? Will there be more transmission congestion?

University of Colorado Boulder 1

Grid Connected Systems Mini Project (100 pts) Due 2/11 by 2 PM

Resources that may be helpful to you:

- The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has a lot of nice state-level data (Colorado,
for example: https://www.eia.gov/state/search/#?1=102&3=21&6=134&a=true&2=186 )
- NREL Solar Radiation Database has simulated solar potential for many locations around the
world: https://nsrdb.nrel.gov

Deliverables:

- A 5-8 page report addressing all of the points under “Requirements,” including references and
images/plots where appropriate. You are not limited to just discussing the required questions,
of course, and can discuss anything you find interesting and relevant.

- A 7 minute (with 3 minutes for questions) presentation to the class on 2/11 or 2/16 that will be
peer-evaluated by members of the audience. The presentation is due by 2/11 at 2 PM
regardless of which day you’re presenting on

Grading (/100 pts):

Report 80 Points
Appropriate references included; within page limits 5 Points

Each bullet under “requirements” met 65 Points

Report is cohesive, well-written, and clear 10 Points

Presentation 20 Points
Instructor’s Review 10 Points

Peer Review 10 Points

Learning Goals: This project will help students take the high-level concepts we’ve learned in
class (regulated/deregulated markets, system operators, locational marginal pricing, etc.) and see
how they apply to and impact the operations of a specific building. Students will have to use their
problem-solving skills and creativity to address questions that may not have a clear and defined
answer, or which may require making reasonable some assumptions. Unlike homework
assignments that have relatively clear-cut paths to solutions, the projects in this class will build
additional skillsets (including writing and presentation skills) that will help prepare students for
industry or research where data isn’t always available, assumptions must be made, and a lot of
digging must be done to answer questions. The class will also benefit from learning about how
building electricity consumption differs across the world through the project presentations.

University of Colorado Boulder 2