Smart Grid Energy Research Center

CAEVTM is a UCLA-led consortium whose members consist of modern-day automotive companies, electric and autonomous transportation providers, and electric power companies that are modernizing the automotive industry into one that is electric, digital, connected, smart, autonomous, and serves the transportation and energy needs of society for the 21st Century and beyond. The purpose of the consortium is to create a partnership of Electric Vehicle and autonomous vehicle manufacturers in California, partnering with new energy companies that advance technology, create innovative business models, and educate and train the next generation of students to create the industry that will change the face of the automotive sector worldwide.[13]

"The UCLA WINSmartGridTM [1[14] is a network platform technology that allows electricity-operated appliances such as plug-in automobiles, washers, dryers, or air conditioners to be wirelessly monitored, connected, and controlled via a smart wireless hub."[15]

Overall, the WINSmartGridTM advantages are as follows: technology, uses low standards-based hardware resulting in lower overall cost, wireless infrastructure for monitoring and control, an open architecture for easy integration, a plug-and-play approach, reconfigurable ability, and a service architecture with three layers: edgeware, middleware, and Centralware.[16]

The WINSmartGridTM technology uses a three-layered Serviceware architecture along with ReWINS technology.

A simple explanation of the process is that the Centralware makes a decision, the Middleware reads that decision, then maps and routes these decisions to the Edgeware, where the decisions are then sent through the low-level control signals.

The edgeware controls and utilizes the wireless technology networks and the creation, management, set-up, and maintenance of software and firmware. It connects with RFID tags, motion detectors, temperature monitors, or 10X controllers on refrigerators. Within the WINSmartGridTM hub, a variety of monitors and sensors are supported that the Edgeware has connections to, including humidity, current, voltage, power, shock, motion, chemicals, etc. This hub is capable of supporting wireless protocols (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, GPRS, and RFID). The most efficient protocols seem to be low-power protocols such as Zigbee.

The Middleware is the "middle man" between the Edgeware and the Centralware. Capable of providing functions such as data filtration, extraction of meaningful information, aggregation and messaging of data from the Edgeware, and distribution of the information to the proper destination or web service accordingly.

The Centralware decision-making web service It receives all information, determines what the best decisions are based on rules, and carries out the execution of these decisions. Currently, the WINSmartGridTM Centralware is running on a basic set of rules, whereas it will eventually work with external intelligent services as they begin to come online.

“The Automated Demand-Response (ADR)[17] programs shows control models and secure messaging schemes, automation in load curtailment, leveraging multiple communication technologies, and maintaining interoperability between the Smart Grid automation architecture layers.”[18]

SMERC is in the process of creating a test area that would provide information on consumers’ energy usage and the distribution of that energy from a utility service. The test beds are located on the UCLA campus which will serve as a living lab for demonstration of ADR concepts. Since UCLA produces 75% of its own energy through its natural gas power plant, the campus is an easy and desirable place for conducting ADR research and demonstration.

ADR will require control technology components and subsystems that will work with security, network standards, messaging, protocols, etc. in culmination with operational parameters. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) will also be checked for proper ability in terms of data volume and networking aspects. Further requirements such as rate design models, system-wide data and metadata modeling, etc. will be used to guide the system architecture The Demand-Response system provides an efficient service to utility systems and consumers. It is based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) that would use information from the utility systems 'technical evaluations and requirements to help assist integration modalities for backend utility systems. Through this architecture, real-time collaboration among the entire network involving billing, metering, distribution, etc., can be accomplished. Consumers are able to make requests ,and a supervisory controllsystem will monitor the dconsumer's demands ond make the best available decisions. This Demand-response system will also be represented by various types of energy customers (e.g. commercial, residential, industrial). This will create unique and different load profiles and pricing for each tf these customers, all of which the system must keep track of. With the WINSmartGrid™ technology, transactions will be communicated through wireless technologies to convey common data payloads. Currently, SOA in conjunction with open embedded system scan provide support for plug-and-play and secure-demand-response. Also, an application programming interface (API) provides customizability and extensibility to the system.

The test beds use automation technologies and will provide demonstration of the systems functionality, communication fidelity and reliability, testing of data, protocols, etc. These technologies are AMI-DR models, hardware and software interfaces, software architecture, access control policies, recommended security schemes and algorithms, and desired set of optimizations.

The testing phase would provide developed, detailed performance on the demand-response processes and technology components or sub-systems where efficient changes and predictions can be made to fulfill a targeted load curtailment and consumer demands.

The test beds for the current research will have a "network platform that enables appliances such as plug-in electric vehicles, washers, dryers and air conditioners to be wirelessly monitored, connected, and controlled through a wireless communications framework. These test bed arrangements will provide vital research on the demand-response systems."[19]

The automotive market in California is unlike any other. With an immense population and energy consumption, the state calls for creative ways to conserve energy in the most energy-conscious and cost efficient ways. It comes to no surprise then ,that California would be the base for the most significant electric vehicle (EV) innovators, such as Tesla. As these changes and innovations to the EV culture continue to grow, the next step is to supply this innovation with the capability to communicate and integrate EVs into the smart grid of tomorrow.[20]

Currently, technology within SMERC is being used and built for the program WINSmartEV™. It focuses on the integration of both wireless and RF-monitoring and control technologies.[21] EV technology provides a more energy-efficient, economical, and user friendly smart technology for charging an EV.[22] Several parking structures on the UCLA campus now provide EV charging to its members. These stations are monitored by SMERC's software systems in the Engineering Department. All data regarding these charging stations is collected by members of the SMERC team to evaluate tendencies and requests of its users. This data will be evaluated to provide the stations 'users with the best possible management of charging their EV.[23]

WINSmartEV™'s main objective is to increase the stability of the local power system and reduce energy cost by managing all operations conducted in charging an EV. The most recent implementation developed allows for several EVs to charge at one charging station while receiving different, yet controllable current. This type of charging system will provide the user with the vast flexibility towards charging an EV. This system provides the user with conveniences pertaining to parking, price, time limits, and power consumption.

Another objective for the WINSmartEV™ program wirelessly gathering inmation from the electric grid and EV to the determine more efficient charging capabilities for the EV. With the proper management of EV’s, charging and backfill operations can be used to lower electricity rates and flatten the load curve.

User interface allows the EV owner to have the capability of controlling where, when, why, and how to charge their vehicle. An EV user may use a handheld device to view a map of charging stations, schedule an exact time charge, start and stop charge at any convenience, and this all could be done from a single touch on a Smsrtphone or other handheld devices. Also, if necessary or requested, an alert can be issued to the driver when the battery capacity is low and needs charging.

SMERC evaluates EVs and charging stations patterns in order to determine the appropriate wireless technologies and sensor modules that are best for installation. In conclusion, integrating the EVs with WINSmardGrid™ the local AM,I and Demand-Response will provide communication and alerting systems for WINSmartETM™.

The electricity distribution systems are becoming drastically more complex and more dynamic, while the power grid is in the transition to the smart grid. The deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar panels and energy storage devices is proliferating. Numerous inputs and controls are pushed and pulled from various advanced distribution grid platforms. Some of the inputs and controls connect the grid resources to the public Internet. Improved sensing, communication, and control capabilities have the capability to enormously enhance the performance of the electric grid, but at the cost of increased vulnerabilities to deliberate attacks and accidental failures, threatening the grid’s functionality and reliability. EV charging system that connects to the smart grid is considered as an information network with a massive communication among utility, EV and DER control centers, EV supply equipment (EVSE), and power meters. As EV charging consumes a lot of power and thus can have a considerable impact on a distribution system, the cybersecurity on fhe EV charging domain is as critical as a distribution grid.

The ongoing research project titled “UC-Lab Center for Electricity Distribution Cybersecurity,[24]” which is currently sponsored by UCLRP (UCOP LFR-18-548175[25]) has bring together a multi-disciplinary UC-Lab team of cybersecurity and electricity infrastructure experts to investigate the impact of cyberattacks on electricity distribution infrastructure and develop new strategies for mitigation of vulnerabilities, detection of intrusion, and protection against detrimental system-wide impact.

The SMERC team focuses on the cybersecurity for the EV charging network, including system vulnerability analysis, risk assessment, and the impacts of cyber-attacks, as well as anomaly detection.

The team has researched the vulnerability analysis and risk assessment for the smart charging infrastructure based on the charging system on the UCLA campus, which is called WINSmartEV™. The research has outlined a codified methodology and taxonomy for assessing vulnerability and risk of cyber-physical attacks on the EV charging networks to create a generalizable and comprehensive solution.[26] For the anomaly detection, the team analyzes the multidimensional time-series data, including building load, solar generation, dynamic electricity price, and EV load, within the WINSmartEV™. The objective is to characterize the regular EV charging operation to establish a correlation-invariant network, thereby identifying anomalies or malicious data injection, which disturbs the correlations within the system.

Other projects in beginning stages or current development in the SMERC are Battery storage integration with renewable solar, EV to solar integration, V2G, Cyber Security Testing, Wireless Monitoring and Control of the grid, Microgrid modeling and control, Autonomous Electric Vehicles, Home Area Networks and Consumer Issue in EV Integration and DR.