Open Renewable Energy System (ORES) Working Group

[chrisxie-fw]

Mission Statement

To revolutionize the residential renewable energy sector by developing an open standard architecture, APIs, and protocols, fostering innovation, accessibility, and sustainability.

Description

Background

The formation of the Open Renewable Energy System (ORES) Working Group is a follow-up endeavor that stems from the insights of the LF Research whitepaper "The Open Source Opportunity for Microgrids: Five Ways to Drive Innovation and Overcome Market Barriers for Energy Resilience." In light of the considerable potential for open source solutions in areas such as Microgrids, Virtual Power Plants, and Distributed Energy Resources, Futurewei has taken the initiative to develop a thoughtful and innovative architecture for ORES. This includes designing a power network topology, block diagrams, functional requirements, and core design principles. Supported by community interest, this effort led to the creation of the ORES Working Group within LF Energy.

Objective

ORES aims to develop an open standard architecture, API, and protocol for renewable energy systems, initially for residential use cases. This project seeks to provide an open alternative to the dominance of proprietary black box energy solutions and promote a more open, innovative, and collaborative approach in the renewable energy sector.

Initial Contribution

Futurewei will contribute the initial project design specifications, architecture, API specifications, and protocols to the LF Energy community. Furthermore, Futurewei will sponsor a hardware vendor to further develop the specification, and to further design and implement these standards, providing a reference implementation of the ORES standard.

Problem Statement

The residential renewable energy sector is currently hindered by several key issues:

1. Prohibitive Costs: The high cost of equipment, installation, and permitting presents a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of renewable energy systems.
2. Proprietary and Black Box Solutions: The market is largely dominated by proprietary and black box solutions, notably from major industry players, leading to a lack of transparency, limited consumer choice, and hindered innovation.
3. Lack of Open Solutions: Based on the research report, there is a critical need for open solutions in this field to encourage innovation, increase consumer choices, and break the monopoly of proprietary systems.
4. Regulatory and Integration Hurdles: Complex regulations and opaque interfaces with utility grids are major obstacles to the adoption of open renewable systems and DIY solutions.

Description

ORES aims to address these challenges by developing a set of easy-to-follow open standard specifications on system architecture, APIs, and communication protocols that empower device manufacturers, hardware and software developers, and DIYers to implement their own disaggregated, easy-to-use and plug-and-play renewable energy solutions, initially for residential use cases, and potentially expand to commercial and industrial usage scenarios in the future.

Is this a new project or an existing one?

New project

Current lead(s)

• Chris Xie, Head of Open Source Strategy, Futurewei
• Tony Shannon, Head of Digital Services, Irish Government
• Karl Yang, CEO, Degcent (Hangzhou) Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
• Genmao Chen, CTO, Independent
• Vivien Barnier, CEO, The EnAccess Foundation
• Pranav Myana, CEO, Amaterra Tech

Sponsoring organization(s), along with any other key contributing individuals and/or organizations

Futurewei

Detail any existing community infrastructure, including:

• Github/GitLab, or other location where the code is hosted
• Website and/or docs
• Communication channels ( such as Mailing lists, Slack, IRC )
• Social Media Accounts

None

Are there any specific infrastructure needs or requests outside of what is provided normally by LF Energy ? If so please detail them.

None

Why would this be a good candidate for inclusion in LF Energy?

The Open Renewable Energy System (ORES) is a suitable candidate for LF Energy inclusion due to several key factors:

1. Open Source Alignment: ORES's open standard approach resonates with LF Energy's focus on open source solutions in the energy sector.
2. Industry Impact: By addressing the challenges of high costs and regulatory complexities in renewable energy, ORES aligns with LF Energy’s goal of transforming the energy industry.
3. Community Development: The project's emphasis on building a community of stakeholders mirrors LF Energy's commitment to fostering collaborative ecosystems.
4. Technical Advancement: ORES’s innovative approach to renewable energy standards supports LF Energy's aim to sponsor projects that bring technological progress to the energy grid.
5. Market Barrier Reduction: The initiative to make renewable energy more accessible aligns with LF Energy’s objective of overcoming market obstacles in the energy sector.
6. Policy Engagement: ORES’s focus on policy advocacy and utility collaboration complements LF Energy's efforts in addressing regulatory challenges for energy transition.
7. Global Relevance: The universal applicability of ORES makes it a valuable addition to LF Energy's global portfolio of projects.

Overall, ORES's inclusion in LF Energy would support the shared goal of promoting sustainable and innovative energy solutions through open source collaboration.

How would this benefit from inclusion in LF Energy?

Inclusion in LF Energy offers several key benefits to the Open Renewable Energy System (ORES):

1. Access to a Broader Community: Joining LF Energy provides ORES with access to a global community of energy experts and collaborators, enhancing its development and adoption.
2. Increased Visibility: Being part of LF Energy elevates ORES's profile, attracting more contributors, users, and potential partners.
3. Technical Support and Resources: ORES can leverage LF Energy’s technical resources, expertise, and infrastructure to accelerate its development and scalability.
4. Policy and Regulatory Insights: LF Energy’s involvement in policy discussions can provide ORES with valuable insights into regulatory landscapes, aiding in more effective policy advocacy.
5. Collaborative Opportunities: ORES can benefit from collaborative opportunities with other LF Energy projects, fostering innovation through shared knowledge and practices.

Provide a statement on alignment with the mission in the LF Energy charter.

The Open Renewable Energy System (ORES) closely aligns with the mission outlined in the LF Energy charter, as it seeks to:

• Foster Innovation: ORES's commitment to developing open standards for renewable energy systems resonates with LF Energy's mission to drive innovation in the energy sector.
• Promote Collaboration: By advocating for an open-source approach, ORES encourages widespread collaboration, a core aspect of LF Energy's goals.
• Facilitate Energy Transition: ORES aims to make renewable energy systems more accessible and efficient, aligning with LF Energy's objective of facilitating the global energy transition.

What specific need does this project address?

The ORES project addresses specific needs in the renewable energy sector by:

• Reducing Costs: Tackling the high costs of equipment and installation for renewable energy systems.
• Opening Innovation: Breaking the dominance of proprietary systems to foster innovation and flexibility.
• Expanding Consumer Choices: Offering alternatives to 'black box' solutions, thus broadening consumer choices.
• Simplifying Regulatory Processes: Easing the integration of renewable systems with utilities by clarifying and streamlining regulatory and permitting processes.

Describe how this project impacts the energy industry.

The ORES project impacts the energy industry by:

• Encouraging Open Standards: Promoting the adoption of open, standardized architectures in renewable energy systems.
• Spurring Innovation: Facilitating technological advancements by breaking free from proprietary constraints.
• Lowering Entry Barriers: Making renewable energy systems more accessible and affordable for a wider range of consumers.
• Enhancing System Integration: Improving the compatibility of renewable energy systems with existing utility infrastructures.

Describe how this project intersects with other LF Energy projects/working groups/special interest groups.

The ORES project intersects with other LF Energy projects, working groups, and special interest groups in several ways:

• Collaborative Development: ORES can collaborate with other projects focused on developing open-source solutions in the energy sector, sharing insights and best practices.
• Technical Integration: ORES's open standards for renewable energy systems could integrate with other LF Energy projects, facilitating a more cohesive energy ecosystem.
• Cross-Group Innovation: Interaction with various special interest groups within LF Energy allows ORES to benefit from diverse expertise, driving innovation across different facets of the energy industry.
• Policy and Advocacy Alignment: ORES can align with groups focused on policy advocacy within LF Energy, working together to navigate regulatory landscapes and promote favorable policies.
• Community Engagement: By engaging with the broader LF Energy community, ORES can expand its reach and impact, leveraging the network for support, feedback, and collaboration.

Who are the potential benefactors of this project?

The potential benefactors of the ORES project include:

1. Homeowners and Consumers: Individuals seeking affordable and efficient renewable energy solutions for residential use.
2. Small Businesses: Businesses looking to adopt sustainable energy practices with cost-effective and flexible options.
3. Energy Developers and Innovators: Professionals in the energy sector focused on developing and implementing new technologies.
4. Utility Companies: Utilities interested in integrating more diverse and open-source energy solutions into their grids.
5. Policy Makers and Regulators: Government bodies and regulatory agencies aiming to encourage renewable energy adoption and innovation.
6. Environmental Advocates: Organizations and individuals advocating for sustainable and renewable energy as a means to combat climate change.
7. Technology Researchers and Academics: Scholars and researchers in energy and technology fields who can benefit from open-source data and advancements in renewable energy.

What other organizations in the world should be interested in this project?

Organizations that should be interested in the ORES project include:

1. Renewable Energy Companies: Companies specializing in solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources can leverage ORES for open, innovative solutions.
2. Tech Companies: Especially those focused on IoT, smart home technology, and energy management systems, for integrating ORES into their offerings.
3. Environmental NGOs: Organizations dedicated to promoting sustainable and renewable energy practices.
4. Government Energy Departments: Agencies responsible for energy policy and infrastructure, particularly those focusing on renewable energy.
5. Educational Institutions: Universities and research institutes with programs in renewable energy, sustainability, and environmental studies.
6. Investment Firms: Investors and venture capitalists interested in supporting sustainable and innovative energy solutions.
7. International Development Organizations: Groups focused on energy access and sustainability in developing regions.
8. Standards Organizations: Bodies involved in developing and maintaining technical standards in the energy sector.

Plan for growing in maturity if accepted within LF Energy

If accepted within LF Energy, the ORES project can grow in maturity through the following plan:

1. Community Engagement and Expansion:

   • Actively engage with the LF Energy community to attract contributors and collaborators.
   • Organize workshops, webinars, and forums for knowledge sharing and feedback.

2. Technical Development and Iteration:

   • Continuously improve the ORES standards and prototypes based on community input and technological advancements.
   • Encourage and support contributions from a diverse range of technical experts.

3. Collaborative Projects with LF Energy Members:

   • Partner with other LF Energy projects to integrate and test ORES standards, fostering interoperability and innovation.
   • Participate in joint initiatives that align with ORES objectives.

4. Visibility and Advocacy:

   • Leverage LF Energy’s platform to increase the visibility of ORES at industry events, conferences, and in media.
   • Advocate for open standards and the adoption of ORES within the larger energy industry.

5. Policy Influence and Regulatory Alignment:

   • Engage with policy working groups within LF Energy to align ORES development with regulatory requirements and advocate for supportive policies.

6. Demonstration Projects and Case Studies:

   • Implement ORES in real-world scenarios to showcase its benefits and effectiveness.
   • Publish case studies and reports detailing the successes and learnings from these implementations.

7. Feedback Loop and Continuous Improvement:

   • Establish mechanisms for regular feedback from users and stakeholders to continuously refine the ORES project.
   • Adapt to changing market needs and technological advances to maintain relevance and effectiveness.

8. Educational Outreach:

   • Partner with educational institutions to include ORES in academic research and curriculum, fostering the next generation of energy professionals.

Expected deliverables

Key Deliverables

1. ORES Specification: Develop ORES standards including architecture, APIs, and communication protocols among various system modules and components, and cloud APIs.
2. Reference Implementation: Develop a working demo system of the ORES specification.
3. Multi-vendor adoption and interoperability: Standards exhibits value when multiple vendors adopt it. Target at least one other hardware vendor's adoption of ORES.
4. Utility's participation, engagement, adoption: Adoption and recognition of ORES standards by Utilities encourage mass adoption of ORES by consumers and manufacturers. Target at least one Utility service provider's adoption of ORES.
5. Marketing and Community Engagement: Execute strategies for broader adoption and stakeholder engagement.

Working Group Detailed Operation Plan

1. Guidance and Strategy: Provide expertise on technical, business, and policy aspects, steering the project's direction.
   • Technical Guidance: Offer expert advice on technical aspects, including system architecture, API design, and protocol development.
   • Business Strategy: Provide insights on market trends, business models, and strategies for commercial viability.
   • Ecosystem Development: Advise on building a robust network of producers, consumers, and other stakeholders.
   • Policy Insight: Guide the group on regulatory and policy matters relevant to renewable energy systems.
2. Standards Development: Provide input and feedback on ORES standards development.
   • Collaborative Design: Work with industry experts and community members to refine the ORES standards.
   • Documentation: Produce comprehensive documentation for the ORES architecture, APIs, and protocols.
   • Demonstration Platform: Creation of an interactive online system to display ORES in real-time operation.
   • Utility Integration Protocols: Development of guidelines for utility adoption of ORES solutions.
   • Prototype Implementation: Development and testing of hardware and software prototypes.
3. Ecosystem Building: Engagement with producers, consumers, and trial sites to expand the ORES network.
   • Marketing, Outreach and Promotion: Develop ORES website, online demo system, and active promotion of ORES at industry events and through media.
   • Vendor Partnerships: Formation of relationships for commercial adoption of ORES standards, and for multi-vendor interoperability.
   • Utility Advocacy: Lobbying for policy support and utility integration.

Timeline for the working group

Timeline/Roadmap

• Q1 2024: Release version 1 of the ORES standard, including architecture, components, APIs, and protocols.
• Q2 2024: Develop a hardware reference implementation and a functional demo system, targeting a showcase at the LF Energy Summit.
• Q3 2024: Achieve multi-vendor interoperability, expand hardware vendor participation, and initiate product commercialization.
• Q4 2024: Cultivate an ecosystem of vendor and hardware adoptions for commercial deployment. Begin exploring ORES applications beyond residential to commercial and industrial sectors.

[nhoening]

Hi @chrisxie-fw, thanks for this proposal!

There is a standard we are working with, called S2, which might be a great fit here, to model energy flexibility offers and usage between assets and (home or microgrid) energy management systems.
More information here: https://s2standard.org/

"S2 is an open standard to unlock flex in the electricity grid. It is our ambition that all devices larger than 1 kW will support the S2 standard."

It is now an accepted standard on EU level and put forward by TNO (also part of the Interflex project whihc is mentioned in the report you linked) and the Flexible power Alliance (FAN). It has now also endorsed by ECOS (an environmental lobby organisation putting their weight behind standards).

And there is already open source development:

We (Seita BV, also maintainers of another LF Energy project) are currently working with TNO on a few projects which hopefully demonstrate how to implement S2 in behind-the-meter EMS systems and drive implementation forward. We'll also need the OEMs to implement it on their (asset) end - one large heat pump manufacturer is already on board.

Anyway, on the technical end we have implemented S2 message encoding in two places:

• FlexMeasures client
• S2 message validation for two flex types

[Sander3003]

Thanks for the proposal! How is this project related to IEC 61850 / IEC CIM?

With CoMPAS is fully centered around IEC61850 (configuration side of thinks) . Fledge does support IEC61850 as well.

[jmertic]

Hi @chrisxie-fw - we've put this on the schedule for March 12th; let us know if this timing works for you.

[chrisxie-fw]

Thanks for the proposal! How is this project related to IEC 61850 / IEC CIM?

With CoMPAS is fully centered around IEC61850 (configuration side of thinks) . Fledge does support IEC61850 as well.

Thank you very much for the feedback!

IEC 61850 seems to be primarily a standard for grid substations and not specifically designed for residential renewable energy solutions. Its primary application is in the automation, communication, and integration of systems within electrical substations and across the wider electricity grid, particularly in the context of large-scale power systems.

For residential renewable energy solutions, such as small-scale solar panels or wind turbines, different standards and protocols are typically used. These standards would focus more on the safe and efficient integration of renewable energy sources into the home's electrical system and, in some cases, into the local grid. They would cover aspects like inverter specifications, energy storage, interconnection with the grid, and safety standards. ORES would initially focus on these areas.

[chrisxie-fw]

Hi @chrisxie-fw, thanks for this proposal!

There is a standard we are working with, called S2, which might be a great fit here, to model energy flexibility offers and usage between assets and (home or microgrid) energy management systems. More information here: https://s2standard.org/

"S2 is an open standard to unlock flex in the electricity grid. It is our ambition that all devices larger than 1 kW will support the S2 standard."

It is now an accepted standard on EU level and put forward by TNO (also part of the Interflex project whihc is mentioned in the report you linked) and the Flexible power Alliance (FAN). It has now also endorsed by ECOS (an environmental lobby organisation putting their weight behind standards).

And there is already open source development:

We (Seita BV, also maintainers of another LF Energy project) are currently working with TNO on a few projects which hopefully demonstrate how to implement S2 in behind-the-meter EMS systems and drive implementation forward. We'll also need the OEMs to implement it on their (asset) end - one large heat pump manufacturer is already on board.

Anyway, on the technical end we have implemented S2 message encoding in two places:

• FlexMeasures client
• S2 message validation for two flex types

https://github.com/FlexMeasures/ is interesting. We'll see if it can be leveraged in ORES.

For S2 (EN50491-12-2), what are the differences between CEM (Customer Energy Manager) and RM (Resource Manager)? Is CEM on the customer premise (residential house), and RM is on the Utility/Grid side, or the other way around? ORES may explore OpenADR (Open Automated Demand Response) protocol, IEEE 2030.5 (Smart Energy Profile) and SunSpec Modbus to communicate to Utility side.

[nhoening]

@chrisxie-fw The resource manager (RM) is on the asset, the customer energy manager (CEM) aggregates them on some higher level, e.g. building or neighborhood.

We would appreciate work that uses FlexMeasures in OpenADR contexts. S2 and OpenADR could also be useful in tandem (S2 focusing on implicit energy flexibility on sites, and OpenADR being used to leverage explicit energy flexibility towards grid-level actors, like aggregators)

[yarille]

Approved by TAC vote- 3/12/2024