The modern energy grid increasingly demands dynamic, daily energy management, moving beyond traditional demand response. This evolution necessitates enhanced interoperability and standardized communication protocols across the energy ecosystem. At the forefront of this transformation is OpenADR 3.0, an emerging standard poised to redefine grid-to-customer communication by addressing the limitations of previous standards and proprietary solutions, thereby unlocking new possibilities for efficient and cost-effective energy management.

Understanding the Ecosystem: Key Players and Their Interactions

The demand flexibility ecosystem is a complex web of interconnected entities. Utilities typically serve as the virtual top node, responsible for managing various loads and assets within their territories. They coordinate with aggregators and other third parties, such as CPower, Uplight, AutoGrid, EnergyHub, and Leap, who facilitate demand response programs. At the edge of the grid are homes and businesses, where Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) produce the devices that ultimately participate in demand response initiatives.

Connecting these diverse pieces are communication protocols, with OpenADR being one of the leading standards. These protocols facilitate the flow of information between different nodes in the ecosystem, from utilities to aggregators, and even directly to OEM devices in homes and businesses. Codibly, for instance, views itself as a “glue” in this space, helping to implement these protocols and create direct integrations between devices, aggregators, and utilities.

OpenADR 3.0: Key Features and Advantages

OpenADR 3.0 represents a significant improvement over its predecessor, OpenADR 2.0b, which has been the primary standard for several years. The new standard is gaining traction among U.S. utilities and is being explored by numerous OEMs due to several key advancements.

A. Enhanced Ease of Implementation

OpenADR 3.0 streamlines previous processes by transitioning from older SOAP-like mechanisms to REST API, simplifying technical implementation. The adoption of JSON over XML also makes data structures significantly easier to read, understand, and develop.

B. Simplified Structure and Efficiency

The new standard flattens data structures and removes underused elements, resulting in a more simplified framework. It also generalizes event handling, eliminating cumbersome reporting mechanisms found in 2.0b that often slowed down implementation. Furthermore, OpenADR 3.0 allows for the incorporation of payloads to send multiple types of data in a single interval, significantly improving the efficiency of information exchange between the virtual top node and virtual end node.

C. Robust Security and Certification

OpenADR 3.0 features a significant upgrade in security, following a new framework that is no longer tied to the SOAP Foundation. This simplified approach leverages more advanced technology, leading to a more secure protocol.

D. Expanded Use Cases: Enabling Local Control and Flexible Load Management

One of the most exciting aspects of OpenADR 3.0 is its design for new use cases, particularly local control and the management of flexible loads at customer sites. This capability is generating significant interest from OEMs and is considered extremely promising for supporting hierarchical systems. This includes microgrids, where prices from the macro grid can be modified based on local conditions and then redistributed within the microgrid and even inside individual buildings, extending to DC power domains with their own controllers managing capacity and price.

Navigating the Transition to OpenADR 3.0

For organizations that have already implemented OpenADR 2.0b, the decision of when and how to transition to 3.0 requires careful consideration.

A. Considerations for Existing OpenADR 2.0b Implementations

Existing 2.0b implementations will continue to function effectively. However, if an organization is adding many new parties to its ecosystem, this might be an opportune time to offer support for both standards, allowing new companies or devices to implement OpenADR 3.0. For entirely new implementations, such as price distribution to retail customers, adopting 3.0 is the recommended approach. While 2.0b will continue to work indefinitely, 3.0 offers strategic advantages for future-proofing and aligns with the market’s direction. New devices, implementations, and projects, or situations with a direct customer (like a utility) that has a 3.0 implementation, are prime candidates for the transition.

B. Approaches to OpenADR Implementation

Organizations have several options for implementing OpenADR:

  • Developing from scratch: This approach offers full access and ownership of the codebase but can be time-consuming, taking several months, even with the simplifications of 3.0.
  • Turnkey licensing models: These options can expedite certification but may limit custom development and integration with other aggregators.
  • Accelerator models: Codibly offers a “pre-built codebase” or microservice that is licensed to a customer. This approach provides full ownership and access to the codebase, allowing customers to extend it for other use cases and future integrations within their cloud environment, while also reducing the development time and cost to stand up the solution.

Price-Based Grid Coordination: A Foundational Mechanism

Price-based coordination is emerging as a highly effective and cost-efficient mechanism for grid coordination.

A. Highly Dynamic Prices: Optimizing for a Changing Grid

Highly dynamic prices are characterized by intervals between hourly and five-minute, set no further in advance than the day before, and varying daily. This dynamism is crucial because grid conditions change daily, and static prices lead to suboptimal outcomes. It’s important to distinguish these from wholesale real-time prices, as retail prices should not be directly calculated from wholesale, but rather have a looser relationship.

B. Essential Data Elements for Price Communication

To facilitate effective price-based coordination, specific data elements need to be communicated from the grid to the customer:

  • A set of prices, typically at least 24 hours for 24 hours, but potentially extending for longer periods, like a week.
  • Whether the price is guaranteed once announced or merely a forecast.
  • Differentiated prices for exporting versus importing electricity at the same time.
  • Non-financial signals, such as marginal Greenhouse Gas emissions, to allow customers to incorporate environmental considerations into their optimization strategies.
  • Occasional emergency alerts, for instance, due to high winds or wildfire concerns, enabling devices or people to adjust their behavior.

C. The Price Server Model: Distribution and Local Optimization

In this model, a price server, similar to a web server, distributes information without making decisions. The retailer sets the price, which is then distributed to various entities (e.g., cloud-based systems, devices inside the building). One of these entities is responsible for translating the price into functional control, such as turning a device on or off or adjusting an operating level. Initially, much of this will occur in the cloud for easier deployment, but there are advantages to performing these functions inside the building. A critical aspect of pricing is that there’s no information flowing from the customer side back to the grid beyond existing meter readings, which is beneficial for privacy and security.

D. The Concept of Local Price: Value Divergence within the Building

The concept of a “local price” recognizes that the value of electricity inside a building can diverge from the retail price at the meter. This is not about changing the retail price but about optimizing to it correctly. Examples include:

  • Asymmetric import/export prices: If import and export prices are different, the marginal value of power changes based on the direction of power flow.
  • Greenhouse gas signals: Incorporating a financial value for greenhouse gas emissions into the retail price creates a more accurate local price that aligns with climate change goals.
  • Grid outages: When the grid is down and internet connectivity is lost, a local price is necessary to balance supply and demand within the building.

E. The Role of Central Gateway Devices

While not immediately essential, most buildings are expected to acquire a central gateway device over time. Such a device can receive external prices and then:

  • Modify the price to create the local price.
  • Receive data from devices to track their performance.
  • Alert users if a device stops responding. This evolution mirrors the development of internet connectivity, where dedicated infrastructure devices (switches, routers) emerged after initial direct connections.

Capacity Management: Optimizing Distribution System Utilization

Beyond energy and power, capacity is a crucial third element of grid coordination, though it is often overlooked today.

A. The Need for Dynamic Capacity Management

Current utility operations often rely on static, worst-case assumptions, leading to underutilized infrastructure and limitations on new installations like PV panels or EV chargers. Dynamic capacity management is essential to enable greater adoption of electrification technologies without incurring enormous costs for distribution system upgrades.

B. Limit-Based Capacity Management (Export)

This approach addresses scenarios where excessive renewable power export can overload the grid, a common issue in areas with high PV penetration. The grid sends customers limits on how much power they can export at each time interval. If a customer is at risk of curtailment, they can shift their load, allowing for full allocation of existing capacity and enabling more people to install PV. This mechanism is present in both OpenADR 3.0 and IEEE 2030.5.

C. Permission-Based Capacity Management (Import)

EV charging introduces a significant import capacity problem due to its highly bursty nature. A single-level two-charger can draw significantly more power than a typical household’s average consumption. Permission-based capacity management addresses this by allowing customers to subscribe to a defined power limit. Products are already available that can modulate EV consumption to keep the total customer site at or below a specified limit. If a customer wants to charge faster, their charger can request additional capacity from the grid for a defined duration. The grid can then respond in three ways:

  • Grant the reservation.
  • Offer the capacity for a fee.
  • Indicate no more capacity is available, in which case the customer can still charge at their subscribed level, just not as quickly. OpenADR 3.0 incorporates this mechanism, offering a simple and effective solution for managing import capacity.

The Path Forward: Scaling OpenADR 3.0 Applications

Scaling applications of OpenADR 3.0 hinges on making the technology simple and universal, much like how internet technology operates.

A. Simplicity and Universality as Key Drivers for Scale

Internet technology works because it’s the same everywhere, regardless of the country. The energy sector needs to adopt this principle, moving away from disparate electrical standards across different nations. Universal electrical standards like USB and Ethernet offer successful models to emulate.

B. Distinct Domains of Communication

To achieve widespread adoption, it’s crucial to consider three distinct types of communication:

  • Communication between grid entities: While differences can reasonably exist from place to place within the grid (e.g., power plants interacting with a single grid), the other two domains benefit from universality.
  • Communication from the grid to the customer: This needs to exist within a maximum degree of complexity that retailers can subset, ensuring devices can consistently interpret signals.
  • Communication inside the customer site: Because appliances and building components are shipped globally, this communication must be universal. Pricing, for instance, is the only mechanism that can work everywhere.

C. OpenADR 3.0: A Promising Future

OpenADR 3.0, available for over a year, is free and has multiple open-source implementations emerging, making it easier to use. While OpenADR 2.0 was mostly for cloud-to-cloud communication, 3.0’s simplicity allows it to be integrated into even basic devices like Wi-Fi light bulbs. Matter, an emerging standard, is also set to add support for communicating prices, naturally complementing OpenADR 3.0 for central gateway distribution. The largest utility in California is set to begin offering prices over OpenADR 3.0 soon, and it’s gaining good uptake in Europe, signaling a bright future.

Shaping the Future of Energy Management

OpenADR 3.0 stands as a foundational mechanism for a better electric future, enabling the grid to manage demand more effectively and cost-efficiently. The future energy landscape will likely feature a synergy of both pricing and aggregator models, with fair coexistence and market-driven determination of their respective uses. Devices will need to expose standard controls to ensure interoperability for both approaches. Ultimately, this evolution aims to maximize customer flexibility and value. By embracing OpenADR 3.0 as a universal communication mechanism, the industry can achieve widespread adoption, mirroring the success of standards like USB charging for phones, where it simply becomes the norm.