3 ms·

A potential issue I see with this is the fact that some people need to get to and from work during hours that would prohibit them from charging at off-peak hour

A potential issue I see with this is the fact that some people need to get to and from work during hours that would prohibit them from charging at off-peak hours. Night-shift jobs tend to be on the lower end of the pay scale (though there may be a bonus for taking that awful shift compared to their day-time peers.) So there is an opportunity for some regressiveness in this scheme.

jdietrich 9y ago
As we move towards renewable generation, the shape of the peak and off-peak periods will start to change. In the southern states, you might see very flat pricing, as higher consumption during the day is offset by higher generation from photovoltaic sources. We will see far more volatile supply, because of the less reliable output of renewable sources. Supply and demand need to be perfectly balanced at all times to prevent brownouts or outages. Balancing supply and demand will become more challenging as we start to take fossil fuel generators offline. This is where smart grid management becomes vital. EVs could adjust their charging rate in real-time, drawing maximum current when prices are low and discharging at a high rate when prices spike. Smart air conditioning units and refrigerators could respond to pricing on a minute-by-minute basis, running their compressors when electricity is a fraction of a cent cheaper and allowing the temperature to drift upwards by a fraction of a degree when prices are slightly higher. Industrial consumers could pause energy-intensive processes when prices are high and store power locally in battery, pumped water or thermal storage when prices are low. A slightly extreme example from the UK is the notorious TV pickup. We drink lots of tea and use 3kW electric kettles to make it. During the commercial break in popular TV programmes, there's a surge in demand that often reaches hundreds of megawatts as millions of people simultaneously switch their kettles on. The national grid employ a dedicated team to manage these rapid demand spikes. They study the TV schedules and continuously monitor the grid frequency, turning on extra generation capacity and drawing from pumped-water storage to balance the extra demand. With smart grid technology, the TV pickup could be automatically managed through a real-time market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_response https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_response https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup

jdietrich 9y ago

As we move towards renewable generation, the shape of the peak and off-peak periods will start to change. In the southern states, you might see very flat pricing, as higher consumption during the day is offset by higher generation from photovoltaic sources. We will see far more volatile supply, because of the less reliable output of renewable sources. Supply and demand need to be perfectly balanced at all times to prevent brownouts or outages. Balancing supply and demand will become more challenging as we start to take fossil fuel generators offline. This is where smart grid management becomes vital. EVs could adjust their charging rate in real-time, drawing maximum current when prices are low and discharging at a high rate when prices spike. Smart air conditioning units and refrigerators could respond to pricing on a minute-by-minute basis, running their compressors when electricity is a fraction of a cent cheaper and allowing the temperature to drift upwards by a fraction of a degree when prices are slightly higher. Industrial consumers could pause energy-intensive processes when prices are high and store power locally in battery, pumped water or thermal storage when prices are low. A slightly extreme example from the UK is the notorious TV pickup. We drink lots of tea and use 3kW electric kettles to make it. During the commercial break in popular TV programmes, there's a surge in demand that often reaches hundreds of megawatts as millions of people simultaneously switch their kettles on. The national grid employ a dedicated team to manage these rapid demand spikes. They study the TV schedules and continuously monitor the grid frequency, turning on extra generation capacity and drawing from pumped-water storage to balance the extra demand. With smart grid technology, the TV pickup could be automatically managed through a real-time market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_response https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_response https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup