Schneider ECC (Energy Control Center)

These products are quite smart and have valuable information that needs to be shared with controllers in other levels of the architecture. There are 3 types of loads fed by these breakers: Critical loads can’t have an outage for even a fraction of a second; thus, they are typically powered by a UPS. (There may be a chance to discuss Software Defined Power on the UPS, enabled by Li-ion batteries available for Galaxy VM, Galaxy VX, etc. Make sure the audience understands that nearly all deployed UPS’s have lead-acid batteries, which are not well suited to frequent cycling.)

Essential loads must be powered during an outage, but most sites can wait 10-30 seconds for a generator to come up (vs spending more on a UPS). Essential + Critical loads determine the sizing of your dispatchable DER (typically a genset).

Standard loads are nice to have during an outage, especially since they are available 99%+ while utility power is present. For example, if PV is available and/or there is charge left in the storage system, an ECC can power Standard loads in addition to Critical and Essential loads

Solar Example:

When there is a utility outage, most solar PV systems do not operate at all
An ECC with edge control enables PV to operate during an outage by using an alternate “anchor resource” like a genset or Li-ion storage system. In essence, PV inverters connected to an ECC will think the outage is over, and they will resume normal operation.
During an outage, if there is too much PV power, the edge controller will reduce PV power in order to prevent backfeeding a genset or a storage battery that is full. Conversely, if there is not enough power available from a site’s DER’s, the edge controller will shed load(s), taking into account their priority and their delayability.

For example, for a site with storage, in any given minute the system could be charging the batteries, discharging the batteries, or waiting until the optimal time to charge/discharge comes. If a system makes these decisions wisely, the ROI can be stronger.

Schneider ECC

This solution is ideal for fit for matching savings, sustainability, and/or resiliency goals! Schneider is offering a connected Energy Control Center with Ecostruxure Microgrid Advisor at the apps and analytics level, and Ecostruxure Microgrid Operator for edge control.

Future ready modularity happens both physically, by adding smart breakers for example, or entire ECC sections, and in the Cloud, by adding additional use cases of Ecostruxure Microgrid Advisor as the site adds Distributed energy resources (DERs). Within the ECC, Connected products like SE’s Smart Breakers operate autonomously in the millisecond timescale to provide essential safety functions. They provide valuable information that needs to be shared with controllers in other levels of the architecture.

The edge controller makes decisions one or more times per second, to provide resiliency for the site. For example, if the grid goes down, the edge controller senses and disconnects from the bad grid, then it starts the genset and restores power to the ECC loads, typically in 10-30 seconds. The edge controller also makes the various Distributed Energy Resources “play nice” with each other.