The goal of the California Load Flexibility Research and Development Hub (CalFlexHub) is to demonstrate technologies that enable cost-effective and reliable load flexibility. Such technologies could support a California future where significant grid incorporation of renewable energy is balanced by electricity demand that is flexible throughout the year’s 8,760 hours. CalFlexHub, which is managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, brings together actors from across the load flexibility innovation ecosystem to identify, evaluate, develop, fund, and demonstrate cost-effective and reliable load-flexible and flexibility-enabling technologies.
The UC Davis Market Transformation Research team is leading three tasks that use social science methods to gain a better understanding of the broader context of load flexible technologies:
- Stakeholder needs assessments – Conducting three annual studies to identify the most pressing priorities, constraints, and needs of electricity customers and technology and service providers as they relate to load flexible technology development and price signal implementation
- Technology user experience assessments – Interviewing users of the more than 15 technologies undergoing field demonstrations through CalFlexHub to better understand adoption motivations and user experience with load flexibility
- Market assessments – Conducting market assessments to support the deployment of load flexible technologies that perform well in field demonstrations.
Project Partners: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (lead), UC Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute, …there’s a very long list here: https://calflexhub.lbl.gov/ecosystem-partners/#partners
Sponsor: California Energy Commission, Grant EPC-20-025
Resources:
Website
https://calflexhub.lbl.gov/
Presentations
Nov 14, 2023: BECC – Flexible Technologies, Varyingly Limber Users – download slides
Nov 14, 2023: BECC – Dynamic Electricity Prices, Automated Load Flexibility and Stakeholder Priorities, Constraints and Needs – download slides
Nov 3, 2023: Spotlight on Usability and Stakeholder Needs – 2023 CalFlexHub Symposium: https://calflexhub.lbl.gov/flex_library_item/calflexhub-symposium-2023-spotlight-usability-and-stakeholder-needs-in-calflexhub/
