Bruce Muschlitz served as the principal EnerNex investigator for this project to determine the level of maturity of the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) models which were based upon the IEC 61850 standard. This work was performed for the US Department of Energy through Sandia National Lab.

The DER standard, IEC 61850-7-420 was modified based upon EnerNex recommendations and is on track towards becoming an approved standard in late 2008.

The specific topics addressed in this study are:

• Mapping an existing Modbus-based DER controller onto the proposed IEC 61850-based DER device models
• Determine the ambiguities and “holes” in the proposed standard
• Provide Sandia with tools to perform mappings of other devices or to the final IEC standard
• Deliver prototype hardware and software to operate the DER controller through an IEC 621850-based server
• Deliver an operator interface (client) to the 61850-based server

The solution involved a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Linux-based hardware with a COTS 61850 stack. The development also included a method to map Modbus messages to 61850 object models in a flexible scheme which could be altered by people not completely familiar with all 61850 aspects.

This is an example of EnerNex’s ability to deliver a working demonstration system rather than a paper study. The working system proves that the paper analysis is actually feasible. The development of a user interface provided further proof of the ease of using IEC 61850 as a control and monitoring system.