Energy IT: Distributed Energy Resource Monitoring and Performance

Poster

Student: Ryan Gaylord, James D. Maclay

Advisor: Prof. Scott Samuelsen, APEP and Dr. Jack Brouwer, APEP

Abstract: As the proliferation of Distributed Generators (DG) and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) increases into the marketplace, a system for monitoring performance characteristics, archiving historical performance data, and making this data available to consumers is needed. This information will not only provide manufacturers invaluable feedback on the long-term performance of their equipment, it will also give consumers insight into the feasibility of DER implementation in the context of their needs.

Bio: Ryan Gaylord is a graduate student researcher at the National Fuel Cell Research Center in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, Irvine. His research is focused on the environmentally responsible production of hydrogen using wind energy. The goal is to design and implement a hydrogen production site servicing a network of fuel cell vehicles. He worked for one year in sales and product development for FuelCellStore.com, and as a cycling guide for Trek Travel, LLC. Ryan received a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a specialization in BioGeoChemistry.

Bio: James Maclay is a graduate student researcher at the National Fuel Cell Research Center in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at University of California, Irvine. His research is focused on residential applications of reversible fuel cells coupled to renewable energy sources. The goal is to evaluate reversible fuel cells as an energy storage device and to compare their performance with that of lead acid batteries. He worked for four years as a research chemist at Bayer’s Biotech division. Maclay received a B.S. in chemistry from U.C. Davis in 1998, conducting research with Bio-fuel cells.