FLAIR – New energy network structures for the energy transition

FLAIR stands for ‘intelligent control of flexible systems’. FLAIR aims to make optimum use of the existing resources of local electricity grids by making consumption more flexible.

In future, control signals from households are to be transmitted via an LTE wireless connection to the smart meter gateway and the control box, which acts as the central control unit. This will enable controllable appliances, such as wall boxes and heat pumps, to be dimmed as required. However, real-world trials have shown that such wireless signals may not always be received reliably.

This is where the FLAIR algorithm comes into play: The FLAIR algorithm is integrated into the control box and responds to the voltage measured locally at the property connection point. The FLAIR solution is therefore independent of any communication link and provides a fail-safe mechanism for the reliable control of flexible loads, should this become necessary. By enabling the autonomous control of flexible loads even without external control commands, this is a fail-safe solution for a more efficient and secure electricity grid.

In future, this control solution – which is independent of communication signals – is to be used whenever control is required due to a bottleneck in the local electricity grid and the control signal cannot be transmitted via conventional means.

In the first variant, the three-phase voltage and current measurement and data processing – including the decentralised algorithm – have been implemented using a Raspberry Pi Zero. The control commands are sent via Ethernet to the FNN-compliant control box. This can control the load via the analogue relays.

The following variant combines voltage measurement, logic functions and analogue and digital outputs.