Grid Friendly Appliance Controller Turns Small Loads into Grid Assets

An innovation developed at PNNL and now licensed to Systemex Energies turns small loads into grid assets for electric utilities. The Grid FriendlyTM Appliance Controller, or GFAC for short, enables every-day homeowners to be active participants in improving power grid resiliency, efficiency, and reliability. The technology has the ability to quickly shift small loads on and off during peak frequency on the power grid. Systemex Energies combined the PNNL controller with its product already on the market to create SOFTload. The new product enables utility operators to modulate the load to achieve the proper primary frequency rate.