Progress 07/01/22 to 02/28/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Leaptran plans to market its solution mainly to rural-based electric co-ops and publicly owned utilities (POUs). Success for this technology includes having multiple utilities use the product and demonstrating a reliable solution to provide accurate ASF solutions by the end of SBIR Phase II. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Leaptran has entered a Memorandum of Understanding ("Agreement") with Alamo Community College District, a public junior college district and a political subdivision of the State of Texas, on behalf of San Antonio College (referred to as "Alamo Colleges District"). Both parties have agreed to sponsor Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences, also known as CUREs, under Project BUILD for a minimum of one full academic semester in a STEM discipline to provide academic support to Hispanic and other underrepresented students who are enrolled in high-challenge STEM courses to increase their chances of progressing to on-time graduation and/or transfer into STEM. Leaptran's representative gave a presentation during Black History Month 2023 to inspire young students to pursue STEM, energy efficiency, and renewable energy engineering studies. Leaptran also provided a research question and/or case study with three selected publications for students to explore or study, and the research question is tied directly to residential rooftop based solar and load forecasting challenges. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Leaptran attended the Southwest Electrical Metering Association (SWEMA) exhibit in College Station, Texas. SWEMA is the leading membership network and training resource for utility metering professionals in the southwestern United States. SWEMA is dedicated to advancing the science of metering electric energy and power. Leaptran had a booth and table to demonstrate its technology solutions to attendees from rural electric co-ops and POUs. In February 2023, Leaptran attended DistribuTech International 2023 in San Diego. DistribuTech is "the leading annual transmission and distribution event for utilities, technology providers, and industry leaders," and Leaptran has participated in the event every year. Leaptran has been successful in establishing multiple business relationships with other technology providersand potential utility partners. Leaptran will continue these activities in 2024 and 2025 during the proposed Phase II commercialization efforts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? - Accomplished solar PV sites selection including utility-scale, community solar, commercial and residential rooftop (no site preference in this stage), and data access. - Accomplisheddevelopment of single site solar forecasting algorithms and aggregating algorithms. -Accomplished integration of deep spatiotemporal feature learning in the weather forecasting module. -Integrated PV power production forecasting module and compare prediction performance to measured PV power production from the PV inverters and metering data at selected testing sites. - Demonstrated aggregating solar forecast platform software solution for data exchange, storage, and preliminary visual communication. Leaptran has demonstrated the technical feasibility of its innovative and advanced ASF (aggregated solar forecasting) solution in Phase I.It has proven technical feasibility by demonstrating results in a robust cloud-based computing platform that hosts 187 residential rooftop solar sites in GVEC's territory and 7 utility-scale transmission-level solar sites from CPS Energy. The forecasting performance is better than any of its competitors with strong analytic features for utilities to make critical decisions in their market planning and operations.?

Publications

Progress 07/01/22 to 02/28/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The project target audiences are mainly electric cooperatives (co-ops)utilities and publicly owned utilities (POUs). Leaptran has signed a scope of work (SOW) with Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperatives (GVEC) to help aggregate >300 residential rooftop solar sites located in one feeder at one substation. The purpose is to offer the probability of exceedance (P50) based solar generation aggregating forecasting to allow GVEC participating its electricity load scheduling in days ahead (1+14 days). Leaptran has demonstrated a 7 transmission solar sites aggregated solar forecasting toCPS Energy, this solar forecasting aggregation has about 500 MW solar power generation across the State of Texas. Leaptran has executed a NDA with Trico Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Trico) located in the State of Arizona to engage two 10 MW solar sites aggregated solar forecasting in 2023. Leaptran also attended the Southwest Electrical Metering Association (SWEMA) Meter School in College Station, Texas. SWEMA is the leading membership network and training resource for utility metering professionals in the southwestern United States. SWEMA is dedicated to advancing the art and science of metering electric energy and power. Leaptran had a booth and table to demonstrate its technology solutions to rural electric co-ops' audience. Changes/Problems:There are no major changes/problems in Leaptran proposed approach as it has successfully engaged three utilities in Phase I. Leaptran is currently working closely with Larta Institute and its advisors to present a very strong commercialization plan for Phase II initiative. The progress and team dynamics are excellent from Leaptran's perspective. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Leaptran has entered a Memorandum of Understanding ("Agreement") with Alamo Community College District, a public junior college district and a political subdivision of the State of Texas, on behalf of San Antonio College (hereinafter referred to as "Alamo Colleges District"). Both parties agree to sponsor Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences, also known as CUREs, for a minimum of one full academic semester, in a STEM discipline, defined as courses in biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, geology, computer information systems, architecture, and psychology. Leaptran's representatives will be providing a research question and/or case study for students to explore and the research question will be tied directly to residential rooftop based solar forecasting and monitoring challenges. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, Leaptran has disseminated the results of USDA/NIFA SBIR Phase I research to electric co-ops and POUs largely by attending the Southwest Electrical Metering Association (SWEMA) Meter School and Annual Conference. Our partner, EPIcenter, was also introducing our results to other utility companies such as Austin Energy, New Braunfels Utilities (NBU), andLowColorado River Authority (LCRA). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Leaptran plans to report the progress of its software trial or user experience from GVEC in next report. It will also update the progress with Trico and CPS Energy with respect to large scale solar sites aggregated solar forecasting solutions. Leaptran's objective is to design a robust and reliable software solution or tool that allows electric co-ops to capitalize on electricity market opportunities by helping them remain as low-cost electricity providers for their communities and members.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Leaptran achieved to provide aggregated solar forecasting solution for more than 300 solar sites located in rural basedGuadalupe Valley Electric Cooperatives (GVEC) service territory. The concept is approved by successfully engagingGVECto form a scope of work (SOW) with historical and continuous data transfer in place. The software trail has been initiated in 2023 and will be continued as Leaptran enters Phase II stage.

Publications