Power grid saturation control with distributed grid intelligence

A power metering device, comprising:

• a grid connector to couple to a power grid at a point of common coupling (PCC) for a segment of the power grid, the segment of the power grid coupled to multiple consumer nodes, wherein a consumer node includes a consumer premises and a distributed energy resource to generate direct current (DC) power;
• a controller to receive dispatch information to indicate a level of grid saturation and determine the power grid exceeds a distributed energy resource saturation threshold where a real power generation capacity of distributed energy resources for the power grid segment exceeds a threshold percentage of peak real power demand for the power grid segment;
• and
• I/O (input/output) to connect to a power converter on a load side of the PCC downstream from a power meter on a grid side of the PCC, the controller to send one or more signals via the I/O to the power converter to cause the power converter to dynamically adjust reactive power generation from energy of the distributed energy resource to adjust a ratio of real power to reactive power for the segment of the power grid as seen at the PCC from the grid side.

A method for controlling a power grid, comprising:

• coupling to a power grid at a point of common coupling (PCC) for a segment of the power grid, the segment of the power grid coupled to multiple consumer nodes, wherein a consumer node includes a consumer premises and a distributed energy resource to generate direct current (DC) power;
• detecting that the segment of the power grid exceeds a distributed energy resource saturation threshold where a real power generation capacity of distributed energy resources for the power grid segment exceeds a threshold percentage of peak real power demand for the power grid segment;
• and
• responsive to detecting the segment of the power grid exceeds the distributed energy resource saturation threshold, dynamically adjusting reactive power generation from energy of the distributed energy resource to adjust a ratio of real power to reactive power for the segment of the power grid as seen at the PCC from the grid side.