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The requirements for interconnecting distributed energy resources with the power grid vary widely among states, municipalities, and even utilities. The lack of uniform installation and interconnection requirements results in technical and economic inefficiencies, interconnection delays, and unnecessary expenses.
Therefore, uniform interconnection standards will be the foundation of future widespread and inexpensive integration of distributed power systems. Activities in this area will determine the minimum standards for the safety and performance of distributed power equipment and interconnection systems. Work thus far has focused on two standards.
The first, IEEE 1547, Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources With Electric Power Systems, provides a uniform standard for the interconnection of distributed resources by detailing requirements related to the performance, operation, testing, safety, and maintenance of interconnection. This standard was approved by the IEEE Standards Board in June 2003.
The second major standard is an update to UL 1741, Standard for Inverters, Converters, and Controllers for Use in Independent Power Systems. This standard will incorporate IEEE 1547 to produce a testing standard for evaluating interconnected products for safety and interconnection performance requirements.
NREL has been a leader in the development of both of these standards.
Recent Publications
The following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Acrobat Reader.
- Basso, T.; Friedman, N.R. "IEEE 1547 National Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Generation: How Could It Help My Facility?: Preprint" (PDF 322 KB). NREL/JA-560-34875. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. November 2003.
- Basso, T.; DeBlasio, R. "IEEE 1547 Series of Standards: Interconnection Issues Preprint" (PDF 361 KB). NREL/JA-560-34882. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. September 2003.
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