Behind the meter and behind the building? Introducing ElectriPedia, an electrification information mapping framework using permit and satellite data

Stanford Energy Research Consortium (SERC)

Background

Deep insight into the deployment of electrification technology is critical for guiding the transition to a carbon free system that is resilient, affordable, and equitable. However, ambitious electrification goals – with gigatons of potential emission reductions – are conflicting with on-the-ground grid conditions. Currently, electrification information vital to policy and planning decisions is either incomplete or inaccessible. 

Project Goals

This research aims to fill this critical information gap through ElectriPedia, a comprehensive electrification information framework that uses machine learning tools to extract and map electrification information from satellite imagery (DeepSolar) and building permit data (BehindTheBuilding). The framework will be highly scalable and provides high resolution visibility into electrification technologies on the grid, with immediate applications for stakeholders such as utilities/planners, installers, and consumers.

Team Members

Ram Rajagopal
Ram Rajagopal is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, where he directs the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), focused on large-scale monitoring, data analytics and stochastic control for infrastructure networks, in particular, power networks. He is an expert in power systems and machine learning. He directs the Stanford Bits & Watts Initiative, Stanford Global Projects Center, and the Sustainable Systems Lab. He has led the PowerNet project that utilizes AI in distributed energy resources coordination, DeepSolar project that utilizes AI to construct a nationwide solar installation database, and was a co-PI for VADER (Visualization and Analytics for Distributed Energy Resources), where his team developed tools for reconstructing power distribution networks from smart meter data and optimal placement of resources.

Hunt Allcott
Hunt Allcott is a Professor of Global Environmental Policy at Stanford University. He is the co-director of the Stanford Environmental and Energy Policy Analysis Center, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, an affiliate of ideas42 and Poverty Action Lab. He is an applied microeconomist whose research includes environmental economics, industrial organization, public economics, and behavioral economics. His research includes a series of influential papers on energy and environmental issues, including research on the effects of real time pricing on electricity markets, evaluations of energy efficiency programs, and studies of consumer behavior in vehicle markets.

Ömer Karaduman 
Ömer Karaduman is an Assistant Professor of Operations, Information and Technology at Stanford Graduate School of Business. His research focuses on the transition of the energy sector towards a decarbonized and sustainable future. In his research, he utilizes large datasets by using game-theoretical modeling to have practical policy suggestions. He has also worked on the social and private benefits of grid-scale energy storage and the need for policies that complement investments in renewables with encouraging energy storage and investigated the impact of large-scale renewable investment in the wholesale electricity market, in terms of price and emissions.

Other Team Members
Chad Zanocco, Ph.D., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
Zhecheng Wang, Ph.D., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University