Abstract: In this talk, I will motivate the need for controllable solar arrays that have the ability to modulate their output in response to changing grid conditions. I will describe how principles from Internet design can be then be used to design rate control mechanisms and policies for grid-friendly solar arrays. Such a solar rate control approach enables solar arrays to make local decisions while increasing the "goodput" of the power grid. I will then discuss how such techniques can be used in conjunction with energy storage batteries in the context of community solar arrays, and end my talk with opportunities for future work on this topic.  

 Bio:Prashant Shenoy is currently a Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He received the B.Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and the M.S and Ph.D degrees in Computer Science from the University of Texas, Austin. His research interests lie in distributed systems and networking, with a recent emphasis on cloud and green computing. He has been the recipient of several best paper awards at leading conferences, including a Sigmetrics Test of Time Award. He serves on editorial boards of the several journals and has served as the program chair of over a dozen ACM and IEEE conferences. He is a fellow of the IEEE and the AAAS and a distinguished member of the ACM.