Microgrids 2018

A special issue of Inventions (ISSN 2411-5134). This special issue belongs to the section "Inventions and Innovation in Electrical Engineering/Energy/Communications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2018) | Viewed by 31055

Special Issue Editors

Department of Electronic Engineering, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
Interests: microgrids; renewable energy systems; neuroscience-based artificial intelligence; digital twins; cybersecurity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Pontoppidanstræde 111, 9220 Aalborg Ø, Denmark
Interests: microgrids; renewable energy; minigrids; distributed generation; islanded energy systems; distributed and hierarchical control; energy internet; IoT-based smart energy homes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microgrids are small scale energy grids that can operate independently or autonomously from the main energy grid. They can contain generation, storage and consumption of any form of energy, including electricity, heat, etc. The concept supposed to eliminate or reduce the use of energy transmission systems, to produce energy near to consumption points, thus, constituting small distribution systems. This new energy paradigm is changing the way we conceive electrical, thermal, gas, or water grids. This Special Issue includes, but is not limited, to the following topics:

  • AC, DC and AC-DC hybrid microgrids
  • Power electronics based microgrids
  • Small scale renewable energies and storages for microgrids
  • Micro CHP systems for microgrids
  • Multiple microgrid clusters
  • Microgrids and nanogrids for rural areas and under developing countries
  • Microgrids for all/hybrid electrical ships and green ports
  • Microgrids for electrical vehicle charging stations
  • Advanced control techniques for microgrids
  • Smart metering and power quality for microgrids
  • Internet of things and energy Internet for multiple microgrids
  • Reviews on the state-of-the-art in the area of microgrids

Prof. Dr. Josep M. Guerrero
Prof. Juan Carlos Vasquez Quintero
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Inventions is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microgrids
  • power electronics
  • renewable energy
  • photovoltaic systems
  • wind energy
  • energy storage
  • islanded grids
  • distributed control
  • hierarchical control
  • internet of things
  • energy internet
  • maritime
  • shipboard power systems

Published Papers (4 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

21 pages, 2552 KiB  
Article
Cyber Physical Energy Systems Modules for Power Sharing Controllers in Inverter Based Microgrids
by Carlos A. Macana, Ahmed F. Abdou, Hemanshu R. Pota, Josep M. Guerrero and Juan C. Vasquez
Inventions 2018, 3(3), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions3030066 - 11 Sep 2018
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 7439
Abstract
The Microgrids (MGs) are an effective way to deal with the smart grid challenges, including service continuity in the event of a grid interruption, and renewable energy integration. The MGs are compounded by multiple distributed generators (DGs), and the main control goals are [...] Read more.
The Microgrids (MGs) are an effective way to deal with the smart grid challenges, including service continuity in the event of a grid interruption, and renewable energy integration. The MGs are compounded by multiple distributed generators (DGs), and the main control goals are load demand sharing and voltage and frequency stability. Important research has been reported to cope with the implementation challenges of the MGs including the power sharing control problem, where the use of cybernetic components such as virtual components, and communication systems is a common characteristic. The use of these cybernetic components to control complex physical systems generates new modeling challenges in order to achieve an adequate balance between complexity and accuracy in the MG model. The standardization problem of the cyber-physical MG models is addressed in this work, using a cyber-physical energy systems (CPES) modeling methodology to build integrated modules, and define the communication architectures that each power sharing control strategy requires in an AC-MG. Based on these modules, the control designer can identify the signals and components that eventually require a time delay analysis, communication requirements evaluation, and cyber-attacks’ prevention strategies. Similarly, the modules of each strategy allow for analyzing the potential advantages and drawbacks of each power sharing control technique from a cyber physical perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids 2018)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

12 pages, 1412 KiB  
Article
Gorilla: An Open Interface for Smart Agents and Real-Time Power Microgrid System Simulations
by Carlos J. Vélez-Rivera, Fabio Andrade, Emmanuel Arzuaga-Cruz and Agustín Irizarry-Rivera
Inventions 2018, 3(3), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions3030058 - 27 Aug 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4997
Abstract
A recurring issue when studying agent-based algorithms and strategies for Power Microgrid Systems is having to construct an interface between the agent domain and the electrical model domain being simulated. Many different tools exist for such simulations, each with its own special external [...] Read more.
A recurring issue when studying agent-based algorithms and strategies for Power Microgrid Systems is having to construct an interface between the agent domain and the electrical model domain being simulated. Many different tools exist for such simulations, each with its own special external interface. Although many interfacing efforts have been published before, many of them support only special cases, while others are too complex and require a long learning curve to be used for even simple scenarios. This work presents a simple programming application interface (API) that aims to provide programming access to the electrical system model for any real-time simulation tool, from any agent-based platform, or programming language. The simplicity of the interface stems from the assumption that the simulation happens in real-time and the agent domain is not being simulated. We propose four basic operations for the API: read, write, call, and subscribe/call-back. We tested these by supporting two examples. In one of the examples, we present a creative way to have the model access libraries that are not available in the simulated environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids 2018)
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 639 KiB  
Article
Design of a Hybrid AC/DC Microgrid Using HOMER Pro: Case Study on an Islanded Residential Application
by Anastasios Oulis Rousis, Dimitrios Tzelepis, Ioannis Konstantelos, Campbell Booth and Goran Strbac
Inventions 2018, 3(3), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions3030055 - 14 Aug 2018
Cited by 89 | Viewed by 11968
Abstract
This paper is concerned with the design of an autonomous hybrid alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) microgrid for a community system, located on an island without the possibility of grid connection. It is comprised of photovoltaic (PV) arrays and a diesel generator, AC loads, [...] Read more.
This paper is concerned with the design of an autonomous hybrid alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) microgrid for a community system, located on an island without the possibility of grid connection. It is comprised of photovoltaic (PV) arrays and a diesel generator, AC loads, and battery energy storage devices for ensuring uninterruptible power supply during prolonged periods of low sunshine. A multi-objective, non-derivative optimisation is considered in this residential application; the primary objective is the system cost minimisation, while it is also required that no load shedding is allowed. Additionally, the CO2 emissions are calculated to demonstrate the environmental benefit the proposed system offers. The commercial software, HOMER Pro, is utilised to identify the least-cost design among hundreds of options and simultaneously satisfy the secondary objective. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to evaluate design robustness against the uncertainty pertaining to fuel prices and PV generation. Finally, an assessment of the capabilities of the utilised optimisation platform is conducted, and a theoretical discussion sheds some light on the proposal for an enhanced design tool addressing the identified issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids 2018)
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 6768 KiB  
Article
An Improved Control Strategy for Three-Phase Power Inverters in Islanded AC Microgrids
by Muhammad Zahid Khan, Muhammad Mansoor Khan, Huawei Jiang, Khurram Hashmi and Muhammad Umair Shahid
Inventions 2018, 3(3), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions3030047 - 11 Jul 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5723
Abstract
Microgrids (MGs) are composed of multiple distributed generators (DGs) interfaced to micronetwork through paralleled connected power inverters (PIs). Load sharing among multiple DG units is an important task for autonomous operation of microgrids. In order to realize satisfactory power sharing and voltage regulation [...] Read more.
Microgrids (MGs) are composed of multiple distributed generators (DGs) interfaced to micronetwork through paralleled connected power inverters (PIs). Load sharing among multiple DG units is an important task for autonomous operation of microgrids. In order to realize satisfactory power sharing and voltage regulation between DG units, different voltage droop control strategies have been reported in the literature. In the medium voltage (MV) microgrids, power sharing, and voltage regulation often deteriorate due to dependence on nontrivial feeder impedances. The conventional control strategies are subject to steady-state active and reactive power-sharing errors along with system voltage and frequency deviations. Furthermore, complex microgrid configurations either in looped or meshed networks often make power balancing and voltage regulations more challenging. This paper presents an improved control strategy that can be extended for radial networks in order to enhance the accuracy of power sharing and voltage regulation. The proposed control strategy considers load voltage magnitude regulation as opposed the voltage regulation at inverters terminals. At the same time, a supervisory control loop is added to observe and correct system frequency deviations. This proposed method is aimed at replacing paralleled inverter control methods hitherto used. Simulation studies of the proposed scheme in comparison with the conventional control strategy in MATLAB/Simulink validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids 2018)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop