Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Power grid systems'

At present, there are still a large number of people living in isolated areas, particularly in developing countries, who have no immediate access to the main electricity grid. Most of the energy demands of these remote communities are met by diesel-operated power systems, which are relatively affordable and available. With the ever increasing awareness of climate change, many local authorities have taken initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of certain energy sectors. In some rural applications, diesel generator power systems are augmented by single or multiple renewable energy supply units to form an off-grid hybrid power system.Generally, the majority of off-grid hybrid power systems include a massive battery bank to store excess renewable energy to supply the user load demand during the period when renewable energy is deficient. In the charging and discharging processes, energy losses may occur due to the inefficiency of the charger and the battery cells. Also, inclusion of an energy storage element into a hybrid power system incurs additional investment costs and involves recycling issues. Therefore, it is necessary to minimise the size of storage, whenever possible, and operate the system under an appropriate power management strategy to ensure efficient system operation.The chosen power management strategy impacts long-term performance of a system as well as components’ longevity. The research presented in this thesis describes the development of an advanced power management concept for the operation of a photovoltaic-variable speed diesel generator hybrid power system.A general introduction regarding the research background to hybrid power system applications and fundamentals of solar energy is presented. A component sizing and control program is developed to facilitate hybrid power system design. Then, various off-grid power system configurations are further discussed with emphasis on the system performances and economic aspects.A prediction technique, namely the Hourly-based Prediction Model for solar irradiance and load demand forecasts is discussed. Forecast algorithms for the hourly solar irradiance and load demand predictions are presented. The proposed prediction models are implemented in the power management strategy for the off-grid photovoltaic-variable speed diesel generator hybrid power system. Assessments of the prediction models through comprehensive analyses of statistical measures are presented.HOMER simulation software has been adopted for time series generation and economic analyses for several off-grid power system configurations. Also, the HOMER simulation results for electrical aspects are used as a benchmark to evaluate the component models developed in this thesis. Due to the fact that HOMER offers limited choices of power management strategy and users do not have access to modify the control algorithms, it is impossible to determine the performance of a system under advanced power management strategy. Therefore, analytical performance models of system components have been developed using the MATLAB/Simulink software to allow the implementation of the proposed power management strategy.The concepts and flow charts of the predictive power management strategy are described. This power management strategy consists of predictive and adaptive dispatch. The time step of the predictive dispatch is fixed to one hour while the time step of the adaptive dispatch is one minute. Operation of the additional generator capacity of the hybrid power system is based on the predicted net load. The adaptive dispatch supports the predictive dispatch to handle fluctuations of net load that occur in between prediction intervals.Simulation results of the performance of hybrid power systems using different types of diesel generator and power management strategies are presented. Particular emphasis is on the comparisons of the system performances using non-predictive and predictive power management strategies. These simulations allow quantitative assessment of the system performances in terms of electrical output, fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission.Last but not least, the entire research is summarised and concluded with suggestions for future research. In short, the photovoltaic-variable speed diesel generator hybrid power system topology and the proposed power management strategy offer an alternative to the off-grid hybrid power system design, with the aims of overcoming the complex technical issues associated with energy storage and of contributing to market extension of hybrid power systems, particularly in remote locations where financial and technical issues are the major concerns.

There are definitely many reasons for choosing off-grid wind power systems. Few key ones involve the positive enhancement of societies, economies and natural environments. From a project developers’ perspective these systems provide a large potential market, which can cover a wide range of applications with relatively reasonable costs.  In spite of this, many challenges may interfere with the diffusion and the success of such systems. In the report we discuss the various factors affecting  the implementation of off-grid wind power systems and demonstrate some of the challenges project developers may be facing during the planning stage. Some of these include the acceptance of stakeholders (local inhabitants in particular) and the securing of the financing of the projects.  Another noted challenge lying outside the control of project developers was found to be the absence of encouraging policies and incentives. As a conclusion the thesis provides a set of self-interpreted recommendations along with a flow chart. The concluded summary indicates some key factors that project developers should be aware of and careful when dealing with, these which include: The choice of the site, verification of projects’ economics along with the securing of a convenient finance. The recommendations also point out the great advantage in having local developers as these tend to be more capable in building relations with the local citizens and politicians.

Master of Science
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Shelli K. Starrett
This thesis introduces a Vehicle to Grid (V2G) system which coordinates the charging, and discharging among the Electric Vehicles (EVs) and two-test systems, to help with peak power shaving and voltage stability of the system. Allowing EVs to charge and discharge without any control may lead to voltage variations and disturbance to the grid, but if the charging and discharging of the EVs is done in a smart manner, they can help the power network. In this thesis, fuzzy logic controllers (FLC) are used to control the flow of power between the grid and the electric vehicles. The presented work in this thesis mainly focuses on the control architecture for a V2G station that allows for using EVs batteries to help the grid’s voltage stability. The designed controllers sustain the node voltage, and thus also achieve peak shaving. The proposed architectures are tested on 16 -generator and 6-generator test systems to examine the effectiveness of the proposed designs. Five fuzzy logic schemes are tested to illustrate the V2G system’s ability to influence system voltage stability. The major contributions of this thesis are as follows: 
 • FLC based control tool for V2G station present at a weak bus in the system. • Investigate the effect of the station location and voltage sensitivity. • Comparison of chargers providing real power versus reactive power. • Simulation of controller and system interactions in a daily load curve cycle. Keywords: State of Charge (SOC), Electric Vehicle (EV), Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC), Vehicle to grid (V2G), and Power System Voltage Stability.

The term Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) refers to the technology that enables a bidirectional power exchange between the electric grid and the batteries of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV). V2G technology can be a key element of the intelligent network, which may use the batteries of the vehicle as a system of local storage. The vehicle battery may contribute to the stability of the grid and to meeting the energy demand, especially in peak hours. A PEV needs a bidirectional charger to implement V2G, and, consequently, the studies regarding their design, functionality and efficiency are of the utmost interest. This thesis describes the state of art of these chargers and discusses some aspects of a bi-directional converter and some case studies related to this topic. The main objective of this work is to develop the design and the control algorithms of a bidirectional battery charger with capability to charge the battery of a PEV and simultaneously to act as an active filter for the supply line. After the first introductory chapter, the second chapter reports the terminology used in this field of research. Several smart strategies for charging, approaches for the implementation of the battery chargers for PEVs and the recharging standards are briefly described. The analysis of different types of charger is detailed in chapter three. The conventional battery chargers (CBC) with front-end formed by a diode rectifier, battery chargers with power factor correction (PFC), bi-directional battery chargers (BBC), and integral battery chargers (IBC) are considered. In chapter four, definitions are given of the electrical power in non-sinusoidal conditions, together with some examples of the inadequacies of the classical power theory in describing non-linear phenomena that occur during the operation of a power system. The fifth chapter presents the basic concepts of the theory of instantaneous active and reactive power (also known as p-q theory) applied to the compensation of non-sinusoidal systems. Definition of real, imaginary and zero sequence power are introduced and it is shown how this theory makes it easier to understand the phenomena caused by non-sinusoidal voltages or currents. The theory is particularly suitable for the design of a battery charger when it is seen as a power conditioner. Chapter six is devoted to the basic concepts of shunt active filters. They can perform different types of functions, such as the compensation of current harmonics generated by nonlinear loads to prevent their propagation in the network. The compensation algorithm based on powers defined in reference  is very flexible and therefore the theory of instantaneous power has been considered as the basis for the development of the control system of active filters. Some examples of compensation described in the previous chapter were simulated and the results have been included. In chapter seven, sizing of the power devices that constitute the battery charger is considered in relation to the various auxiliary services that it can provide. The power electronic switches, the coupling inductors and the other passive components have been sized in voltage and current. In chapter eight it is considered a charger that supplies its load and simultaneously compensates for non-linear loads connected nearby. These additional features in terms of power conditioning were quantified in order to determine the capacity of a battery charger that is formed by given active and passive components to support the network acting as an active filter. In the ninth chapter the filter inductances of a battery charger are sized for a specific case study in which it is required the capability to recharge the battery and to inject active power in the network, both in the case of single-phase and three-phase connection. Evaluation of the ripple current is an important requirement for the design of inductors. Therefore a precise calculation was made of this magnitude both in the case of a battery charger connected to the single phase grid and operating according to the PWM technique, and, in the case of connection to the three-phase grid, operating according to the technique SVM. In chapter ten a case study is considered regarding the design of an LCL filter. Chapter eleven contains a theoretical study of resonant controllers. They solve the problem posed by the conventional PI controllers that, when used for the control of alternate quantities as it occurs for the currents of a DC/AC converter, are not able to cancel the steady state error due to the finite gain at the operating frequency. Instead, a resonant controller has a gain ideally infinite at the operating frequency and thus ensures a zero steady-state error. The effectiveness of the resonant regulators has been verified by means of simulations. Chapter twelve deals with the regulations regarding connectors, charging modes and ways of connecting the PEV chargers to the grid. They are intended to define a charging procedure common to all the PEVs and to all the charging infrastructures, whether public or private.
Il termine Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) si riferisce alla tecnologia che permette uno scambio di potenza bidirezionale tra la rete elettrica e le batterie dei veicoli elettrici di tipo plug-in (PEV). La tecnologia V2G può essere un elemento chiave della rete intelligente, che può utilizzare le batterie dei veicoli come un sistema di accumulo locale. Le batterie dei veicoli possono contribuire alla stabilità della rete e a soddisfare la domanda di energia soprattutto nelle ore di punta. Un PEV ha bisogno di un caricatore bidirezionale per implementare il V2G, e, di conseguenza, gli studi riguardo il loro progetto, la funzionalità e l'efficienza sono del massimo interesse. Questa tesi descrive lo stato dell’arte di questi caricabatteria e tratta alcuni aspetti di un convertitore bidirezionale e alcuni casi di studio relativi a questo argomento. L'obiettivo principale di questo lavoro è di sviluppare il progetto e gli algoritmi di controllo di un caricabatteria bidirezionale con capacità di caricare la batteria di un veicolo plug-in e contemporaneamente di agire come filtro attivo nei confronti della linea di alimentazione. Dopo il primo capitolo introduttivo, nel secondo capitolo viene riportata la terminologia usata in questo campo di ricerca. Vengono anche brevemente descritte diverse strategie intelligenti di ricarica, gli approcci per la realizzazione dei caricabatteria dei PEV e gli standard di ricarica. L’analisi dei vari tipi di caricabatteria viene approfondita nel terzo capitolo. Sono considerati il caricabatteria tradizionale (CBC) con front-end costituito da un raddrizzatore a diodi, il caricabatteria dotato di correttore del fattore di potenza (PFC), il caricabatteria bidirezionale (BBC), e il caricabatteria integrale (IBC). Nel capitolo quattro vengono date le definizioni della potenza elettrica in condizioni non sinusoidali assieme ad alcuni esempi delle inadeguatezze della teoria classica della potenza nel descrivere fenomeni non lineari che si verificano durante il funzionamento di un sistema di potenza. Nel quinto capitolo sono presentati i concetti di base della teoria potenza istantanea attiva e reattiva (nota anche come teoria pq) applicata alla compensazione di sistemi non sinusoidali. Vengono introdotte le definizioni della potenza reale, immaginaria e di sequenza zero e viene mostrato come questa teoria renda agevole la comprensione dei fenomeni causati da tensioni o correnti non sinusoidali. Essa è particolarmente adatta per il progetto di un caricabatteria quando esso viene visto come un condizionatore di potenza. Il capitolo sei è dedicato ai concetti di base dei filtri attivi di tipo shunt. Essi possono svolgere diversi tipi di funzioni, come la compensazione delle armoniche di corrente generate da carichi non lineari impedendo la loro propagazione nella rete. L’algoritmo di compensazione basato sulle potenze definite nel riferimento αβ è molto flessibile e quindi la teoria della potenza istantanea è stata considerata come la base per lo sviluppo del sistema di controllo dei filtri attivi. Alcuni esempi di compensazione descritti nel capitolo precedente sono stati simulati e sono stati riportati i risultati. Nel capitolo sette è considerato il dimensionamento dei dispositivi di potenza che costituiscono il caricabatteria in relazione ai diversi servizi ausiliari che esso può fornire. Sono stati dimensionati in tensione e corrente gli interruttori elettronici di potenza, gli induttori di accoppiamento con la rete e gli altri componenti passivi. Nel capitolo otto viene considerato un caricabatteria che alimenta il proprio carico e contemporaneamente compensa i carichi non lineari connessi nelle vicinanze, costituiti da raddrizzatori. Queste funzionalità aggiuntive in termini di condizionamento della potenza di rete sono state quantificate al fine di determinare la capacità di un caricabatteria costituito da determinati componenti attivi e passivi di supportare la rete svolgendo la funzione di filtro attivo. Nel nono capitolo sono state dimensionate le induttanze di filtro di un caricabatteria per uno specifico caso di studio in cui era richiesta la capacità sia di ricaricare la batteria che di iniettare potenza attiva in rete, sia nel caso di connessione monofase che trifase. La conoscenza dell’ampiezza dell’ondulazione di corrente è un requisito importante per il dimensionamento delle induttanze. Perciò è stato effettuato un calcolo preciso di questa grandezza sia nel caso di un caricabatteria connesso alla rete monofase e operante secondo la tecnica di PWM, sia nel caso di connessione alla rete trifase e adozione della tecnica SVM. Nel capitolo dieci viene considerato un caso di studio riguardo il dimensionamento di un filtro LCL. IL capitolo undici contiene uno studio teorico dei regolatori risonanti. Essi risolvono il problema posto dai convenzionali regolatori PI, che quando sono impiegati per il controllo di grandezze alternate, come accade nel caso delle correnti in un convertitore dc-ac, non sono in grado di annullare l’errore a regime a causa del guadagno finito alla frequenza di funzionamento. Un regolatore risonante presenta invece un guadagno idealmente infinito alla frequenza di funzionamento e quindi garantisce un errore a regime nullo. L’efficacia dei regolatori risonanti è stata verificata per mezzo di simulazioni. Nel capitolo dodici sono riportate le normative riguardanti i connettori, le modalità di ricarica e la connessione dei caricabatteria dei PEV alla rete elettrica. Esse mirano a definire una procedura di ricarica comune a tutti i PEV e tutte le infrastrutture di ricarica, siano esse pubbliche o private.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references.
This research used a combination of a grounded theory approach and system dynamics to study the electric power system in Kenya and to model the feedback at work in the development of the system. The ethnographic study revealed the challenges faced by consumers in choosing between grid and off-grid power options. Examination of this challenge leads to the hypothesis that competition between the grid and off-grid markets is contributing to the low growth in power consumption and that there is the potential for off-grid to become the dominant option in the future. This theory guided the construction of a system dynamics model focusing on consumers' decision-making and their interaction with the operation of the system. I then used the model to explore the dynamics of the system through scenario testing. There were two key outcomes from the model. The first showed that given the parameters chosen in most cases there is a clearly dominant option, although it changes over time. This finding points to the second key outcome the model, which is that there are realistic scenarios under which off-grid generation will become the dominant supply source. This shift could be induced by either reduced overhead on photovoltaic panels or high fuel prices. The outcomes from this research have implications for future electricity planning in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa. In particular, there is a need to decouple the system from external prices or account for the extreme uncertainty in fuel prices. Given the potential shift to large-scale off grid power generation, energy planners also need to look at options for managing a decentralized power system architecture and consider how to build in options for future reintegration if a large-scale centralized generation source comes online.
(cont.) This research has both academic and applied contributions. On the academic side, it extends the range of engineering systems modeling to include qualitative factors found in an African environment. These factors include the addition of reliability and availability of the electric power grid and the biases in decision-making, which differ from those in industrialized countries. While the model clearly has direct application in Kenya, it was designed with flexibility to be expanded to include other countries and regions and could be a useful tool for understanding policy trade-offs in African electrification planning.
by Katherine Deaton Steel.
Ph.D.

The growth of the photovoltaic market indicates that in the near future PV electricity generation may rise to a significant power source. As the proportion of electric power generated from PV systems becomes significant, the effect of these sources on transmission and distribution networks must be considered. This research work has investigated suitable representations of the PV resource and the output power of dispersed PV systems to study the effects of large-scale deployment of PV systems on the grid operation. The representation of solar radiation is very important since this dictates the output power of PV systems. In this work, the simple and reliable Markov Transition Matrix (MTM) method was selected to generate synthetic horizontal solar radiation data. A single MTM was developed to generate half-hour horizontal solar radiation data for different locations in the UK. Large-scale inclusion of PV systems in the UK electricity supply is expected to take the form of a large number of small, geographically dispersed building integrated PV systems. The study also developed a detailed PV cluster model to represent these dispersed PV systems. The variation of PV output power may impact the demand and generation balance on the network requiring additional reserve generation to ensure the system security. In this work, the variation of PV output power and the impact on the reserve requirement was analysed for different penetration levels. This is also the first study to analyse the correlation of solar radiation for different locations in the UK in regard to the impact on reserve requirements. Using data from three locations and according to the National Grid Company (NGC) requirements, it was found that PV capacities of 3750 MW could be added to the present network without additional reserve requirements. The additional reserve required is not on the basis of "MW of reserve per MW of PV capacity". Rather it is based on the aggregation of load demand and of PV output from all regions. The reduction in the reserve requirement by forecasting the weather profile of the day was also illustrated. In this case, a PV capacity of 22,500 MW, which can generate a little over 5% of the UK electricity demand, can be added with minimal increase in system cost. Therefore, the variation of PV output power is unlikely to be a threat to the system security.

The emphasis of this master's thesis is modeling and simulation of failures in large-scale power grids. The linear DC-model governing the active power 　ows is derived and discussed, and the optimal load shedding problem is introduced. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we have analyzed the eects of correlations between failures of power lines on the total system load shed. Correlations are introduced by a Bernoulli failure model with its rst two ordinary moments given explicitly. The total system load shed is determined by solving the optimal load shedding problem in a MATLAB environment using YALMIP and the GLPK solver. We have introduced a Monte Carlo simulation framework for sampling the statistics of the system load shed as a function of stochastic network parameters, and provide explicit guarantees on the sampling accuracy. This framework has been applied to a 470 bus model of the Nordic power grid. It has been found that increased correlations between Bernoulli failures of power lines can dramatically increase the expected value as well as the variance of the system load shed.

The number of distributed power generation systems (DPGSs), mostly based on photovoltaic (PV) energy sources is increasing exponentially. These systems must conform to grid codes to ensure appropriate power quality and to contribute to grid stability. A robust and reliable synchronization to the grid is an important consideration in such systems. This is due to the fact that, fast and accurate detection of the grid voltage parameters is essential in order to implement stable control strategies under a broad range of grid conditions. The second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) based phase-locked loop (PLL) is widely used for grid synchronization of single-phase power converters. This is because it offers a simple, robust and flexible solution for grid synchronization. However, the SOGI-PLL is affected by the presence of a dc offset in the measured grid voltage. This dc voltage offset is typically introduced by the measurements and data conversion process, and causes fundamental-frequency ripple in the estimated parameters of the grid voltage (i.e. voltage amplitude, phase angle and frequency). In addition to this ripple, the unit amplitude sine and cosine signals of the estimated phase angle (i.e. unit vectors), that are used to generate reference signals in the closed-loop control of grid-connected PV converters will contain dc offset. This is highly undesirable since it can cause dc current injection to the grid, and as a consequence, the quality of the power provided by the DPGSs can be degraded. To overcome this drawback, a modified SOGI-PLL with dc offset rejection capability is proposed. The steady-state, transient and harmonic attenuation performance of the proposed PLL scheme are validated through simulation and experimental tests. The overall performance demonstrates the capability of the proposed PLL to fully reject such dc current injection as well as to provide a superior harmonic attenuation when compared with the SOGIPLL and two other existing offset rejection approaches. It is shown that, the proposed PLL scheme can enhance the overall total harmonic distortion (THD%) of the injected power by 15% when compared to the conventional SOGI-PLL. In addition to the synchronization, grid-connected PV systems require a current control scheme to regulate the output current. Due to the simple implementation, proportional-integral (PI) controllers in the stationary reference frame are commonly used for current controlled inverters. However, these PI-controllers exhibit a major drawback of failure to track a sinusoidal reference Abstract ii without steady-state error, which may result in low-order harmonics. This drawback can be overcome if the PI-controllers are implemented in direct-quadrature (dq) rotating reference frame. In single-phase systems, the common approach is to create a synthesized phase signal orthogonal to the fundamental of the real single-phase system so as to obtain dc quantities by means of a stationary-to-rotating reference frame. The orthogonal synthesized signal in conventional approaches is obtained by phase shifting the real signal by a quarter of the fundamental period. The introduction of such delay in the system deteriorates the dynamic response, which becomes slower and oscillatory. This thesis proposes an alternative way of implementing such PI-controllers in the dq reference frame without the need of creating such orthogonal signals. The proposed approach, effectively improves the poor dynamic of the conventional approaches while not adding excessive complexity to the controller structure. The results show that, in addition to its ability to regulate the current and achieve zero steady-state error, the proposed approach shows superior dynamic response when compared with that of conventional delay-based approach.

In the past five years, global interest regarding the development of renewable energy technologies has significantly increased. The conventional electric power generation methods sourced from fossil fuels is now problematic, from both the supply and emission points of view. Fossil fuels are non-renewable limited resources that have taken millions of years to form; eventually they will be exhausted and the current cost of automotive fuel is evidence of them becoming diminished. The carbon dioxide emissions created through the energy conversion process are causing an increase in the overall atmospheric concentrations, which through global warming may have serious consequences for humanity.Natural sources of energy production can be derived from the Sun through the use of solar and wind generation methods. Converting these sources to electricity requires the technology of power electronics, the central area of research for this dissertation. Solar energy can most easily be harnessed through the photo-electric effect which creates DC electricity. However, the majority of electric loads and transmission require AC electricity. The inverter is the electronic device required for this power conversion. Wind turbines usually create variable voltage and frequency AC that is rectified to DC and then converted to grid type AC through an inverter.Voltage source inverters, their topologies and control are investigated within this dissertation. Voltage control methods are adopted for both stand-alone and grid connected techniques where control of active and reactive power is required. Current control techniques in the form of PI and hysteresis are applied to allow novel interfaces between generation sources to be achieved. Accurate control of the power electronics allows an enhancement in the power production from the renewable energy source. The power electronic device of the DC-DC converter, either buck or boost is controlled to allow the renewable resource to operate at its optimum power point. The control aspects and algorithms of these converters are central to this research. The solar algorithms of perturb and observe, and incremental conductance are developed with the latter being more favourable to changing levels of irradiation. The author draws a parallel between rapidly changing solar conditions with normally changing wind states. This analogy with an understanding of the mechanics of PMSG allows a novel wind MPPT algorithm to be developed which is simulated in PSIM. Methods to analyse the usefulness of the algorithm are developed and general conclusions are drawn.Another aim central to the research is the efficient combination of renewable energy sources into a single reliable power system. This forms the multi-function aspect of the research. The interconnection of the sources on the AC or DC sides is investigated for both stand-alone and grid connected topologies. A requirement of the stand-alone system is to provide power when no renewable resources are available causing some form of energy storage to be utilised. Conventional batteries are used, causing the VC-VSI to become bi-directional allowing charging. This is simulated in PSIM and demonstrated as part of the Denmark and Eco Beach projects. Many differing topologies of stand alone, grid connected and edge of grid systems are developed, simulated and some are demonstrated.While investigating the currently used topologies the author invents the novel complimentary hybrid system concept. This idea allows a single inverter to be used to feed energy from either the wind or solar resource. With careful engineering of the PV array and wind turbine characteristics only a small loss of energy is caused, deemed the crossover loss. This original concept is mathematically modelled, simulated and demonstrated with results presented from the Denmark project. The strength of this idea is from the quite complimentary nature of wind and solar resources, for only a small proportion of the year are high solar and strong wind conditions occurring simultaneously.Compared to a solar resource, the wind resource is much more complicated to model. An analysis of readily available wind source data is presented with a statistical analysis of the scaling methods; a novel box and whiskers plot is used to convey this information. New software is presented to allow a more accurate and digital model of a power curve to be recreated, allowing a more precise annual energy generation calculation. For various wind turbines a capacity factor analysis is presented with its disadvantages explained. To overcome these issues the concepts of economic efficiency and conversion efficiency are explained. These prevent some of the typical methods to enhance the standard capacity factor expression. The combination of these three methods allows selection of the most suitable wind turbine for a site.The concept of a mini-grid is an isolated power generation and distribution system, which can have its renewable energy sources, centralised or decentralised. The methods used to coalesce conventional generation with renewable energy technology forms another key piece of this research. A design methodology for the development of a hybrid power system is created with examples used from projects attributed to the author. The harmonising of the renewable energy sources with the conventional generation while providing a stable and robust grid is explained in detail with respect to the generator loading and control. The careful control of the renewable resource output is shown to allow a greater overall penetration of renewable energy into the network while continuing network stability. The concept of frequency shift control is presented, simulated and demonstrated with reference to the Eco Beach project. This project epitomises much of the research that has been presented in this dissertation. It combines centralised and decentralised inverters, with battery storage and the control of diesel generators. An overall controller dictates the optimum times to charge or draw from the battery based upon the local environmental and time of day variables. Finally, the monitoring aspects of this project are representative of a future smart grid where loads may be shed on demand through under frequency or direct control.

Variable renewable energy sources are today increasingly integrated in the power system as a step towards the renewable society. The large-scale introduction of converter-based energy sources brings challenges in terms of reduced damping to the power system due to the reduced number of synchronous generators. This can be manifested as high rate-of-change-of-frequency and decreased grid stability. To forestall this reduced performance, it is suggested that the grid-following control of today’s converters are restructured to a grid-forming control, enabling the converter to behave closer to a synchronous machine.   This thesis compares grid-following and grid-forming control and seeks to further describe this grid-forming behavior by applying a grid-forming control method on an energy storage enhanced STATCOM-system. A continuous time model and a linearized model based on state space representations are constructed in order to investigate the grid-forming behavior but also how the converter stability is affected by a restructure from grid-following to grid-forming control.   The results indicate that the investigated grid-forming control method displays a behavior similar to synchronous machines and incorporates the ability to provide frequency response services and so called “synthetic inertia” to the grid.  The results also show that the stability of the converter (the ability to provide a bounded output when the system is perturbed) is ensured when the control method is restructured from grid-following to grid-forming and that the investigated grid-forming method is stable also in weak grid situations.

Renewable energy is harnessed from continuously replenishing natural processes. Some commonly known are sunlight, water, wind, tides, geothermal heat and various forms of biomass. The focus on renewable energy has over the past few decades intensified greatly. This thesis contributes to the research on developing renewable energy technologies, within the wind power, wave power and marine current power projects at the division of Electricity, Uppsala University. In this thesis grid connection of permanent magnet generator based renewable energy sources is evaluated. A tap transformer based grid connection system has been constructed and experimentally evaluated for a vertical axis wind turbine. Full range variable speed operation of the turbine is enabled by using the different step-up ratios of a tap transformer. This removes the need for a DC/DC step or an active rectifier on the generator side of the full frequency converter and thereby reduces system complexity. Experiments and simulations of the system for variable speed operation are done and efficiency and harmonic content are evaluated.  The work presented in the thesis has also contributed to the design, construction and evaluation of a full-scale offshore marine substation for wave power intended to grid connect a farm of wave energy converters. The function of the marine substation has been experimentally tested and the substation is ready for deployment. Results from the system verification are presented. Special focus is on the transformer losses and transformer in-rush currents. A control and grid connection system for a vertical axis marine current energy converter has been designed and constructed. The grid connection is done with a back-to-back 2L-3L system with a three level cascaded H-bridge converter grid side. The system has been tested in the laboratory and is ready to be installed at the experimental site. Results from the laboratory testing of the system are presented.
Wind Power
Wave Power
Marine Currnet Power

Hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) have proven to be a more stable and feasible source of energy than heir single source counterparts. The benefit of HRES is their ability to balance the stochastic behavior of wind and solar production. As result of this, they have been used as stand-alone systems with great success. Optimization studies in the field have shown optimum sizing of the components in the system to be a key element in order to increase feasibility. This paper focuses on the HRES impact on internal grid design and cost. The goal of the thesis is to create a mathematical function and graph on the internal grid design/cost relation for a virtual site with varying wind speed and solar irradiation. A secondary goal is to analyze how much Photovoltaics (PV) in Megawatt (MW) that can be connected to the internal grid post realization of the wind farm and to performed this analyze on the two specific case projects, Site A (17.25 MW) in Sweden and Site B (51.75 MW) in Italy. By utilizing a case study methodology, a mathematical model was created based on two case projects, both with potential to be a combined Wind-PV hybrid plants provided by the wind developer OX2. Identifiers for the two cases studied in this thesis where removed with respect to OX2’s ongoing projects. Hybrid renewable energy systems is a method of increasing the utilization of a regions RES, the system has an increase in overall power output compared to the single RES alternative. However, the internal grid cost was shown to be 3.85 % more expensive Site A and 5.3 % in Site B. This stood in direct correlation to the HRES in Site A using 8.6 % more cable for its internal grid and 29.7 % more in Site B, this is highly depending (depending on the location of the PV array). Furthermore, the case projects showed that the maximum PV to be connected post realization of the farm without major curtailment would be 11.5% of the wind farms rated power in the case of site A and 67.6 % in the case of Site B. Variations in wind speed and solar irradiation were shown to have some impact on grid cost. However, the results pointed out that grid cost in HRES is to a higher degree affected by total cable length in the internal grid than fluctuation in available energy sources. The extent of increase in cable length, the total grid investment cost rises up to 53.4 % for the two case projects.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established that the current electric grid was inadequate to serve the United States needs. Congress mandated that the U.S. transition to a more intelligent grid for the future. The Department of Energy was tasked with making this goal a reality. Six years later in 2013, only marginal progress has been made. Outside of smart meter rollouts and pilots programs funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), many issues still need to be addressed in order to realize the U.S. Smart Grid vision. Most of the barriers to progress are not technological; the research and business community are rising to the occasion and meeting the challenge through innovation. However, policy issues present a large barrier to overcome. With issues ranging from vague Smart Grids goals issued by the Department of Energy to a general lack of consumer knowledge about the Smart Grid. This paper seeks to identify the gaps in the current electric grid and policy schema are inadequate and suggest recommendations to encourage and expedite the growth of the U.S. Smart Grid.

Multilevel inverters offer many well-known advantages for use in high-voltage and high-power applications, but they are also well suited for low-power applications. A single phase inverter is developed in this paper to deliver power from a residential-scale system of Photovoltaic panels to the utility grid. The single-stage inverter implements a novel control technique for the reversing voltage topology to produce a stepped output waveform. This approach increases the granularity of control over the PV systems, modularizing key components of the inverter and allowing the inverter to extract the maximum power from the systems. The adaptive controller minimizes harmonic distortion in its output and controls the level of reactive power injected to the grid. A computer model of the controller is designed and tested in the MATLAB program Simulink to assess the performance of the controller. To validate the results, the performance of the proposed inverter is compared to that of a comparable voltage-sourced inverter.

Carbon emission reduction is an urgent global task. Renewable energy sources integration can promote the transformation of cleaner and greener power system. But the time-varying nature of these sources causes indeterminacy problems. Smart grid is a powerful tool that can deal with these problems in electricity aspect. One of the key smart grid technologies is demand side management. How to use demand side management to regulate and decarbonise the power system is the main point of this thesis. In order to integrate renewable energy sources, a day-ahead electricity market scheme is proposed, involving the utility, the demand response aggregator and customers. This model leads to a multiobjective optimization problem, which is solved by an artificial immune algorithm. The simulation results confirm the feasibility and robustness of the proposed model. All participants can benefit from it, and the system power peak to average ratio can be reduced. In order to realize the carbon emission reduction, a system model for annual fuel sources scheduling and operational policy making of electricity generation is established, considering the economic, environmental and social aspects. A minimum Manhattan distance approach is proposed to select the final solution. The impacts of carbon tax and renewable obligation on carbon emission, generation cost and electricity bill are examined. These can reveal the proper strategy for deciding renewable energy source and carbon emission related policies. After that, a carbon emission flow model is introduced to facilitate the analysis and assessment of demand side management's impacts on carbon emission reduction. The time sensitivity of carbon emission in both generation side and customer side are obtained. The daily case and seasonal case are presented. The simulation results show that the load curtailment and load shift approaches can effectively reduce the carbon emission.

As part of the approaches used to meet climate goals set by international environmental agreements, policies are being applied worldwide for promoting the uptake of Electric Vehicles (EV)s. The resulting increase in EV sales and the accompanying expansion in the EV charging infrastructure carry along many challenges, mostly infrastructure-related. A pressing need arises to strengthen the power grid to handle and better manage the electricity demand by this mobile and geo-distributed load. Because the levels of penetration of EVs in the power grid have recently started increasing with the increase in EV sales, the real-time management of en-route EVs, before they connect to the grid, is quite recent and not many research works can be found in the literature covering this topic comprehensively. In this dissertation, advances and novel ideas are developed and presented, seizing the opportunities lying in this mobile load and addressing various challenges that arise in the application of public charging for EVs. A Bilateral Decision Support System (BDSS) is developed here for the management of en-route EVs. The BDSS is a middleware-based MAS that achieves a win-win situation for the EVs and the power grid. In this framework, the two are complementary in a way that the desired benefit of one cannot be achieved without attaining that of the other. A Fuzzy Logic based on-board module is developed for supporting the decision of the EV as to which charging station to charge at. GPU computing is used in the higher-end agents to handle the big amount of data resulting in such a large scale system with mobile and geo-distributed nodes. Cyber security risks that threaten the BDSS are assessed and measures are applied to revoke possible attacks. Furthermore, the Collective Distribution of Mobile Loads (CDML), a service with ancillary potential to the power system, is developed. It comprises a system-level optimization. In this service, the EVs requesting a public charging session are collectively redistributed onto charging stations with the objective of achieving the optimal and secure operation of the power system by reducing active power losses in normal conditions and mitigating line congestions in contingency conditions. The CDML uses the BDSS as an industrially viable tool to achieve the outcomes of the optimization in real time. By participating in this service, the EV is considered as an interacting node in the system-wide communication platform, providing both enhanced self-convenience in terms of access to public chargers, and contribution to the collective effort of providing benefit to the power system under the large scale uptake of EVs. On the EV charger level, several advantages have been reported favoring wireless charging of EVs over wired charging. Given that, new techniques are presented that facilitate the optimization of the magnetic link of wireless EV chargers while considering international EMC standards. The original techniques and developments presented in this dissertation were experimentally verified at the Energy Systems Research Laboratory at FIU.

Successful integration of the smart grids is crucial for ensuring the efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability of future power systems. With a 46.53% increase in total primary energy supply between 2008 and 2018 (IEA, 2020a), Turkey has the fastest-growing energy market within OECD countries (Erdin and Ozkaya, 2019).Though, Turkey’s current electrical grid faces many challenges; such as high loss rates from the transmission and distribution lines (Damar, 2016; Düzgün, 2018; IBRD/The World Bank, 2016; TEİAŞ, 2019), frequent power outages (Guner and Ozdemir, 2011; Öztürk, 2017; Yanılmaz, 2016) and several incidents of large-scale blackouts (OECD/IEA, 2016; Project Group Turkey, 2015). Smart grid technologies can address Turkey’s power system’s challenges with a holistic approach, as the smart grid does not have a strict definition yet but has distinctive characteristics. This paper provides an overview of Turkey’s current electric power system’s challenges while analyzing Turkey’s progress up to the present day towards the smart grid transition. Also, in order to summarize fundamental smart grid technologies globally, a smart grid framework was designed. Founded upon the framework; Turkey’s previous actions for its power system development were assessed from the smart grid perspective, and further steps were proposed to accomplish a successful smart grid transition. Country-specific remarks regarding the electrical grid were highlighted, such as the risk of terrorism, high seismic activity in the region, and emerging nuclear power in the country. As a result, it is concluded that Turkey has initiated the process towards the smart grid transition not only to achieve a “smart grid ideal” but mainly to meet its growing energy demands. Furthermore, it is also concluded that if the smart grid technologies’ scope could be extended throughout the country, Turkey would overcome the challenges with its power system in short to medium-term.

The novel contribution of the thesis is the design and implementation of decentralised output feedback power system controllers for power oscillation damping (POD) over the entire operating regime of the power system. The POD controllers are designed for the linearised models of the nonlinear power system dynamics. The linearised models are combined and treated as parameter varying switched systems. The thesis contains novel results for the controller design, bumpless switching and stability analysis of such switched systems. Use of switched controllers against the present trend of having single controller helps to reduce the conservatism and to increase the uncertainty handling capability of the power system controller design. Minimax-LQG control design method is used for the controller design. Minimax-LQG control combines the advantages of both LQG and H control methods with respect to robustness and the inclusion of uncertainty and noise in the controller design. Also, minimax-LQG control allows the use of multiple integral quadratic constraints to bound the different types of uncertainties in the power system application. During switching between controllers, switching stability of the system is guaranteed by constraining the minimum time between two consecutive switchings. An expression is developed to compute the minimum time required between switchings including the effect of jumps in the states. Bumpless switching scheme is used to minimise the switching transients which occur when the controllers are switched. Another contribution of the thesis is to include the effect of on load tap changing transformers in the power system controller design. A simplified power system model linking generator and tap changing transformer dynamics is developed for this purpose and included in the controller design. The performance of the proposed linear controllers are validated by nonlinear computer simulations and through real time digital simulations. The designed controllers improve power system damping and provide uniform performance over the entire operating regime of the generator.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Electrical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014
In recent times, renewable energy-based distributed generation (DG) has captivated the industrial sector and on a global scale this has become a leading research area. Distributed generation using wind, solar energy or biomass as a source of energy can produce electricity on a small scale. Therefore, there is a strong focus on using renewable energy as a safe alternative source of energy, especially because it can in future play a dominant role in the world’s energy production and help to tackle the increase of global warming caused by fossil energy. However, a major problem facing renewable energies is that they are highly dependent on weather conditions. Since the power generated by DG, as well as consumption, depends on the weather conditions, irregularity of production and consumption leads to frequency and voltage fluctuations, and it can become difficult to determine and monitor consumer usage at any given time. Distributed generation can then be subjected to discrepancies in consumer usage and this can lead to severe overloading. As a result, microgrids powered by DG, operating in a single, stand-alone controllable system mode, face new challenges in terms of balancing a cluster of loads. Balancing a cluster of loads by making sure at all times that the entire system operates without overloading, is an essential requirement for the proper operation of a power system. The microgrid load considered in this project is the sum of sensitive and non-sensitive loads, respectively 5 kW and 100 kW, which constitute load requirement of one village; this total load required by a number of villages is called a cluster load. Depending on the input power generated by a DG-based photovoltaic (PV) system, these loads can be controlled using a logic control switch (LCS). When the power produced is less than the minimum load required by a component of a cluster, overloading occurs. The purpose of using an LCS is to ensure that a stable system is maintained under various loads and resource conditions. An LCS is used to continuously monitor and adjust load through circuit breakers. It is a good alternative to load balancing for a cluster of villages in rural area where a microgrid is operating in stand-alone mode. The focus of this research is to design a photovoltaic system with a maximum capacity of 1 MW providing power to a cluster of rural villages, and operating in stand-alone mode, and then to apply different control techniques (droop control, dq0 reference frame + proportional integral (PI) controller, and PI controller alone) at the inverter terminal of the PV system, in order to evaluate the stability of the output voltage. Another goal of the research is to develop an energy management system (EMS) algorithm to support the PV system in reducing loads. Therefore, a iii stable system under various load and resource conditions, as well as suitable control mechanisms are required to model a PV system. There is a need for the modelling of a PV array using a physical modelling block in MATLAB (SIMULINK) software. The state flow provided by SIMULINK is used in this project to develop an algorithm for load balancing. The state flow gives possibilities of modelling complex algorithms by combining graphical and tabular representations to create sequential decision logic, derived from state transition diagrams and tables, flow charts and truth tables. Furthermore, the design of a microgrid using photovoltaic DG and an energy management system, has been developed. The present work mainly consists of a stand-alone microgrid operation, where the power generated must be equal to the load power. In addition, different control methods, consisting of a dq0 reference frame + PI controller, are analysed at the invertor terminal. Subsequently an LCS algorithm is developed; this is required to maintain the system within certain limits and prevents overloading. LCS algorithms are based on a flowchart and allow switching automatically selected loads, depending on the power (solar radiation) available. In addition, a flow chart provides an easy way of using a graphical transition state and state chart to establish a set of rules for the system. The simulation results show that both droop control and a dq0 reference frame + PI controller are much better than a PI controller alone; these results also compared well with similar studies found in the literature. Also, these results are further improved with an EMS in order to maintain the output voltage of the microgrid, by switching on and off certain loads depending on the input power. The modelling of the microgrid using DG, based on photovoltaic systems with a maximum capacity of 1 MW, supports and improves the PV system by reducing loads. Moreover, droop control, and dq0 transformation + PI control present a better result than PI controller alone.

The modern day power grid is a highly complex system; as such, maintaining stable operations of the grid relies on many factors. Additionally, the increased usage of renewable energy sources significantly complicates matters. Attempts to assess the current stability of the grid make use of several key parameters, however obtaining these parameters to make an assessment has its own challenges. Due to the limited number of measurements and the unavailability of information, it is often difficult to accurately know the current value of these parameters needed for stability assessment. This work attempts to estimate three of these parameters: the Inertia, Topology, and Voltage Phasors. Without these parameters, it is no longer possible to determine the current stability of the grid. Through the use of machine learning, empirical studies, and mathematical optimization it is possible to estimate these three parameters when previously this was not the case. These three methodologies perform estimations through measurement-based approaches. This allows for the obtaining of these parameters without required system knowledge, while improving results when systems information is known.
Ph. D.

Dissertation (DTech(Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012
The confluence of the limited resources of fossil fuels (e.g. coal, oil and natural gas), environmental degradations leading to climate change, security of supplies and fossil fuels high costs have demanded a tremendous efforts on humanity to seek for a sustainable and unlimited natural energy sources. Amongst these renewable energy sources stands out solar energy because of its ubiquitousness. Solar energy is converted to DC electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic (PV) power systems installed in commercial and industrial buildings are a good example of distributed power generation. Here the energy consumption and production match and thus electricity taken from the grid during daytime peak hours can be reduced. This is beneficial as the transmission losses in the grid are avoided and also transmission need is reduced. The cost effectiveness of a solar energy system has hindered its wide adoption and deployment in terms of the initial capital cost even though it has a zero energy cost and very minimal operating and maintenance costs. Different governments have instituted many financial incentives for fast adoption of PV systems for both residential and commercial applications. However, all these incentives are not sustainable in the longer term forecast. For PV system to attain grid parity requires more than unsustainable approach of many governments providing time limited subsidies. The technical solution to the problem is to reduce the overall system cost through technical innovations. One such method is the adoption of transformerless inverter technology as the grid interface system. Transformerless inverter topology provides galvanic isolation through innovative inverter topology and switching strategies that eliminates problems created by not employing the service of transformer.

A study on countermeasures against coordinated cyber-attacks (CCA) towards power grid systems has been carried out. A coordinated cyber-attack is a cyber-based attack where multiple attackers use multiple attack-mechanisms towards multiple targets in a coordinated fashion. The coordination is based on that the different attack-mechanisms help each other in attacking the target. A CCA is made up of different stages where each stage consists of a number of attack-mechanisms and together have a certain purpose. The different stages are used to systematically advance towards its goal, which is to compromise the operation of internal systems or to steal confidential data. For example, the first stage may be used to locate entry points at the target system, and a second stage may be used to locate vulnerable hosts by sniffing ongoing network activity to further itself towards its attack goal.     Power grids that are used to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity over large geographical areas are connected to the Internet. Within these environments, commercial IT systems have been adopted to control their electrical equipment, which poses cybersecurity risks to the power grid.     Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) are designed provide internal network protection in case of intruders. However, state-of-the-art IDSs has been found to have certain limitations in protecting against multi-stage and slow attacks. The inadequacy of state-of-the-art IDSs for protecting against CCAs motivates the need to identify alternate countermeasures that can mitigate CCAs, when the target is a power grid system. The method of choice to address this problem in this study is a systematic literature study where 48 countermeasures were identified and assessed to which extent they are suitable to mitigate CCAs. Results suggest to follow three approaches, namely to preemptively identify technical vulnerabilities in the local system, to distribute intrusion detection hosts across a larger network for better situational awareness, and to implement new types of IDS technologies. Countermeasures with references to specific publications are also provided. The study contributes to how security operators of power grids can fulfil the requirement on cybersecurity as demanded by the NIS directive of the European Union regarding protection against CCAs.

Connecting more non-dispatchable renewable energy sources (RESs) will result in a higher power variability and a lower system inertia when the synchronous generators are replaced by inverter-connected RES. Inverter control can be divided in three categories: grid-following, grid-forming (GFM) and grid-supporting. A literature review of inverter control strategies identifies the GFM control as having an important role in maintaining system stability assuming near 100 % inverter-connected RES. Critical aspects of the inverter control are also identified; the control need to function autonomously, be able to remain connected during transient events and be insensitive to grid topology. Combining various RES is also shown to improve system stability. The combination of RES that has been investigated in most studies is wind, solar and wave power. Wave power is still a young technology compared to solar and wind power. It generates higher power fluctuations over short time periods with a significant difference between average and maximum power. Additionally, wave power parks (WPPs) are often connected via long cables which contribute reactive power to the grid. These challenges has to be considered to maintain system stability and power quality when connecting a WPP to the grid. In a Power Hardware-In-the-Loop study of how a WPP affects the power quality at the point of common coupling (PCC), it is found that the impact is highest for WPPs with fewer generators as the variability is reduced when several generators are excited at different times. Energy storage is also shown to have a significant impact on the power quality at the PCC with reduced flicker, total harmonic distortion and power and voltage variability. A simulation study also shows the positive impact of energy storage on power variability and the role of inverter control in reactive power compensation.

This thesis examines the development of DC-DC converters that are suitable for Module Integrated Converters, (MICs), in grid interactive photovoltaic (PV) systems, and especially concentrates on the study of the half bridge dual converter, which was previously developed from the conventional half bridge converter. Both hard-switched and soft-switched half bridge dual converters are constructed, which are rated at 88W each and transform a nominal 17.6Vdc input to an output in the range from 340V to 360Vdc. An initial prototype converter operated at 100kHz and is used as a base line device to establish the operational behaviours of the converter. The second hard-switched converter operated at 250kHz and included a coaxial matrix transformer that significantly reduced the power losses related to the transformer leakage inductance. The soft-switched converter operated at 1MHz and is capable of absorbing the parasitic elements into the resonant tank. Extensive theoretical analysis, simulation and experimental results are provided for each converter. All three converters achieved conversion efficiencies around 90%. The progressive increases in the operation frequency, while maintaining the conversion efficiency, will translate into the reduced converter size and weight. Finally different operation modes for the soft-switched converter are established and the techniques for predicting the occurrence of those modes are developed. The analysis of the effects of the transformer winding capacitance also shows that soft switching condition applies for both the primary side mosfets and the output rectifier diodes.

This dissertation aims to develop decision-making tools that aid power grid operators in mitigating extreme events. Two distinct areas are focused on: a) improving grid performance after a severe disturbance, and b) enhancing grid monitoring to facilitate timely preventive actions. The first part of the dissertation presents a proactive islanding strategy to split the bulk power transmission system into smaller self-adequate islands in order to arrest the propagation of cascading failures after an event. Heuristic methods are proposed to determine in what sequence should the island boundary lines be disconnected such that there are no operation constraint violations. The idea of optimal partitioning is further extended to the distribution network. A planning problem for determining which parts of the existing distribution grid can be converted to microgrids is formulated. This partitioning formulation addresses safety limits, uncertainties in load and generation, availability of grid-forming units, and topology constraints such as maintaining network radiality. Microgrids help maintain energy supply to critical loads during grid outages, thereby improving resilience. The second part of the dissertation focuses on wide-area monitoring using Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) data. Strategies for data imputation and prediction exploiting the spatio-temporal correlation in PMU measurements are outlined. A deep-learning-based methodology for identifying the location of temporary power systems faults is also illustrated. As severe weather events become more frequent, and the threats from coordinated cyber intrusions increase, formulating strategies to reduce the impact of such events on the power grid becomes important; and the approaches outlined in this work can find application in this context.
Doctor of Philosophy
The modern power grid faces multiple threats, including extreme-weather events, solar storms, and potential cyber-physical attacks. Towards the larger goal of enhancing power systems resilience, this dissertation develops strategies to mitigate the impact of such extreme events. The proposed schemes broadly aim to- a) improve grid performance in the immediate aftermath of a disruptive event, and b) enhance grid monitoring to identify precursors of impending failures. To improve grid performance after a disruption, we propose a proactive islanding strategy for the bulk power grid, aimed at arresting the propagation of cascading failures. For the distribution network, a mixed-integer linear program is formulated for identifying optimal sub-networks with load and distributed generators that may be retrofitted to operate as self-adequate microgrids, if supply from the bulk power systems is lost. To address the question of enhanced monitoring, we develop model-agnostic, computationally efficient recovery algorithms for archived and streamed data from Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) with data drops and additive noise. PMUs are highly precise sensors that provide high-resolution insight into grid dynamics. We also illustrate an application where PMU data is used to identify the location of temporary line faults.

The rapidly expanding power system grid infrastructure and the need to reduce the occurrence of major blackouts and prevention or hardening of systems against cyber-attacks, have led to increased interest in the improved resilience of the electrical grid. Distributed and decentralized control have been widely applied to computer science research. However, for power system applications, the real-time application of decentralized and distributed control algorithms introduce several challenges. In this dissertation, new algorithms and methods for decentralized control, protection and energy management of Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control (WAMPAC) and the Active Distribution Network (ADN) are developed to improve the resiliency of the power system. To evaluate the findings of this dissertation, a laboratory-scale integrated Wide WAMPAC and ADN control platform was designed and implemented. The developed platform consists of phasor measurement units (PMU), intelligent electronic devices (IED) and programmable logic controllers (PLC). On top of the designed hardware control platform, a multi-agent cyber-physical interoperability viii framework was developed for real-time verification of the developed decentralized and distributed algorithms using local wireless and Internet-based cloud communication. A novel real-time multiagent system interoperability testbed was developed to enable utility independent private microgrids standardized interoperability framework and define behavioral models for expandability and plug-and-play operation. The state-of-theart power system multiagent framework is improved by providing specific attributes and a deliberative behavior modeling capability. The proposed multi-agent framework is validated in a laboratory based testbed involving developed intelligent electronic device prototypes and actual microgrid setups. Experimental results are demonstrated for both decentralized and distributed control approaches. A new adaptive real-time protection and remedial action scheme (RAS) method using agent-based distributed communication was developed for autonomous hybrid AC/DC microgrids to increase resiliency and continuous operability after fault conditions. Unlike the conventional consecutive time delay-based overcurrent protection schemes, the developed technique defines a selectivity mechanism considering the RAS of the microgrid after fault instant based on feeder characteristics and the location of the IEDs. The experimental results showed a significant improvement in terms of resiliency of microgrids through protection using agent-based distributed communication.

L'utilisation de fils électriques pour fournir des capacités de transmission de données, connues sous le nom de Courant Porteur en Ligne (CPL), a beaucoup évolué au cours des dernières années afin de pouvoir répondre à des besoins croissants de transfert de données l’impliquant la communauté scientifique, la recherche industrielle, ainsi que des organismes de réglementation et de normalisation. Les réseaux CPL offrent un certain nombre d’avantages qui en font un complément utile et un concurrent fort pour les solutions de réseau sans fil. Le principal intérêt des réseaux CPL réside sur le coût marginal de déploiement lorsqu'une infrastructure électrique câblée est déjà en place. Les réseaux CPL permettent la communication à des débits de données élevés à travers des obstacles qui dégradent généralement les signaux sans fil. Et constitue donc constitue une alternative peu coûteuse pour compléter les technologies existantes en vue d'une couverture complété d’un bâtiment ou d’un quartier. La plupart des solutions CPL étaient utilisées sur le réseau à courant alternatif (CA), mais avec l’arrivée des énergies renouvelables de nouvelles perspectives s’ouvrent avec les réseaux à courant continu (CC). Cette thèse propose une solution CPL simple et innovante pour une structure maillée micro-réseau pour la distribution et la consommation d'énergie à CC. Cette contribution fait partie du projet Composant Commande Communication des micro-grids DC (C3μ) financé par l’ANR (2016 – 2020). Ce projet propose de remplacer la distribution « classique » d’une architecture (CA) par une architecture de micro-réseau intelligent à CC permettant l’intégration de diverses sources (EnR, batterie, …) pour la distribution d’électricité dans les bâtiments. Cette thèse propose une architecture de Courant Porteur en Ligne pour les micro-réseaux à CC basée sur un nouveau modem physique sur courant porteur sur le bus CC et CAN (une norme ouverte issue de l’industrie automobile). Afin de valider l’architecture, un véritable banc de test pour micro-réseaux à CC avec PV, LED et la batterie a été mis en œuvre pour servir d’outil de test pour la communication. Les tests de transmission de données entre les nœuds de CPL ont permis d’évaluer les performances de notre pile de protocolaire par rapport aux exigences des applications de micro-réseaux CC. Les principaux résultats concernant l'applicabilité de ce concept et ses limites sont également été présentés
The use of electrical wires to provide data transmission capabilities, known as Power Line Communication (PLC), has recently attracted considerable attention from the research community and industry, as well as from regulatory and standardization bodies. PLC networks boast several outstanding features that make them both a useful complement and a strong competitor for wireless networking solutions. The most obvious appeal of PLC networks is their low deployment cost when a wired electrical infrastructure is already in place. Besides, PLC networks allow communication through obstacles that commonly degrade wireless signals and deliver high data-rates simultaneously. PLC also provides a low-cost alternative that complements existing technologies with the aim of ubiquitous coverage. However, most PLC solutions are used on the AC grid. Until now, there are only a few studies on PLC for the DC grid, especially the DC microgrid. This thesis focuses on proposing an innovative and straightforward PLC solution for applications in DC energy distribution systems. This subject refers to a part of the C3μ project funded by the National Research Agency of France (ANR). This C3μ project investigates the possibility of using a DC smart microgrid architecture for distributing electricity in buildings instead of an AC one.This thesis has proposed a powerline communication solution for DC microgrid based on a new powerline physical modem on DC bus and CANopen (an open standard coming from the automotive industry). Moreover, a real DC microgrid testbed with PV, LED, and the battery has been implemented as a research tool for communication. The practical data transmission tests between PLC nodes have been carried out to evaluate the performance of our solution against the requirements set by the DC microgrid applications. The main results concerning the applicability of this concept and its limitations have also been presented

Thesis (M.S.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2008.
Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed May 12, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-66).

Thesis (PhD (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018.
Electrical energy can be easily used and converted to other forms of energy for various applications. Technological advancement increases the dependency on electricity to a great extent. Various internal and external factors are responsible for the bad quality of power in power systems. The performance of the system is greatly affected by the presence of harmonics, as well as voltage and frequency variations, which leads to the malfunctioning of the device and decline of power quality and supply at load side. The reactive power compensation is carried out for better power quality. The literature survey is done to find the best and efficient scheme for reactive power compensation and mitigation of various power quality problems. The devices which are used to measure various power quality factors are discussed. Various mitigating schemes are surveyed in order to compensate reactive power and to improve the power quality at the distribution end. The integration of the most widely used renewable energy, wind energy in the distribution system creates technical issues like stability of the grid, harmonic distortion, voltage regulation, active and reactive power compensation etc. which are restricted to IEC and IEEE standards. One of the topics this thesis addresses is regulation in the reactive power generated along with voltage regulation by using an effective power electronics device known as a STATCOM. The main power quality factors like overvoltage and voltage flickers are mitigated by establishing STATCOMs in small wind farms. The wind farms are equipped with three wind turbines. These three wind turbines found in the wind farm can be operated together or one after another with an introduced delay. A glitch in even a little piece of a power grid can result in loss of efficiency, income and at times even life. In this manner, it is basic to outline a system which can distinguish the faults of the power system and take a faster response to recover it back to required reactive power. Two devices STATCOM and D-STATCOM are used for this purpose in this thesis. The D-STATCOM circuit and operating principle are also discussed in thesis. Different topologies of D-STATCOM discussed with their benefits and shortcomings. The voltage, current and hybrid technologies of D-STATCOM are also discussed.

Fuel supply issues are a major concern in remote island communities and this is an engineering field that needs to be analyzed in detail for transition to sustainable energy systems. Power generation in remote communities such as the islands of the Maldives relies on power generation systems primarily dependent on diesel generators. As a consequence, power generation is easily disrupted by factors such as the delay in transportation of diesel or rises in fuel price, which limits shipment quantity. People living in remote communities experience power outages often, but find them just as disruptive as people who are connected to national power grids. The use of renewable energy sources could help to improve this situation, however, such systems require huge initial investments. Remote power systems often operate with the help of financial support from profit-making private agencies and government funding. Therefore, investing in such hybrid systems is uncommon. Current electrical power generation systems operating in remote communities adopt an open loop control system, where the power supplier generates power according to customer demand. In the event of generation constraints, the supplier has no choice but to limit the power supplied and this often results in power cuts. Most smart grids that are being established in developed grids adopt a closed loop feedback control system. The smart grids integrated with demand side management tools enable the power supplier to keep customers informed about their daily energy consumption. Electric utility companies use different demand response techniques to achieve peak energy demand reduction by eliciting behavior change. Their feedback information is commonly based on factors such as cost of energy, environmental concerns (carbon dioxide intensity) and the risk of black-outs due to peak loads. However, there is no information available on the significant link between the constraints in resources and the feedback to the customers. In resource-constrained power grids such as those in remote areas, there is a critical relationship between customer demand and the availability of power generation resources. This thesis develops a feedback control strategy that can be adopted by the electrical power suppliers to manage a resource-constrained remote electric power grid such that the most essential load requirements of the customers are always met. The control design introduces a new concept of demand response called participatory demand response (PDR). PDR technique involves cooperative behavior of the entire community to achieve quality of life objectives. It proposes the idea that if customers understand the level of constraint faced by the supplier, they will voluntarily participate in managing their loads, rather than just responding to a rise in the cost of energy. Implementation of the PDR design in a mini-grid consists of four main steps. First, the end-use loads have to be characterized using energy audits, and then they have to be classified further into three different levels of essentiality. Second, the utility records have to be obtained and the hourly variation factors for the appliances have to be calculated. Third, the reference demand curves have to be generated. Finally, the operator control system has to be designed and applied to train the utility operators. A PDR case study was conducted in the Maldives, on the island of Fenfushi. The results show that a significant reduction in energy use was achieved by implementing the PDR design on the island. The overall results from five different constraint scenarios practiced on the island showed that during medium constrained situations, load reductions varied between 4.5kW (5.8%) and 7.7kW (11.3%). A reduction of as much as 10.7kW (15%) was achieved from the community during a severely constrained situation.

Photovoltaic (PV) DGs can be optimized to provide reactive power support to the grid, although this feature is currently rarely utilized as most DG systems are designed to operate with unity power factor and supply real power only to the grid. In this work, the voltage stability of a power system embedded with PV DG is examined in the context of the high reactive power requirement after a voltage sag or fault. A real-time dynamic multi-function power controller that enables renewable source PV DGs to provide the reactive power support necessary to maintain the voltage stability of the microgrid, and consequently, the wider power system is proposed. The loadability limit necessary to maintain the voltage stability of an interconnected microgrid is determined by using bifurcation analysis to test for the singularity of the network Jacobian and load differential equations with and without the contribution of the DG. The maximum and minimum real and reactive power support permissible from the DG is obtained from the loadability limit and used as the limiting factors in controlling the real and reactive power contribution from the PV source. The designed controller regulates the voltage output based on instantaneous power theory at the point-of-common coupling (PCC) while the reactive power supply is controlled by means of the power factor and reactive current droop method. The control method is implemented in a modified IEEE 13-bus test feeder system using PSCAD® power system analysis software and is applied to the model of a Tampa Electric® PV installation at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL. This dissertation accomplishes the systematic analysis of the voltage impact of a PV DGembedded power distribution system. The method employed in this work bases the contribution of the PV resource on the voltage stability margins of the microgrid rather than the commonly used loss-of-load probability (LOLP) and effective load-carrying capability (ELCC) measures. The results of the proposed method show good improvement in the before-, during-, and post-start voltage levels at the motor terminals. The voltage stability margin approach provides the utility a more useful measure in sizing and locating PV resources to support the overall power system stability in an emerging smart grid.

DC power distribution has gained popularity in sustainable buildings, renewable energy utilization, transportation electrification and high-efficiency data centers. This dissertation focuses on two aspects of facilitating the application of dc systems: (a) system-level control to improve load sharing, voltage regulation and efficiency; (b) design of a high-efficiency interface converter to connect dc microgrids with the existing low-voltage ac distributions, with a special focus on common-mode (CM) voltage attenuation. Droop control has been used in dc microgrids to share loads among multiple sources. However, line resistance and sensor discrepancy deteriorate the performance. The quantitative relation between the droop voltage range and the load sharing accuracy is derived to help create droop design guidelines. DC system designers can use the guidelines to choose the minimum droop voltage range and guarantee that the sharing error is within a defined range even under the worst cases. A nonlinear droop method is proposed to improve the performance of droop control. The droop resistance is a function of the output current and increases when the output current increases. Experiments demonstrate that the nonlinear droop achieves better load sharing under heavy load and tighter bus voltage regulation. The control needs only local information, so the advantages of droop control are preserved. The output impedances of the droop-controlled power converters are also modeled and measured for the system stability analysis. Communication-based control is developed to further improve the performance of dc microgrids. A generic dc microgrid is modeled and the static power flow is solved. A secondary control system is presented to achieve the benefits of restored bus voltage, enhanced load sharing and high system efficiency. The considered method only needs the information from its adjacent node; hence system expendability is guaranteed. A high-efficiency two-stage single-phase ac-dc converter is designed to connect a 380 V bipolar dc microgrid with a 240 V split-phase single-phase ac system. The converter efficiencies using different two-level and three-level topologies with state-of-the-art semiconductor devices are compared, based on which a two-level interleaved topology using silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs is chosen. The volt-second applied on each inductive component is analyzed and the interleaving angles are optimized. A 10 kW converter prototype is built and achieves an efficiency higher than 97% for the first time. An active CM duty cycle injection method is proposed to control the dc and low-frequency CM voltage for grounded systems interconnected with power converters. Experiments with resistive and constant power loads in rectification and regeneration modes validate the performance and stability of the control method. The dc bus voltages are rendered symmetric with respect to ground, and the leakage current is reduced. The control method is generalized to three-phase ac-dc converters for larger power systems.
Ph. D.

The integration of wind energy into the utility network has increased significantly over the past years largely as a result of the increasing environmental concerns arising from the use of fossil fuels, coupled with the anticipated global increase in oil. In South Africa, the wind energy industry is still in its infancy, with the Klipheuwel (about 3.2 MW) and Darling (about 4.2 MW) wind farms being the only grid connected projects in the country. However, grid integration studies carried out in [1] have shown that there are over 7 000 MW potential ideas for wind power in the Western Cape alone and this is a clear indication that there is a growing interest in wind development locally. The Government has also set a 4% target for the development of the renewable energy in the country by 2013. In light of the above, this thesis discusses some of the technical requirements and power quality issues that need to be addressed in order to fully integrate wind power into the network without adversely affecting the operation of the grid. These have been researched through reviewing the various standards and grid codes for wind power that have been implemented in other leading countries, in order to identify some of the requirements that can be adapted to suit our local integration process. Some of the main technical issues that are discussed in this thesis include the strength of the grid (fault levels), permitted penetration levels, choice of wind turbine and the reactive power requirements of the network. All these issues contribute towards the resolution of the impact of wind turbines on the power quality of the network, especially at the point of common coupling or connection (PCC). Various power quality phenomena were discussed in the literature but the ones that were further investigated included the voltage level profile, harmonic distortions as well as reactive power requirements from the wind turbines. These were determined both during the steady operation of the network and during a network disturbance.

Since their discovery in the 1950's by Erdos and Renyi, network theory (the study of objects and their associations) has blossomed into a full-fledged branch of mathematics. Due to the network's flexibility, diverse scientific problems can be reformulated as networks and studied using a common set of tools. I define a network G = (V,E) composed of two parts: (i) the set of objects V, called nodes, and (ii) set of relationships (associations) E, called links, that connect objects in V. We can extend the classic network of nodes and links by describing the intensity of these associations with weights. More formally, weighted networks augment the classic network with a function f(e) from links to the real line, uncovering powerful ways to model real-world applications. This thesis studies new ways to construct robust micro powergrids, mine people's perceptions of causality on a social network, and proposes a new way to analyze crowdsourcing all in the context of the weighted network model. The current state of Earth's ecosystem and intensifying climate calls on scientists to find new ways to harvest clean affordable energy. A microgrid, or neighborhood-scale powergrid built using renewable energy sources attached to personal homes, suggest one way to ameliorate this energy crisis. We can study the stability (robustness) of such a small-scale system with weighted networks. A novel use of weighted networks and percolation theory guides the safe and efficient construction of power lines (links, E) connecting a small set of houses (nodes, V) to one another and weights each power line by the distance between houses. This new look at the robustness of microgrid structures calls into question the efficacy of the traditional utility. The next study uses the twitter social network to compare and contrast causal language from everyday conversation. Collecting a set of 1 million tweets, we find a set of words (unigrams), parts of speech, named entities, and sentiment signal the use of informal causal language. Breaking a problem difficult for a computer to solve into many parts and distributing these tasks to a group of humans to solve is called Crowdsourcing. My final project asks volunteers to 'reply' to questions asked of them and 'supply' novel questions for others to answer. I model this 'reply and supply' framework as a dynamic weighted network, proposing new theories about this network's behavior and how to steer it toward worthy goals. This thesis demonstrates novel uses of, enhances the current scientific literature on, and presents novel methodology for, weighted networks.

Since the 1980s, approximately 10 MWp photovoltaic (PV) power has been installed in off-grid areas in Indonesia for powering lighting, water pumping, communications, health clinics, etc. However, PV energy systems (PVES) have yet to prove their sustainability and remain inaccessible to many remote Indonesian communities. The objective of this interdisciplinary thesis is to draw on social and engineering perspectives to address sustainability issues related to off-grid PVES delivery in Indonesia. By employing the Brundtland definition of sustainability, off-grid PVES delivery is analysed with respect to its institutional, financial, technical, social and ecological sustainability. In parallel, the thesis also investigates PVES Accessibility, Availability and Acceptability (3A), referring to the three energy goals proposed by the World Energy Council. The concepts of Sustainable Development, Social Capital, and Diffusion of Innovation are employed to examine the potential for off-grid PVES to contribute to improving the sustainability of remote Indonesian communities. The I3A (Implementation, 3A) Sustainable PVES Delivery framework is proposed to investigate PVES sustainability and the extent to which local communities can continue to socially innovate to meet their evolving needs beyond initial project completion. Sound project management (PM) is essential as off-grid PVES projects can only access limited resources (time, funds, and scope) and project failure can undermine a community???s capacity to innovate. The research methodologies include literature research, qualitative field research in villages where PVES has been installed and interviews with a wide range of PVES stakeholders in Indonesia. The I3A framework is tested against three off-grid PVES case studies from Lampung, West Java and NTT Provinces and is also proposed as a design tool. A key conclusion is that, to be sustainable and equitable, off-grid PVES projects should be implemented in an institutional framework that provides sound project management and addresses PVES accessibility (financial, institutional and technological), availability (technical quality and continuity) and acceptability (social and ecological). The overall objectives are to acknowledge the interests of all stakeholders, maximise equity, assure PVES continuity, and institutionalize PVES by utilizing and enhancing preexisting community resources to leave the community with the capacity to socially innovate. While this might be regarded as idealistic, enhanced local autonomy and capability will be essential in the context of the energy security and climate change challenges that humanity now faces.

Smart grid technologies are starting to be the future of electric power systems. These systems are giving the utilities detailed information about their systems in real time. One of the most challenging things of implementing smart grid applications is employing the communications into the systems. Understanding the available communications can help ease the transition to these smart grid applications. Many of the utility personnel are spending too much time trying to figure out which communication is better for their application or applications. So this thesis presents the different communication types available with discussing the different attributes in which these communication types are going to offer to the utility. Then these communication types are looked such that utilities can quickly understand how to approach the difficult task of obtaining the information from the different smart grid applications by the use of different communication options.

The increasing penetration of distributed energy resources, in particular Photovoltaic (PV) production units, and the ever-growing use of power electronics-based equipment has led to specific concern about Power Quality (PQ) in the Low-Voltage (LV) grid. These include high- and low-order current harmonics as well as voltage distortion at the point of common coupling. Solutions to overcome these issues, meeting international grid codes, are being proposed in the context of smart energy management schemes.This work proposes a novel three-phase topology for a PV system with enhanced PQ mitigation functionality, tackling the corresponding control challenges.First, a single-stage current-source inverter PV system with active filtering capability is preferred to the more common two-stage voltage-source inverter topology with additional voltage-step-up converter. The system also guarantees a nearly unitary displacement power factor in the connection to the grid and allows for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) with direct control of the PV array power. The grid-synchronised dq-axis grid current references are generated for the mitigation of nonlinear load low-order current harmonics, without the need for additional measurements. Active damping is used to minimise grid-side filter losses and reduce high-order harmonics resulting from the converter switching.Results on a 500W laboratory prototype confirm that active damping reduces the switching harmonics in the grid currents and active filtering properly mitigates the low-order current harmonics. The MPPT algorithm works effectively for various irradiance variations. Second, a PV system with a novel Indirect Matrix Converter (IMC)-based unified power quality conditioner topology is developed for enhanced current and voltage compensation capability, with compactness and reliability advantages. PQ issues such as current harmonics, and voltage sags, swells, undervoltage and overvoltage are mitigated by the shunt and series converters, respectively.The more common Space Vector Modulation (SVM) method used in IMCs is developed for this specific topology. In particular, a new shunt converter modulation method is proposed to additionally control the PV array current with zero switching vectors, resulting in a specific switching sequence.A direct sliding mode control method is also studied separately for the shunt and series converters, so that the zero-vector modulation method of the shunt converter can be used, with no sensitive synchronisation of the switching signals; this contrasts with the SVM method. A new dc link voltage modulation method with 12 voltage zones, instead of 6, is proposed to help overcome the limitation in the choice of shunt converter switching vectors due to the positive dc link voltage constraint.Results are obtained for the direct method on a 1 kW laboratory prototype with optimised IMC dc link connection and alternative shunt converter switching transitions to guarantee a positive dc link voltage. Current and voltage compensation capabilities are confirmed by tests in various operating conditions.
Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The percentage of renewable energy within the global electric power generation portfolio is expected to increase rapidly over the next few decades due to increasing concerns about climate change, fossil fuel costs, and energy security. Solar thermal energy, also known as concentrating solar power (CSP), is emerging as an important solution to new demands for clean, renewable electricity generation. Dish-Stirling (DS) technology, a form of CSP, is a relatively new player in the renewable energy market, although research in the technology has been ongoing now for nearly thirty years. The first large plant utilizing DS technology, rated at 1.5 MW, came online in January 2010 in Peoria, AZ, and plants rated for several hundred MW are in the planning stages. Increasing capacity of this technology within the utility grid requires extensive dynamic simulation studies to ensure that the power system maintains its safety and reliability in spite of the technological challenges that DS technology presents, particularly related to the intermittency of the energy source and its use of a non-conventional asynchronous generator. The research presented in this thesis attempts to fill in the gaps between the well established research on Stirling engines in the world of thermodynamics and the use of DS systems in electric power system applications, a topic which has received scant attention in publications since the emergence of this technology. DS technology uses a paraboloidal shaped dish of mirrors to concentrate sunlight to a single point. The high temperatures achieved at the focal point of the mirrors is used as a heat source for the Stirling engine, which is a closed-cycle, external heat engine. Invented by the Scottish clergyman Robert Stirling in 1816, the Stirling engine is capable of high efficiency and releases no emissions, making it highly compatible with concentrated solar energy. The Stirling engine turns a squirrel-cage induction generator, where electricity is delivered through underground cables from thousands of independent, autonomous 10-25 kW rated DS units in a large solar farm. A dynamic model of the DS system is presented in this thesis, including models of the Stirling engine working gas and mechanical dynamics. Custom FORTRAN code is written to model the Stirling engine dynamics within PSCAD/EMTDC. The Stirling engine and various other components of the DS system are incorporated into an electrical network, including first a single-machine, infinite bus network, and then a larger 12-bus network including conventional generators, loads, and transmission lines. An analysis of the DS control systems is presented, and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the system's steady state and dynamic behavior within these electric power networks. Potential grid interconnection requirements are discussed, including issues with power factor correction and low voltage ride-through, and simulation results are provided to illustrate the dish-Stirling system's capability for meeting such requirements.

Le travail de recherche de cette thèse se concentre sur l’élaboration de deux modes de fonctionnement du microréseau à savoir : mode connecté au réseau, mode hors réseau comprenant les modes îloté et isolé. Le problème de la défaillance du réseau en mode connecté au réseau et la faible fiabilité de l'alimentation électrique en mode hors réseau doivent être résolues. Ainsi, le but de cette thèse est de proposer un microréseau DC combinant à la fois les avantages du mode connecté au réseau et ceux du mode isolé. On obtient ainsi un microréseau DC qu’on peut qualifier de complet. Le microréseau DC complet contient les sources d'énergie renouvelables, le stockage et le réseau public, et les sources de secours sont utilisées pour réduire le délestage. Dans ce microréseau DC, un système de supervision est proposé dans le but de gérer le flux des puissances. La gestion de la puissance en temps réel dans la couche opérationnelle du système de supervision permet de maintenir l'équilibre de puissance. Dans la couche d'optimisation du système de supervision, l'optimisation journalière est proposée afin de minimiser le coût d'exploitation global. Les résultats de la simulation montrent que le microréseau DC complet peut minimiser les coûts d'exploitation. Ensuite, le système de supervision prend en compte l'efficacité dynamique du convertisseur pour résoudre le problème lié à la qualité de la puissance du microréseau qui peut être dégradée à cause de la tension instable du bus DC. Les résultats de la simulation montrent que la prise en compte de l'efficacité dynamique du convertisseur dans la couche opérationnelle du système de supervision permet de réduire les fluctuations de la tension du bus DC. En ce qui concerne l'importance de la prédiction PV pour l'optimisation de la veille, deux modèles de prédiction sont étudiés et comparés pour donner une puissance de prédiction PV précise. Les résultats montrent que les deux modèles ont presque les mêmes résultats
This thesis focus on the research of the DC microgrid following two operation models: grid-connected mode, and off-grid mode including the islanded and isolated modes. The aim of this thesis is to propose a DC microgrid combining the advantages of the grid-connected or the off-grid mode, which named full DC microgrid. ln the full DC microgrid, the renewable energy sources, storage, and public grid are included, and the back-up sources also applied to reduce the load shedding. ln the full DC microgrid, a supervisory system is proposed to manage the power. The real-time power management in the operational layer of the supervisory system can keep the power balance. ln the optimization layer of the supervisory system, the day-ahead optimization is proposed to achieve the global minimal operation cost. The simulation results show that the full DC microgrid combines both advantages of the grid-connected and the off-grid mode to minimize the operating cost. Then, the supervisory system considers the dynamic efficiency of the converter to solve the problem that the power quality of the microgrid is degraded due to the unstable DC bus voltage caused by the inaccurate power control. The simulation results show that considering the dynamic efficiency of the converter in the operational layer of the supervisory system, the fluctuation of the DC bus voltage can be reduced. Regarding the importance of the PV prediction for the day-ahead optimization, two prediction modes are studied and compared to give a robust PV prediction power. The results are that the two models almost have the same results

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 104-110).
As power systems adapt to include aging infrastructure, new socio-political priorities, and renewable electricity resources, grid operators look to a more flexible grid. Electricity storage flexibility is one strategy gaining interest. Clean energy advocates see benefits in terms of greater renewables integration and lower emissions; grid operators see storage as an improved security system in the face of supply and demand variability and uncertainty. However, as power systems are designed for reliable and efficient operations using available technologies, newer, better-performing technologies such as energy storage devices may not always win the market. Several market barriers to storage remain, including high storage capital costs and a lack of trusted tools for modeling and estimating the lifetime value of new capacity investments [1]. Most storage modeling strategies omit constraints that describe the technical operating boundaries of different power generating technologies, which can lead an overestimation of total operating costs for the power system [2]. I describe a mixed integer linear optimization framework for estimating the optimal control and value of energy storage in a virtual power generation system with economic, regulatory, and technical performance characteristics. The model consists of power plant commitment, dispatch, and selective capacity expansion constraints that simulate optimal investments and operations of the power generation system. A new formulation for modeling energy storage is also developed in order to improve the accuracy of round-trip efficiencies and allow for the inclusion of minimum storage output constraints. Using this model, I solve for break-even target prices for storage capital costs under a range of scenarios (storage futures scenarios). A second challenge slowing the adoption of storage is a lack of spending on performance improvements and cost-reductions. A two-factor learning curve and optimization approach is developed to solve for the optimal portfolio of research, development, demonstration, and diffusion investments (RDD&D) over multiple investment periods. Using the target capital costs from unit commitment model output as the investment model input value, innovating firms and policy planners may better identify cost targets and investment strategies for reaching target levels of storage deployment. Electricity storage becomes more valuable as net load variability increases. The impact of net load variability is tested by changing the level of renewable generation resources in the system. The current capital cost of storage-here, compressed air energy storage (CAES)-generally exceeds the target cost needed to make CAES economical when it is used to provide load following, load shifting, and operating reserve services in high-voltage power generation systems. Scenario analysis shows that when renewables generation reaches 35%, CAES becomes economical in limited quantities due to the added value from providing renewables integration and greater operating reserves. Using this framework, I identify different levels of cost reductions needed to drive improved adoption and make several RDD&D recommendations.
by Jacob Whitcomb.
S.M. in Engineering and Management

As electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, the utility companies are forced to increase power generations in the grid. However, these EVs are capable of providing power to the grid to deliver different grid ancillary services in a concept known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and grid-to-vehicle (G2V), in which the EV can serve as a load or source at the same time. These services can provide more benefits when they are integrated with Photovoltaic (PV) generation. The proper modeling, design and control for the power conversion systems that provide the optimum integration among the EVs, PV generations and grid are investigated in this thesis. The coupling between the PV generation and integration bus is accomplished through a unidirectional converter. Precise dynamic and small-signal models for the grid-connected PV power system are developed and utilized to predict the system’s performance during the different operating conditions. An advanced intelligent maximum power point tracker based on fuzzy logic control is developed and designed using a mix between the analytical model and genetic algorithm optimization. The EV is connected to the integration bus through a bidirectional inductive wireless power transfer system (BIWPTS), which allows the EV to be charged and discharged wirelessly during the long-term parking, transient stops and movement. Accurate analytical and physics-based models for the BIWPTS are developed and utilized to forecast its performance, and novel practical limitations for the active and reactive power-flow during G2V and V2G operations are stated. A comparative and assessment analysis for the different compensation topologies in the symmetrical BIWPTS was performed based on analytical, simulation and experimental data. Also, a magnetic design optimization for the double-D power pad based on finite-element analysis is achieved. The nonlinearities in the BIWPTS due to the magnetic material and the high-frequency components are investigated rely on a physics-based co-simulation platform. Also, a novel two-layer predictive power-flow controller that manages the bidirectional power-flow between the EV and grid is developed, implemented and tested. In addition, the feasibility of deploying the quasi-dynamic wireless power transfer technology on the road to charge the EV during the transient stops at the traffic signals is proven.