A review of microgrid development in the United States – A decade of progress on policies, demonstrations, controls, and software tools

Microgrids have become increasingly popular in the United States. Supported by favorable federal and local policies, microgrid projects can provide greater energy stability and resilience within a project site or community. This paper reviews major federal, state, and utility-level policies driving microgrid development in the United States. Representative U.S. demonstration projects are selected and their technical characteristics and non-technical features are introduced. The paper discusses trends in the technology development of microgrid systems as well as microgrid control methods and interactions within the electricity market. Software tools for microgrid design, planning, and performance analysis are illustrated with each tool's core capability. Finally, the paper summarizes the successes and lessons learned during the recent expansion of the U.S. microgrid industry that may serve as a reference for other countries developing their own microgrid industries

Optimal Economic Schedule for a Network of Microgrids With Hybrid Energy Storage System Using Distributed Model Predictive Control

Artículo Open Access en el sitio web el editor. Pago por publicar en abierto.In this paper, an optimal procedure for the economic schedule of a network of interconnected microgrids with hybrid energy storage system is carried out through a control algorithm based on distributed model predictive control (DMPC). The algorithm is specifically designed according to the criterion of improving the cost function of each microgrid acting as a single system through the network mode operation. The algorithm allows maximum economical benefit of the microgrids, minimizing the degradation causes of each storage system, and fulfilling the different system constraints. In order to capture both continuous/discrete dynamics and switching between different operating conditions, the plant is modeled with the framework of mixed logic dynamic. The DMPC problem is solved with the use of mixed integer linear programming using a piecewise formulation, in order to linearize a mixed integer quadratic programming problem.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitivadad DPI2016-78338-RComisión Europea 0076-AGERAR-6-

FMI Compliant Approach to Investigate the Impact of Communication to Islanded Microgrid Secondary Control

In multi-master islanded microgrids, the inverter controllers need to share the signals and to coordinate, in either centralized or distributed way, in order to operate properly and to assure a good functionality of the grid. The central controller is used in centralized strategy. In distributed control, Multi-agent system (MAS) is considered to be a suitable solution for coordination of such system. However the latency and disturbance of the network may disturb the communication from central controller to local controllers or among agents or and negatively influence the grid operation. As a consequence, communication aspects need to be properly addressed during the control design and assessment. In this paper, we propose a holistic approach with co-simulation using Functional Mockup Interface (FMI) standard to validate the microgrid control system taking into account the communication network. A use-case of islanded microgrid frequency secondary control with MAS under consensus algorithm is implemented to demonstrate the impact of communication and to illustrate the proposed holistic approach.Comment: Proceedings of the IEEE PES ISGT Asia 2017 conferenc