Robust 24 Hours ahead Forecast in a Microgrid: A Real Case Study

Forecasting the power production from renewable energy sources (RESs) has become fundamental in microgrid applications to optimize scheduling and dispatching of the available assets. In this article, a methodology to provide the 24 h ahead Photovoltaic (PV) power forecast based on a Physical Hybrid Artificial Neural Network (PHANN) for microgrids is presented. The goal of this paper is to provide a robust methodology to forecast 24 h in advance the PV power production in a microgrid, addressing the specific criticalities of this environment. The proposed approach has to validate measured data properly, through an effective algorithm and further refine the power forecast when newer data are available. The procedure is fully implemented in a facility of the Multi-Good Microgrid Laboratory (MG(Lab)(2)) of the Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, where new Energy Management Systems (EMSs) are studied. Reported results validate the proposed approach as a robust and accurate procedure for microgrid applications

Wind energy forecasting with neural networks: a literature review

Renewable energy is intermittent by nature and to integrate this energy into the Grid while assuring safety and stability the accurate forecasting of there newable energy generation is critical. Wind Energy prediction is based on the ability to forecast wind. There are many methods for wind forecasting based on the statistical properties of the wind time series and in the integration of meteorological information, these methods are being used commercially around the world. But one family of new methods for wind power fore castingis surging based on Machine Learning Deep Learning techniques. This paper analyses the characteristics of the Wind Speed time series data and performs a literature review of recently published works of wind power forecasting using Machine Learning approaches (neural and deep learning networks), which have been published in the last few years.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

An Integrated Multi-Time-Scale Modeling for Solar Irradiance Forecasting Using Deep Learning

For short-term solar irradiance forecasting, the traditional point forecasting methods are rendered less useful due to the non-stationary characteristic of solar power. The amount of operating reserves required to maintain reliable operation of the electric grid rises due to the variability of solar energy. The higher the uncertainty in the generation, the greater the operating-reserve requirements, which translates to an increased cost of operation. In this research work, we propose a unified architecture for multi-time-scale predictions for intra-day solar irradiance forecasting using recurrent neural networks (RNN) and long-short-term memory networks (LSTMs). This paper also lays out a framework for extending this modeling approach to intra-hour forecasting horizons thus, making it a multi-time-horizon forecasting approach, capable of predicting intra-hour as well as intra-day solar irradiance. We develop an end-to-end pipeline to effectuate the proposed architecture. The performance of the prediction model is tested and validated by the methodical implementation. The robustness of the approach is demonstrated with case studies conducted for geographically scattered sites across the United States. The predictions demonstrate that our proposed unified architecture-based approach is effective for multi-time-scale solar forecasts and achieves a lower root-mean-square prediction error when benchmarked against the best-performing methods documented in the literature that use separate models for each time-scale during the day. Our proposed method results in a 71.5% reduction in the mean RMSE averaged across all the test sites compared to the ML-based best-performing method reported in the literature. Additionally, the proposed method enables multi-time-horizon forecasts with real-time inputs, which have a significant potential for practical industry applications in the evolving grid.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, under review for journal submissio

Analysis and validation of 24 hours ahead neural network forecasting of photovoltaic output power

In this paper an artificial neural network for photovoltaic plant energy forecasting is proposed and analyzed in terms of its sensitivity with respect to the input data sets. Furthermore, the accuracy of the method has been studied as a function of the training data sets and error definitions. The analysis is based on experimental activities carried out on a real photovoltaic power plant accompanied by clear sky model. In particular, this paper deals with the hourly energy prediction for all the daylight hours of the following day, based on 48 hours ahead weather forecast. This is very important due to the predictive features requested by smart grid application: renewable energy sources planning, in particular storage system sizing, and market of energy

Hybrid Predictive Models for Accurate Forecasting in PV Systems

The accurate forecasting of energy production from renewable sources represents an important topic also looking at different national authorities that are starting to stimulate a greater responsibility towards plants using non-programmable renewables. In this paper the authors use advanced hybrid evolutionary techniques of computational intelligence applied to photovoltaic systems forecasting, analyzing the predictions obtained by comparing different definitions of the forecasting error

Review and Comparison of Intelligent Optimization Modelling Techniques for Energy Forecasting and Condition-Based Maintenance in PV Plants

Within the field of soft computing, intelligent optimization modelling techniques include various major techniques in artificial intelligence. These techniques pretend to generate new business knowledge transforming sets of "raw data" into business value. One of the principal applications of these techniques is related to the design of predictive analytics for the improvement of advanced CBM (condition-based maintenance) strategies and energy production forecasting. These advanced techniques can be used to transform control system data, operational data and maintenance event data to failure diagnostic and prognostic knowledge and, ultimately, to derive expected energy generation. One of the systems where these techniques can be applied with massive potential impact are the legacy monitoring systems existing in solar PV energy generation plants. These systems produce a great amount of data over time, while at the same time they demand an important e ort in order to increase their performance through the use of more accurate predictive analytics to reduce production losses having a direct impact on ROI. How to choose the most suitable techniques to apply is one of the problems to address. This paper presents a review and a comparative analysis of six intelligent optimization modelling techniques, which have been applied on a PV plant case study, using the energy production forecast as the decision variable. The methodology proposed not only pretends to elicit the most accurate solution but also validates the results, in comparison with the di erent outputs for the di erent techniques

Wind generation forecasting methods and proliferation of artificial neural network:A review of five years research trend

To sustain a clean environment by reducing fossil fuels-based energies and increasing the integration of renewable-based energy sources, i.e., wind and solar power, have become the national policy for many countries. The increasing demand for renewable energy sources, such as wind, has created interest in the economic and technical issues related to the integration into the power grids. Having an intermittent nature and wind generation forecasting is a crucial aspect of ensuring the optimum grid control and design in power plants. Accurate forecasting provides essential information to empower grid operators and system designers in generating an optimal wind power plant, and to balance the power supply and demand. In this paper, we present an extensive review of wind forecasting methods and the artificial neural network (ANN) prolific in this regard. The instrument used to measure wind assimilation is analyzed and discussed, accurately, in studies that were published from May 1st, 2014 to May 1st, 2018. The results of the review demonstrate the increased application of ANN into wind power generation forecasting. Considering the component limitation of other systems, the trend of deploying the ANN and its hybrid systems are more attractive than other individual methods. The review further revealed that high forecasting accuracy could be achieved through proper handling and calibration of the wind-forecasting instrument and method