Open source SCADA systems for small renewable power generation

Low cost monitoring and control is essential for small renewable power systems. While large renewable power systems can use existing commercial technology for monitoring and control, that is not cost-effective for small renewable generation. Such small assets require cost-effective, flexible, secure, and reliable real-time coordinated data monitoring and control systems. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is the perfect technology for this task. The available commercial SCADA solutions are mostly pricey and economically unjustifiable for smaller applications. They also pose interoperability issues with the existing components which are often from multiple vendors. Therefore, an open source SCADA system represents the most flexible and the most cost-effective SCADA solution. This thesis has been done in two phases. The first phase demonstrates the design and dynamic simulation of a small hybrid power system with a renewable power generation system as a case study. In the second phase, after an extensive study of the proven commercial SCADA solutions and some open source SCADA packages, three different secure, reliable, low-cost open source SCADA options are developed using the most recent SCADA architecture, the Internet of Things. The implemented prototypes of the three open source SCADA systems were tested extensively with a small renewable power system (a solar PV system). The results show that the developed open source SCADA systems perform optimally and accurately, and could serve as viable options for smaller applications such as renewable generation that cannot afford commercial SCADA solutions

SUSTAINABLE SOLAR-WIND HYBRID POWER PLANT IN MALAYSIA

The aim of this project is to carry out studies on the development of a solar and wind hybrid power plant in Malaysia. Solar and wind energy are renewable sources of energy that can be used for electrical power generation. The government of Malaysia has expressed its interests and commitment towards developing the renewable energy sector as stated in the 9th Malaysian Plan. Solar and wind energy sources are intermittent sources of energy. They are not available on demand and necessary implementation of backup systems is to be arranged to obtain a reliable supply. The reliability and overall performance of solar and wind power plants can be improved by implementing a hybrid system where both the solar and wind plants supplement each other to further enhance their energy harvesting capability. This project is to study the feasibility of a hybrid plant as compared standalone solar and wind power plants in areas pertaining to the reliability and sustainability of our energy sources. In addition to combining both power sources, the efficiency factors of solar powered systems were studied to further improve the overall performance of the hybrid system. Initially, at the theoretical development stage, the modeling equations were formulated for sizing simulations. Results were used for the construction of a prototype. The results obtained from this study includes data indicating factors, such as solar positioning, PV operating temperatures, PV efficiency, solar irradiance, and operating locations that affect solar power output of PV arrays and comprehensive sizing data for local implementation, while at the same time, addressing issues pertaining to reliability and sustainability of existing standalone solar power plants

POWER CONDITIONING UNIT FOR SMALL SCALE HYBRID PV-WIND GENERATION SYSTEM

Small-scale renewable energy systems are becoming increasingly popular due to soaring fuel prices and due to technological advancements which reduce the cost of manufacturing. Solar and wind energies, among other renewable energy sources, are the most available ones globally. The hybrid photovoltaic (PV) and wind power system has a higher capability to deliver continuous power with reduced energy storage requirements and therefore results in better utilization of power conversion and control equipment than either of the individual sources. Power conditioning units (p.c.u.) for such small-scale hybrid PV-wind generation systems have been proposed in this study. The system was connected to the grid, but it could also operate in standalone mode if the grid was unavailable. The system contains a local controller for every energy source and the grid inverter. Besides, it contains the supervisory controller. For the wind generator side, small-scale vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are attractive due to their ability to capture wind from different directions without using a yaw. One difficulty with VAWTs is to prevent over-speeding and component over-loading at excessive wind velocities. The proposed local controller for the wind generator is based on the current and voltage measured on the dc side of the rectifier connected to the permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG). Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control is provided in normal operation under the rated speed using a dc/dc boost converter. For high wind velocities, the suggested local controller controls the electric power in order to operate the turbine in the stall region. This high wind velocity control strategy attenuates the stress in the system while it smoothes the power generated. It is shown that the controller is able to stabilize the nonlinear system using an adaptive current feedback loop. Simulation and experimental results are presented. The PV generator side controller is designed to work in systems with multiple energy sources, such as those studied in this thesis. One of the most widely used methods to maximize the output PV power is the hill climbing technique. This study gives guidelines for designing both the perturbation magnitude and the time interval between consecutive perturbations for such a technique. These guidelines would improve the maximum power point tracking efficiency. According to these guidelines, a variable step MPPT algorithm with reduced power mode is designed and applied to the system. The algorithm is validated by simulation and experimental results. A single phase H-bridge inverter is proposed to supply the load and to connect the grid. Generally, a current controller injects active power with a controlled power factor and constant dc link voltage in the grid connected mode. However, in the standalone mode, it injects active power with constant ac output voltage and a power factor which depends on the load. The current controller for both modes is based on a newly developed peak current control (p.c.c.) with selective harmonic elimination. A design procedure has been proposed for the controller. Then, the method was demonstrated by simulation. The problem of the dc current injection to the grid has been investigated for such inverters. The causes of dc current injection are analyzed, and a measurement circuit is then proposed to control the inverter for dc current injection elimination. Characteristics of the proposed method are demonstrated, using simulation and experimental results. At the final stage of the study, a supervisory controller is demonstrated, which manages the different operating states of the system during starting, grid-connected and standalone modes. The operating states, designed for every mode, have been defined in such a hybrid model to allow stability and smooth transition between these states. The supervisory controller switches the system between the different modes and states according to the availability of the utility grid, renewable energy generators, the state of charge (SOC) of energy storage batteries, and the load. The p.c.u. including the supervisory controller has been verified in the different modes and states by simulation

OFF-GRID OPTIMIZATION ANALYSIS OF HYBRID SOLAR-WIND POWER SYSTEM IN UTP USING HOMER SOFTWARE

Through this Paper a project on studying the off-grid optimization of hybrid renewable energy system using Homer software in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS will be introduced on an average of 20 modern homes located in Village 6. The government of Malaysia has expressed its interests and commitment towards developing the renewable energy sector as stated in the 9th Malaysian Plan. Solar and wind energy sources are intermittent sources of energy. They are not available on demand and necessary implementation of backup systems is to be arranged to obtain a reliable supply. The reliability and overall performance of solar and wind power plants can be improved by implementing a hybrid system where both the solar and wind plants supplement each other to further enhance their energy harvesting capability

Design of a PV system including its SCADA for a house in Iran

Solar Radiation in the Middle East is relatively high and is one of the most sustainable renewable sources. However, Iran has not utilized it as one of the most significant sources of energy yet. Considering the mentioned concern, in this Thesis, a PV system is designed using BEopt and Homer software for a house in Golpayegan, Iran. Thermal modeling of the house is done using BEopt software to determine the hourly load consumption profile. The meteorological data and the generated hourly load data are used by Homer software to size the system based on the optimum net present cost. The cost analysis results demonstrate that the PV/grid is the most optimal solution for the under-consideration house. Then a control strategy is proposed to connect the suggested PV system to the electric distribution grid. The proposed control strategy aims to design the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm and control the injected active and reactive PV arrays power. The reactive power control provides the PV system with Power Factor Correction (PFC) capability, improving the system's overall performance. Finally, in the last phase of research, a secure, reliable, low-cost, and open-source SCADA system is developed using the most recent SCADA architecture, the Internet of Things. The proposed SCADA system prototype is implemented and tested to measure the temperature, humidity, pressure, and light intensity of a house and control smart home appliances. The results show that the developed open-source SCADA system performs optimally and accurately and could serve as a viable control and monitoring system for PV applications by minor changes

Modular supervisory controller for complex systems

Automation for the oil and gas industry is driven by the need to improve efficiency, productivity, consistency, and personnel safety, while reducing cost. Fully automated systems alleviate the physical toll on human operators and allow them to focus on monitoring unsafe well events and machinery maintenance. Complex systems like drilling rigs and snubbing units require supervisory controllers that can safely coordinate equipment and processes, overcome interoperability challenges and allow for functional scalability without sacrificing safety, security, and consistency of operations. The primary objective of this report is to explore the feasibility of developing a modular supervisory controller architecture which addresses these concerns by modifying and extending existing architectures. Such modifications include the use of non-homogeneous models in sub-system modules, including discrete event models for control and physics-based models for collision avoidance, addition of a system compilation module (Meta Module) to identify simple design errors, and implementation of an algorithm for synthesis of modules and filters to replace missing sub-systems. This report discusses the implementation results of the modular supervisory control architecture (modMFSM) on a simplified two-machine drilling system for assessment of design practices. Simulations for three test cases were executed to assess the ability of the controller to correctly perform error-free operations, detect and react to possible collisions, and adapt to missing equipment. The report then discusses the possibilities of extending the modMFSM architecture to control large complex systems such as drilling rigs, using snubbing operations as an example.Mechanical Engineerin

A Survey on Systems Integration in the Energy Automation Domain through OPC Interface

[Abstract] The Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control (OPC) interface provides an effective means to exchange data between automation-related entities, both hardware and software. Since its creation, it has been profusely used not only for industrial scenarios but also for other spheres, among which energy automation is an important scope. In order to portray the relevance of such protocol, this paper presents a survey of applications of OPC communication to manage systems integration in the context of energy automationJunta de Extremadura; GR1815

Optimum Resilient Operation and Control DC Microgrid Based Electric Vehicles Charging Station Powered by Renewable Energy Sources

This paper introduces an energy management and control method for DC microgrid supplying electric vehicles (EV) charging station. An Energy Management System (EMS) is developed to manage and control power flow from renewable energy sources to EVs through DC microgrid. An integrated approach for controlling DC microgrid based charging station powered by intermittent renewable energies. A wind turbine (WT) and solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays are integrated into the studied DC microgrid to replace energy from fossil fuel and decrease pollution from carbon emissions. Due to the intermittency of solar and wind generation, the output powers of PV and WT are not guaranteed. For this reason, the capacities of WT, solar PV panels, and the battery system are considered decision parameters to be optimized. The optimized design of the renewable energy system is done to ensure sufficient electricity supply to the EV charging station. Moreover, various renewable energy technologies for supplying EV charging stations to improve their performance are investigated. To evaluate the performance of the used control strategies, simulation is carried out in MATLAB/SIMULINK. Document type: Articl

A Low-Cost, Open Source IoT-Based SCADA System Design, and Implementation for Photovoltaics

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) has largely been proprietary, pricey, and therefore uneconomical for smaller applications. With proprietary SCADA systems, there is also the problem of interoperability with the existing system components, and communication systems. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a low-cost, open source SCADA system based on the Internet of Things SCADA architecture. The proposed SCADA system consists of current and voltage sensors for data collection, an ESP32 micro-controller (Remote Terminal Unit) for receiving and processing the sensor data, and ThingsBoard IoT Server (Master Terminal Unit) for historic data storage and human machine interactions. The ThingsBoard IoT Server is locally installed on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer. Message Queuing Telemetry Transport protocol is implemented for data transfer over a local Wi-Fi connection. The system design procedures, testing and the results are presented in the paper

Design and implementation of a low-cost, open source IoT-based SCADA system using ESP32 with OLED, ThingsBoard and MQTT protocol

Distributed assets, such as hybrid power system components, require reliable, timely, and secure coordinated data monitoring and control systems. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is a technology for the coordinated monitoring and control of such assets. However, SCADA system designs and implementations have largely been proprietary, mostly pricey and therefore economically unjustifiable for smaller applications. With proprietary SCADA systems, there is also the problem of interoperability with the existing components such as power electronic converters, energy storage systems, and communication systems since these components are usually from multiple vendors. Therefore, an open source SCADA system represents the most flexible and most cost-effective SCADA option for such assets. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a low-cost, open source SCADA system based on the most recent SCADA architecture, the Internet of Things (IoT). The proposed SCADA system consists of current and voltage sensors for data collection, an ESP32 micro-controller with organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, for receiving and processing the sensor data, and ThingsBoard IoT server for historic data storage and human machine interactions. For the sensor data transfer from the ESP32 to the ThingsBoard IoT server, Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol is implemented for data transfer over a local Wi-Fi connection with the MQTT Client configured on the ESP32, and the ThingsBoard server node serving as the MQTT Broker. The ThingsBoard IoT server is locally installed with PostgreSQL database on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer and hosted locally on MUN Network for data integrity and security. To test the performance of the developed open source SCADA system solution, it was setup to acquire and process the current, voltage and power of a standalone solar photovoltaic system for remote monitoring and supervisory control. The overall system design procedures and testing, as well as the created dashboards and alarms on the ThingsBoard IoT server platform are presented in the paper