scholarly journals On the Use of LoRaWAN for the Monitoring and Control of Distributed Energy Resources in a Smart Campus

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Pasetti ◽  
Paolo Ferrari ◽  
Diego Rodrigo Cabral Silva ◽  
Ivanovitch Silva ◽  
Emiliano Sisinni
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Distributed Energy Resources ◽  
Smart Environments ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Wide Area Network ◽  
Distributed Energy ◽  
Smart Campus ◽  
And Control

The application of the most recent advances of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology to the automation of buildings is emerging as a promising solution to achieve greater efficiencies in energy consumption, and to allow the realization of sustainable models. The application of IoT has been demonstrated as effective in many fields, such as confirmed, for instance, by the Industry 4.0 concepts, which are revolutionizing modern production chains. By following this approach, the use of distributed control architectures and of IoT technologies (both wired and wireless) would result in effective solutions for the management of smart environments composed of groups of buildings, such as campuses. In this case, heterogeneous IoT solutions are typically adopted to satisfy the requirements of the very diverse possible scenarios (e.g., indoor versus outdoor coverage, mobile versus fixed nodes, just to mention a few), making their large-scale integration cumbersome. To cope with this issue, this paper presents an IoT architecture able to transparently manage different communication protocols in smart environments, and investigates its possible application for the monitoring and control of distributed energy resources in a smart campus. In particular, a use–case focused on the integration of the Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology is considered to cope with heterogeneous indoor and outdoor communication scenarios. The feasibility analysis of the proposed solution is carried out by computing the scalability limits of the approach, based on the proposed smart campus data model. The results of the study showed that the proposed solution would be able to manage more than 10,000 nodes. An experimental validation of the LoRaWAN technology confirms its suitability in terms of coverage and latency, with a minimum LoRaWAN cell coverage range of 250 m, and a communication latency of about 400 ms. Finally, the advantages of the proposed solution in the supervision and management of a PV system are highlighted in a real-world scenario.

scholarly journals Solar+ Optimizer: A Model Predictive Control Optimization Platform for Grid Responsive Building Microgrids

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 3093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Krishnan Prakash ◽  
Kun Zhang ◽  
Pranav Gupta ◽  
David Blum ◽  
Marc Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Model Predictive Control ◽  
Predictive Control ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Distributed Energy Resources ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Wide Area Network ◽  
Battery Storage ◽  
Distributed Energy ◽  
Building Loads

With the falling costs of solar arrays and battery storage and reduced reliability of the grid due to natural disasters, small-scale local generation and storage resources are beginning to proliferate. However, very few software options exist for integrated control of building loads, batteries and other distributed energy resources. The available software solutions on the market can force customers to adopt one particular ecosystem of products, thus limiting consumer choice, and are often incapable of operating independently of the grid during blackouts. In this paper, we present the “Solar+ Optimizer” (SPO), a control platform that provides demand flexibility, resiliency and reduced utility bills, built using open-source software. SPO employs Model Predictive Control (MPC) to produce real time optimal control strategies for the building loads and the distributed energy resources on site. SPO is designed to be vendor-agnostic, protocol-independent and resilient to loss of wide-area network connectivity. The software was evaluated in a real convenience store in northern California with on-site solar generation, battery storage and control of HVAC and commercial refrigeration loads. Preliminary tests showed price responsiveness of the building and cost savings of more than 10% in energy costs alone.

scholarly journals A Real-Time Monitoring Platform for Distributed Energy Resources in a Microgrid—Pilot Study in Oman

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 1803
Author(s):  
Nasser Hosseinzadeh ◽  
Ahmed Al Maashri ◽  
Naser Tarhuni ◽  
Abdelsalam Elhaffar ◽  
Amer Al-Hinai
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Communication Channel ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Distributed Energy Resources ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Distributed Energy ◽  
Real Time Monitoring ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Monitoring Platform

This article presents the development of a platform for real-time monitoring of multi-microgrids. A small-scale platform has been developed and implemented as a prototype, which takes data from various types of devices located at a distance from each other. The monitoring platform is interoperable, as it allows several protocols to coexist. While the developed prototype is tested on small-scale distributed energy resources (DERs), it is done in a way to extend the concept for monitoring several microgrids in real scales. Monitoring strategies were developed for DERs by making a customized two-way communication channel between the microgrids and the monitoring center using a long-range bridged wireless local area network (WLAN). In addition, an informative and easy-to-use software dashboard was developed. The dashboard shows real-time information and measurements from the DERs—providing the user with a holistic view of the status of the DERs. The proposed system is scalable, modular, facilitates the interoperability of various types of inverters, and communicates data over a secure communication channel. All these features along with its relatively low cost make the developed real-time monitoring platform very useful for online monitoring of smart microgrids.

Distribution Static Compensators and their Applications in Microgrids

2017 ◽  
pp. 87-141
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abu-Siada ◽  
Mohammad A. S. Masoum ◽  
Yasser Alharbi ◽  
Farhad Shahnia ◽  
A .M. Shiddiq Yunus
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Storage Systems ◽  
Voltage Regulation ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Distributed Energy Resources ◽  
Distributed Energy ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Power Quality Improvement ◽  
And Control ◽  
Unbalanced Loads

Microgrids are clusters of distributed energy resources, energy storage systems and loads which are capable of operating in grid-connected as well as in offgrid modes. In the off-grid mode, the energy resources supply the demand while maintaining the voltage and frequency within acceptable limits whereas in the gridconnected mode, the energy resources supply the maximum or nominal power and the network voltage and frequency is maintained by the grid. This chapter first summarizes the structure and control principles of microgrids. It then briefly introduces the structures and control perspectives of distribution static compensators (DSTATCOMs). Finally, some applications of DSTATCOMs are discussed in microgrids. The introduced applications are power quality improvement due to the presence of nonlinear and unbalanced loads, voltage regulation and balancing, and interphase power circulation in the case of the presence of single-phase energy resources with unequal distribution amongst phases. Each application is illustrated by examples, realized in PSCAD/EMTDC.

scholarly journals Modeling and Optimization of Energy Hubs: A Comprehensive Review

Inventions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maroufmashat ◽  
Taqvi ◽  
Miragha ◽  
Fowler ◽  
Elkamel
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Electric Vehicles ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Distributed Energy Resources ◽  
Distributed Energy ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Efficient Operation ◽  
Energy Hub ◽  
And Control

: The concept of energy hubs has grown in prominence as a part of future energy systems, driven by the spread of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and the inception of the smart grid. This paper systematically reviews 200 articles about energy hubs, published from 2007 to 2017, and summarizes them based on their modeling approach, planning and operation, economic and environmental considerations, and energy hub applications. The common applications of energy hubs are considered, such as distributed energy resources, the consideration of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and the hydrogen economy. This paper examines modeling approaches towards energy hubs, including storage and its network models; it mentions some of the optimization strategies used to tackle the efficient operation and control of energy hubs. The novelty of this work lies in the classification of research papers related to energy hubs, the development of a generic framework for modeling these multiple energy flow carriers with storage and network considerations, and the provision of solution techniques in line with energy hub optimization.

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