A local real-time controller to face the problem of power imbalance in a VED consisting of several DC Microgrids

A Real-Life Application of a Smart User Network

“…The paper presents the experimental results of a real-life DC microgrid, the SUN, as described in Sections 3 and 5. It is worth to underline that the proposed DBS control strategy has been validated by the simulation results illustrated by the authors in [4,6,7,53]. In this paper the aim is to implement the propose DBS in a real-life application (see Section 5), to demonstrate and validate experimentally (see Section 6) the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy and of the simulation model.…”

“…In this context, the authors have illustrated in [4,6,7] the SUN, consisting of several micro-sources, electric vehicles, storage systems and electrical/heat loads interconnected through a common DC bus, working simultaneously and in a coordinated way. In these papers, the SUN is connected to the grid, at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC), via a Power Electronic Interface (PEI), which is a bi-directional power converter.…”

“…The PEI converter is capable to regulate bi-directional power flow between SUN and grid: It is able to supply/absorb power when the SUN is connected to the grid. In this context the authors have proposed in Reference [4,6,7] for a DC microgrid the DBS logic investigating on the operating control modes of microgrid converters, introducing four operation modes for grid-connected configuration and three operation modes for islanded configuration.…”

“…In an urban context, there may be many examples of these smart community microgrids that can be considered balanced islands as hospitals, university campuses, and shopping and/or directional centers. In these islands, it is necessary a monitoring and management system able to guarantee as much as possible a stable operation that is the balance between the generation and the load [6,7].…”

“…The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of a decentralized and distributed control logic, as the DC Bus Signaling (DBS) implemented by the authors in References [4,7], to a SUN in a real-life application. In particular, the goal of the decentralized and distributed control logic is ensuring the reliability, continuity and quality of supply both in grid-connected and in stand-alone configuration, maximizing the use of renewable energy sources, in absence of a communication infrastructure between the energy sources, storage systems and loads.…”