Energy Analyzer Emulator for Microgrid Implementation and Demonstration and Respective Gateway

Abstract

Microgrids have been implemented all over the world in the last years. Several benefits are known for consumers and power grid management. As part of microgrids, the local energy management of renewable energy sources can prevent energy loses and support microgrid operation in islanded modes. Besides the success of the current microgrid implementations, improved components and models are required. This paper proposes two tools that support the implementation of microgrid demonstrations, namely at laboratorial premises. Improved microgrid models implementation enables the development, test and validation of new energy management methodologies. The first proposed tool is a wireless gateway for energy monitoring and control. To implement complete microgrids, the second tool proposes an energy analyzer emulator, bringing unavailable loads to the microgrid, such as, residential loads usually unavailable in R&D centers. A real laboratory microgrid implementation using the proposed gateway and the proposed energy analyzer emulator is presented and discussed, demonstrating the actual capabilities of the developed tools.

MARTINE—A Platform for Real-Time Energy Management in Smart Grids

“…Regarding the physical layer, the real buildings, as well as the emulated buildings, need to have a gateway that allows the remote monitor and control using high transmission rates. To simplify the integration of physical loads and resources, a configurable gateway was developed in [41], where the user can opt for IEEE 802.11, Dash7, or Zigbee. The MARTINE agents have connection drivers for TCP/IP, Dash7, and Zigbee, where the last two require specific hardware connected to the machine executing the agent.…”

“…In MARTINE, the motivation is to integrate a large set of options regarding equipment for communication and control. For lower cost solutions, the gateways proposed in [41] can be used connected directly to any energy analyzer with MODBUS/RTU communication. Cloud-based solutions are much less expensive and can be acceptable namely for the residential sector and small business.…”

An Intelligent Smart Plug with Shared Knowledge Capabilities

“…These abilities allow the MAS to react to changes happening in their environment, to have pro-activity to achieve their own goals and to be social with other agents using direct communications to negotiate, collaborate or cooperate. The use of MAS for energy management systems functionalities is not a novelty feature, some examples can be seen in [ 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

μGIM - Microgrid intelligent management system based on a multi-agent approach and the active participation of end-users

“…The use of microgrids in University campuses is common as they enable energy cost reduction and enable the University staff to interact and conduct research over microgrids, acting as real-size testbeds for the university's research centres. Some, such as the GECAD microgrid, enable the combination between real, simulated and emulated buildings and resources (Gomes, 2019a).…”

“…The SOICAM Microgrid deployment has been published in the middle of 2018 (third year of PhD) in the IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications journal, with an impact factor of 3.347 (Gomes, 2019a). This section will detail the deployment, where V2R emulators were used to emulate airconditioner units.…”