Innovative Multi-Layered Architecture for Heterogeneous Automation and Monitoring Systems: Application Case of a Photovoltaic Smart Microgrid

Abstract

Intelligent energy facilities, e.g., smart grids and microgrids are the evolution of traditional energy grids through digital transformation. These modern paradigms are expected to foster the utilization of renewable energies, sustainable development, and resilience of the power grid. A barrier found when deploying experimental smart grids and microgrids consists of handling the heterogeneity of the required hardware and software components as well as the available commercial equipment. Despite the fact that there is various architecture proposed in previous literature, it commonly lacks experimental validation, specification of involved equipment concerning industrial/proprietary or open-source nature, and concretization of communication protocols. To overcome such drawbacks, this paper proposes an innovative multi-layered architecture to deploy heterogeneous automation and monitoring systems for microgrids. The architecture is structured into six functional layers to organize the hardware and software equipment in an integrated manner. The open protocol Modbus TCP is chosen to harmonize communications, enabling the interconnection of equipment from industrial and energy scopes, indeed of open-source nature. An experimental photovoltaic-based smart microgrid is reported as the application case to demonstrate the suitability and validity of the proposal.

A Review of DC Microgrid Energy Management Systems Dedicated to Residential Applications

“…The most used protocols are network timing protocol (NTP) for time synchronization, transmission control protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP). In Reference [39], a Modbus protocol was used for data exchange between programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Two main versions of Modbus were presented in this study, i.e., remote terminal unit (RTU) and TCP, known as Modbus TCP/IP.…”

“…TRNSYS and graphical user interface (GUI) are graphically based software tools and are extremely flexible [87]. Several hardware components, such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi (RPi), and Color Control GX (CCGX), and SCADA, are explored in [39,88]. All these tools are primarily used for the energy management of microgrids.…”

Implementation of a Six-Layer Smart Factory Architecture with Special Focus on Transdisciplinary Engineering Education

“…This kind of abstract reference model for layer architectures is not a new concept [ 12 , 13 , 14 ], but it has a superior advantage due to international standardization. The high amount of the current literature regarding layer architectures demonstrates the importance of this topic among different disciplines in the manufacturing environment, e.g., in [ 15 ], Zyrianoff et al focused the implementation of layered internet of things (IoT) solutions for the development and further enhancement of smart agriculture and smart cities; in [ 16 ], Ungurean and Gaitan describe a further concretization of the reference model with a special focus on industrial internet of things (IIoT) solutions; in [ 17 ], Gonzalez et al present the utilization of Modbus TCP to overcome proprietary automation solutions for smart microgrids in the photovoltaic sector. Despite the high academic as well as industrial research activities within the last years [ 1 , 2 , 18 ], numerous new concepts and developments are not suitable for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the manufacturing environment [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Comparison of Economic Performance of Lead-Acid and Li-Ion Batteries in Standalone Photovoltaic Energy Systems

“…It is well known that in electric vehicles, the characteristics of Li-ion batteries are much more suitable than those of lead-acid ones but, in stationary systems, lead-acid batteries could be used if its technical and economic performance is considered adequate. Another characteristic that differentiates both types of batteries is the greater management complexity of Li-ion batteries, which require additional electronics and management algorithms [35,36]. This can lead to incompatibilities between batteries from different manufacturers and raise the design and maintenance costs of the systems.…”