Practice Summary: Improved Reliability via Optimization in Residential Microgrids

Abstract

Southern Company is an electric utility that is embracing residential microgrids as a platform for distributed energy. The first residential microgrid in the southeastern United States was constructed in Hoover, Alabama, as a testbed for development. To operate the microgrid, we developed an optimization model for unit commitment and economic dispatch. The optimization model was implemented in a microgrid central controller and tested under various operational scenarios. Challenges also include developing a pricing algorithm to deliver price forecasts to the residential homes in the microgrid and open-source software restrictions.