Abstracts Physics

A power sharing based approach for optimizing photovoltaic generation in autonomous microgrids

by Olaoluwapo Ajala

In an effort to reduce the electric industry's dependence on fossil fuels, renewable energy resources are being deployed in the power grid. However, the intermittent nature of some popular renewable resources presents the problem of optimizing their use. This work presents a control strategy for the optimization of available photovoltaic generation in an autonomous microgrid. The deepening penetration of rooftop solar panels motivates our case study of a microgrid with photovoltaic (PV) generators and microturbines. Building upon centralized generation concepts such as droop control, automatic generation control and area control error, the strategy ensures effective provision of power raise/lower actions to the system based on some locally measured variables, with the ability to turn-off the microturbine in the event of adequate PV generation for such actions. A 5-bus test system with three PV generators and one microturbine is considered, and preliminary simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach