Development of "AC Microgrid" lab environment - case study of production following consumption
Esner, Jakub (2015)
Esner, Jakub
2015
Master's Degree Programme in Electrical Engineering
Tieto- ja sähkötekniikan tiedekunta - Faculty of Computing and Electrical Engineering
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2015-06-03
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201505081270
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201505081270
Tiivistelmä
Photovoltaic installations on resident’s rooftops are becoming increasingly popular. An increased deployment of intermittent power generators requires new installations of controllable resources in order to minimize stress introduced to electrical grid. The best solution is creating these resources in houses with photovoltaic installation. A production following consumption can be implemented e.g. by controlling space heaters or energy storage systems.
In this thesis, a production following algorithm is developed utilizing heat energy storage. Load shifting implementation requires the same equipment and therefore has been combined with production following algorithm. The algorithm first generates schedules based on day-ahead-prices and weather forecast. These schedules are then interpreted by real-time controllers directly interfacing with appliances in order to achieve production following while maintaining preset room temperatures.
In order to evaluate algorithm’s performance a mathematical model of household had to be created. This model comprises of thermal model of house, hot water boiler and radiator. The case study simulations showed that developed algorithm utilizing hot water boiler as energy storage can offer considerable savings. A return of investments can be made in less than 7 years with total savings around 840€. Moreover, no support from network operators has been considered and thus higher revenue could be achieved.
Simulated results might be doubted as the mathematical model of house and its appliances cannot mimic all aspects of real-life environment. For that reason, a laboratory has been build. The laboratory should be able to emulate behavior of real-word house so different algorithm implementations could be objectively tested in realistic environment. The core of the laboratory is AC Microgrid panel equipped with seven universal three-phase channels. Each of these channels can be controlled by dSpace, which is responsible for environment emulation, or by home-energy-management computer utilizing wireless Z-Wave interface. A measurement system has been designed so power-flows within household could be provided to home-energy-management computer and its algorithms. A Matlab / Simulink interface blocks have been implemented so an easy transition from simulations to hardware-in-the-loop simulations is possible.
In this thesis, a production following algorithm is developed utilizing heat energy storage. Load shifting implementation requires the same equipment and therefore has been combined with production following algorithm. The algorithm first generates schedules based on day-ahead-prices and weather forecast. These schedules are then interpreted by real-time controllers directly interfacing with appliances in order to achieve production following while maintaining preset room temperatures.
In order to evaluate algorithm’s performance a mathematical model of household had to be created. This model comprises of thermal model of house, hot water boiler and radiator. The case study simulations showed that developed algorithm utilizing hot water boiler as energy storage can offer considerable savings. A return of investments can be made in less than 7 years with total savings around 840€. Moreover, no support from network operators has been considered and thus higher revenue could be achieved.
Simulated results might be doubted as the mathematical model of house and its appliances cannot mimic all aspects of real-life environment. For that reason, a laboratory has been build. The laboratory should be able to emulate behavior of real-word house so different algorithm implementations could be objectively tested in realistic environment. The core of the laboratory is AC Microgrid panel equipped with seven universal three-phase channels. Each of these channels can be controlled by dSpace, which is responsible for environment emulation, or by home-energy-management computer utilizing wireless Z-Wave interface. A measurement system has been designed so power-flows within household could be provided to home-energy-management computer and its algorithms. A Matlab / Simulink interface blocks have been implemented so an easy transition from simulations to hardware-in-the-loop simulations is possible.