Decentralized Operation, Control, and Communications in Smart Grid

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A high penetration level of distributed energy resources (DER) is expected in the future smart grid. Typical examples of DER include distributed generation (DG) units such as photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, and distributed storage (DS) units such as batteries, flywheels and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) with vehicle-to-grid capabilities. As the integration of DER mainly takes place in power distribution systems and microgrids which are cost-sensitive in nature, establishing centralized operation and control over a large number of DG and DS units becomes infeasible. On the other hand, decentralized operation and control can be applied based on cost-effective wireless networks and computing devices, and fit well to the plug-and-play nature of DER integration. Despite all the advantages, developing decentralized operation and control schemes via wireless communications in smart grid is technically challenging due to the random output of DG units, buffering effect of DS units, and communication delays and packet losses over a wireless communication medium.****In this Discovery research program, stochastic models will be developed to assess the impact of decentralized DER operation on power distribution system, taking into account the random output of DG units and buffering effect of DS units. Based on the stochastic models, the operation of DER will be optimized to maximize the overall utilization. Moreover, low-cost short-range wireless networks will be leveraged to facilitate the information exchange among DER, based on which distributed consensus based decentralized DER control will be established to improve the stability of microgrid. Innovative networking algorithm and heterogeneous network architecture will be designed to improve the efficiency of wireless communications in microgrid. ****The interdisciplinary nature of the research will identify new opportunities for efficient and reliable DER integration in smart grid that are otherwise impossible in isolated approaches. It will generate new knowledge and train highly qualified personnel (HQP) for both information and communication technology (ICT) and electric power industries.**