Advanced architecture and interfacing technologies of real time power-hardware-in-the-loop simulation

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Safe, renewable sources of energy, like solar and wind power, are gaining popularity due to their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. However, renewable energy is also often dependent on prevailing weather conditions, leading to a sporadic and unpredictable energy supply, which creates power quality issues for both users and providers of electrical power. This difficulty can be overcome by developing low voltage microgrid infrastructures that can interface directly with distributed renewable energy sources and employ smart control mechanisms to regulate the efficient use and stability of the available power in the grid.***There are challenges to the design and evaluation of an intelligent microgrid. There are no appropriate simulators to simulate power and communication devices at the same time. And it is well-known that there is also a large technology gap that lies between simulation and practical systems, as there are a lot of non-ideal components in power apparatuses. A Power-Electronics-based Power-Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) platform can help to overcome these challenges by providing a semi-physical system for evaluation of novel microgrid designs. Physical (not simulated) components, like power apparatuses and communication devices, could then be incorporated in a test microgrid, which would perform like an actual mircogrid installation. Energy availability from weather sources and the external grid infrastructure (e.g. medium voltage public grid networks) can be fully controlled and simulated by computers, and their responses converted and amplified by power electronics interfaces. Actual interactions of the microgrid with these external power sources will be simulated in a way that will provide superior evaluations of power quality and grid stability. The power will cycle between the PHIL platform and the GUT, which will provide high efficiency for prolonged periods of evaluation.***A 30kVA PHIL system with a Microgrid under test will be constructed to run in a Lab environment. The complete evaluation platform will be small, efficient, practical, accurate and fully controllable for changing environmental data and external grid operations. The PHIL platform will bridge the technical gap between theoretical simulation and practical applications in a Lab environment. The proposed program will train 10 HQP (2 Ph.D., 3 M.Sc. and 5 USRA), they will gain experience and generate new knowledge of power electronics and power systems. The proposed system will facilitate technology and business development for both real time simulation platform manufacturers and microgrid providers in Canada. Furthermore, Canadian research centres and power apparatus manufacturers will have a cost-effective, compact, fully controllable, reliable PHIL simulator to evaluate emerging grids and power apparatuses for future small grids applications. **