A Hybrid ac\/dc Nanogrid: The Keating Hall Installation at the Illinois Institute of Technology

Abstract

Following the emergence of microgrids, the concept of nanogrids has been proposed for assimilating distributed energy resources in low-voltage applications. In principle, a nanogrid has a similar structure to a microgrid, but it is spread out in a much smaller geographic area (e.g., a single building) and usually entails a much smaller capacity. Nanogrids are designed to satisfy very specific objectives within a microgrid. For instance, the surgery building within a hospital campus or the police station within a university campus could be regarded as critical operations that would be designed as nanogrids. The implementation of nanogrids is also subject to fewer technological challenges than those encountered in microgrids. In accordance with the increasing popularity of solar-plus-storage utilization at a single-building level, nanogrids tend to flourish with time, thereby meeting the goals of smart-grid technology to enhance the economic advantages, sustainability, reliability, and resilience of electric power services supplied to electricity customers. The nanogrid was traditionally designed as a diesel-based, off-grid installation to supply basic loads in remote locations of the world. What is different here is the introduction of an ac/dc technology that utilizes control and communication strategies embedded in smart grids for supplying critical loads in a urban-based microgrid.