Localized management of distributed flexible energy resources

Abstract

The integration of distributed energy resources continues to be a challenge for the traditional electricity grid. Aside from additional variability in the net power demand, there is often a temporal discrepancy between generation and consumption schedules which can exacerbate demand peaks and troughs, leading to system overloading, voltage violations, and a low system load factor. This study proposes a control system approach to unify the management of the different types of flexible energy resources through Localized Demand Control. In this system, all flexible energy resources are coordinated using a power line carrier frequency signal to follow a preferred demand curve at the distribution transformer level. The system’s functionality has been confirmed in an actual 5-house microgrid without adverse effects on end-user comfort. Meanwhile, scaled-up simulation studies have shown improvements in the system load factor by as much as 189%, and increased hosting capacity by 40% for electric vehicles and 16% for solar photovoltaic panels.