Power management scheme of DC micro-grid integrated with photovoltaic - Battery - Micro hydro power plant

Abstract

Appropriate power management strategy for DC microgrid (MG) is required for integrating intermittent renewable energy sources and providing controllable power flow from dispatchable sources during load dynamics. In this work, DC MG with photovoltaic – battery - micro hydro power plant (MHPP) is considered. It is critical to have sustainable power flow in a DC MG. In considered DC MG, due to technical constraints (e.g. mechanical response time of MHPP, C-rate limitation of battery, PV intermittency), load dynamics cannot be compensated instantaneously. In this work, an innovative supervised power management scheme (SPMS) is proposed for sustainable power flow distribution within the DC MG sources against aforementioned supply constraints. The presented SPMS strategically operates MHPP of DC MG in such a way that sustainable power flow can be managed from dispatchable sources with maximum participation of MHPP during load transients with due consideration of C-rate limitations of battery storage. The effectiveness of proposed SPMS for MHPP centered DC MG is tested for load dynamics, and results are validated through hardware-in-loop experimental system. Moreover, performance of proposed SPMS, to maintain the stable power flow control of DC MG during transient load, is investigated with voltage stability analysis.