A Study on Self-Security of Smart Inverters

Grid-interactive inverters play a crucial role in distributed energy generation, facilitating the exchange of information within a supervisory control structure for energy management and economic dispatch. However, this exchange of information exposes the inverters to potential risks, compromising their safe operation. This survey paper investigates various cyberattack scenarios targeting smart inverters and explores defense strategies to mitigate these risks. A particular focus is placed on the incorporation of a reference model in device-level security, which enables efficient analysis of incoming setpoints, effectively identifying and mitigating malicious or harmful actions. The findings highlight the importance of device-level self-security to protect the grid-interactive inverters. This review paper concludes by providing recommendations for future research in this area.