Reliable Islanded Microgrid Operation Using Dynamic Optimal Power Management

The tradeoff between the operating cost and the reliability of microgrids imposes challenges of having cost-effective power dispatch and reliable operations. The work presented in this article optimally solves this issue in a microgrid that contains photovoltaic (PV), dispatchable generator, and storage battery. Flexible control algorithms are developed to enable high penetration of PV power in islanded microgrids such that the challenge of having a cost-effective and reliable operation can be mitigated. This is achieved by creating a power flow optimization framework that considers all variables associated with the system operation. Particle swarm optimization is utilized to effectively optimize the power flow among the integrated sources and to dynamically schedule the battery state of charge. The proposed controller of each source works to fulfill the requirements of the optimization. The energy index of reliability is employed as a direct measure to quantify the reliability level of the microgrid. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by simulations and validated by experimental studies.