DC Microgrid Energy Optimization

DC microgrids, which utilize PV arrays and batteries or wind turbines and batteries, offer a viable solution for meeting the low to medium-power needs of rural, remote, and informal settlements. However, these solutions have limitations since they rely on the availability of the sun or wind. To address these limitations, researchers have identified that hybrid systems that combine multiple power sources may be more effective than a battery-only PV/wind system. These hybrid systems use dynamic energy dispatch to optimize the overall cost and operation of the microgrid. Energy management systems are used to achieve this dynamic energy dispatch, which involves load profiling and intelligent decision-making on energy dispatch. While numerous energy management systems have been implemented worldwide to optimize microgrids, less work has been done in Africa and South Africa, specifically on the demand side energy management system. This paper focuses on a hybrid PV-driven battery and fuel cell backup system, with the initial aim of dimensioning the PV/battery and fuel cell. The work then shifted towards developing an energy management system. The proposed system was a low-power provision in a +48 VDC format, which covered lighting and powered computing, entertainment, and communication modules. Seven households were selected with a total energy consumption of 8640 W/h daily. The results compared the efficiency of microgrid with demand-side management versus without demand-side management, as well as the effect of load scheduling. The simulation was conducted using MATLAB/Simulink.