Field Implementation of a Real-time Battery Control Scheme for a Microgrid at the University of California, Riverside

This study demonstrates a real-time battery control scheme which consists of off-peak, mid-peak and on-peak period operation of a microgrid system at the University of California, Riverside. Using limited system historical information, the control scheme minimizes demand peak and energy consumption from the grid under a time of use (TOU) rate schedule. The off-peak operation mode fully charges the battery system while keeping low building demand by autonomously adjusting the demand threshold based on the real-time building load. The mid-peak operation mode maximizes self-consumption of onsite renewable energy by consuming surplus energy stored in the battery system. As previous reported, on-peak operation mode minimizes the building net load by optimally discharging the battery system based on real-time solar generation and building load consumption.