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Micro-Grid Literature

Grid Integration Literature

K. A. Nigim and W. Lee, "Micro Grid Integration Opportunities and Challenges" 2007 IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting, Tampa, FL, 2007, pp. 1-6. doi: 10.1109/PES.2007.385669

1. Presents the opportunities and challenge facing the integration of microgrid with exiting utilities and concludes with the required steps needed to minimize the challenging factor

2. Energy management system – dispatches heat and power according to the demand and fuel availability at all times through coordination among the mix of the generating units.

3. Opportunities: - • To reduce dependency on imported fuel sources and to help in regulating prime fuel market competition.

• To enable the use of renewable energy sources

• To help rural Electrification

• To defer the constructing or extension if transmission lines

• To Push forward the virtual power management concept that utilizes local resources nationally

4. Challenges.

• Technical Challenges: - Issues such as safety, islanding, restoration from scheduled and unscheduled shut downs protection coordination, capacity and reserves Management.

• Non-technical Challenges: - issues such as pricing, incentive, decision priory, risk responsibility and insurance for new technologies adaption and interconnection standards.

"V. S. Tejwani, B. N. Suthar and D. A. Prajapati, "Integration of microgrid with utility grid for sharing real and reactive power" 2015 International Conference on Computer, Communication and Control (IC4), Indore, 2015, pp. 1-5. doi: 10.1109/IC4.2015.7375592"

1. Microgrid: - Distributed generation-based grid that contain both generations as well loads.

2. For smooth operation – necessary to maintain voltage and frequency of microgrid

3. This paper presents: - power exchange between Microgrid and utility grid at different loading condition.

4. Power Controller compares the reference and actual values of real and reactive power derived from grid and generates reference value for direct and quadrature axis component current.

5. The voltage sources inverter controls the flow of real and reactive power between the microgrid and utility grid.

6. The flow of real and reactive power from the Microgrid to the utility grid is determined by vector relation between inverter output voltage and utility grid voltage along with line reactance.

7. Active Power is mainly depends upon power angle and reactive power is mainly depends upon inverter output.

P. V. Joshi and S. S. Dhamal, "Study of different converter topologies for interconnecting microgrid with utility grid" 2015 International Conference on Control, Instrumentation, Communication and Computational Technologies (ICCICCT), Kumaracoil, 2015, pp. 731-734. doi: 10.1109/ICCICCT.2015.7475376

• Power Electronics converter play vital role in renewable energy systems and microgrids

• Grid Connected mode: -

1. The power fed into utility can be managed by either controlling of current injected or by power angle control.

2. For synchronizing converter output voltage or current, phase looked loop (PLL) control or grid voltage zero crossing detection can be implemented.

• Islanded mode: -

1. Microgrid is operated in this mode when utility is disconnected because of appearance of fault in utility

2. Microgrid converter has keep frequency and voltage with microgrid constant.

3. Several methods for parallel: - Frequency and voltage drop method and Master slave

• Battery charging mode: -

1. Due to intermittency of renewable generation sources and large time constraint, storage system should be present to manage disturbances and fast load changes.

2. Interconnection of microgrids with utility will surely help in reducing supply demand shortfall and customer participation in deregulated electrical sector.

Solar Powered Schools Literature

F. Calise, "Thermoeconomic analysis and optimization of high efficiency solar heating and cooling systems for different Italian school buildings and climates" Energy and Buildings, 42(7), 992-1003, 2010.

• Search: Google Scholar for "solar powered school"
• economic profitability of system dependent upon public funding policies (ex: feed-in tariff)
• system contributes to energy savings, emissions reductions and growth of use of renewable energy sources
• incentive policies and demonstration projects needed to actualize this type of system at large scale
• energy efficiency is a problem for school buildings because of enormous energy consumption rates

C. Filippin, "Thermal response of solar and conventional school buildings to design- and human-driven factors" Renewable Energy, 30(2), 353-376, 2005.

• Search: Google Scholar for "solar school"
• energy makes up a high percentage of costs for schools
• Green School Project & Energy Smart Schools (U.S.) are initiatives aimed at improving the energetic and environmental efficiency of school buildings
• LEED- Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design

Zhao et al., "The green school project: A means of speeding up sustainable development?" Geoforum, 65, 310-313, 2015.

• Search: Google Scholar for "green school project"
• schools are unique and special communities- have capacity to spread awareness of low carbon concepts and issues related to energy
• Green School Project objective is to generate more students with sustainable consciousness, contribute to greater awareness of sustainable development and reduce carbon emissions
• dependence on fossil fuels is driving energy shortage- global reserves are limited and fast depleting (less than 200 years to depletion)
• schools are the potential breeding grounds of innovative ideas and trends
• popularize sustainable development by providing students with environmental protection/energy conservation context
• Green Schools conserve resources and enhance environmental quality by demonstrating/educating sustainability

Yilmaz et al., "Energy supply in a green school via a photovoltaic-thermal power system" Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 57, 713-720, 2016.

• Search: Google Scholar for "green school and energy"
• economic, technical and environmental feasibility study of grid-connected PV for a school
• results show a school in similar climatic conditions to Kahramanmaras, Turkey can meet entire energy needs with renewable energy sources so long as optimal planning is employed
• cost and performance of energy systems depends on human factors and design components selected
• on-site renewable energy systems and technology are developing fast and are becoming more diversified
• increase energy efficiency, lower costs and emissions simultaneously
• "school's energy needs are met in an optimal manner with solar energy"

Jimenez, A. and Lawland, T., "Renewable Energy for Rural Schools" National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2000.

• Search: Google Scholar for "green school and energy"
• integration of renewable energy resources into school buildings needs to be supported by a policy framework
• RE power systems are commonly misconceived as unaffordable- initial cost evaluations often discourage RE development
• excess energy supply can generate income to support operation and local community

Hau et al., "Analyzing the Impact of Renewable Energy Incentives and Parameter Uncertainties on Financial Feasibility of a Campus Microgrid" Energies, 11(9), 2018.

• Search: Proquest for "school solar microgrid"
• microgrids have environmental and technical advantages
• high capital costs are a barrier to microgrid integration
• analysis tool= Microgrid Decision Support Tool which aids decision making when it comes to microgrid project investment (OSS)
• incentives, such as renewable energy incentive programs, have large influence over the financial feasibility and optimal design of a microgrid
• shifting from centralized grid system to independent/decentralized system (microgrid) is gaining momentum
• direct advantages of microgrids include: high penetration of RE resources, improved energy security/reliability, reductions in GHG emissions/fuel consumption and power system operating costs (LCOE)
• when designing a microgrid system, imperative to perform a techno-economic analysis- determines feasibility
• renewable energy tax credits and tax deductions provide huge potential benefits (net metering, investment tax credits, exemptions/incentives, etc.)
• investment based incentives proved to have strongest impact- they decease high installation costs which has been the primary challenge of adopting RE systems

Fowlie et al., "Solar Microgrids and Remote Energy Access: How Weak Incentives Can Undermine Smart Technology" Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, 8(1), 2019.

• Search: Proquest for "school solar microgrid"
• microgrid can be integrated to national grid if and when it wants to
• households in this study were unwilling to pay for microgrid connection if a subsidized grid connection exists
• community engagement is critical- projects fails unless they start from within
• supporting commercial loads generates income
• understand and accommodate political context of the environment in which it will operate

Santos et al., "Framework for Microgrid Design Using Social, Economic, and Technical Analysis" Energies, 11(10), 2018.

• Search: Proquest for "school microgrid"
• solutions to local energy systems=microgrids!
• local characteristics such as social, political, legal and regulatory assert immense influence over project success/performance/feasibility
• relevant stakeholders are provided numerous benefits: economic, environmental and technical- see figure 1 for microgrid benefits
• consumers could potentially derive cheaper energy from microgrid than from main grid
• reduced load on distribution grids during peak time (peak load shaving) and system stability
• social benefits= increased public awareness, creation of job/research opportunities, energy saving incentives
• decreased reliance on fossil fuel=increased resilience
• design must consider household benefits, impact on local resources, management, utility regulation

Husein, M., and Chung, I., "Optimal design and financial feasibility of a university campus microgrid considering renewable energy incentives" Applied Energy, 225, 273-289, 2018.

• Search: Proquest for "school microgrid"
• renewable energy penetration and financial feasibility/viability of campus microgrid positively influenced by renewable energy investment-based incentives, tax benefits and grid ancillary services
• created economic model using Microgrid Decision Support Tool (MDSTool) to determine optimal sizing and calculate system cash flows
• microgrid benefits= emissions reductions, energy security and resiliency, energy/economic savings
• industry is in need of an ideal business model for microgrids. Imperative to harness all the benefits associated with this investment in order to be more effective
• benefits of microgrid investment= net metering, feed-in tariff, renewable energy incentives and grants, emission reduction credits, tax credits
• claims minimal research has been done to understand how RE incentives and tax benefits effect microgrid planning
• consider the tax status of the investor
• conclusion: financial attractiveness of microgrids is dependent on incentives

Hanna et al., "Evaluating business models for microgrids: Interactions of technology and policy" Energy Policy, 103, 47-61, 2017.

• Search: Proquest for "school microgrid"
• most advocacy regarding decentralization emphasizes the potential for the deployment of renewable energy
• customer energy costs can be reduced through decentralization (microgrids)
• 3 primary factors driving growth in microgrid/decentralization= falling prices of PV and electric storage, rising costs of grid-service electricity, policy aimed at reducing emissions and promoting autonomous energy production
• barriers to microgrid deployment= interconnection fees, prohibition of self-generated networks in some places
• there are myriad public benefits of microgrids but the challenge is to get potential investors to see the private benefits
• strategic to exploit a business model for investors to save money by shifting to microgrid service instead of standard grid
• compared against macro grid utility service, microgrid can be cost-effective
• policy makers can guide deployment of microgrids by structuring grid operations to be of widespread distributed microgrids
• interconnection tariffs and the price of carbon are under direct jurisdiction of policy makers

Domenech et al., "A community electrification project: Combination of microgrids and household systems fed by wind, PV or micro-hydro energies according to micro-scale resource evaluation and social constraints" Energy for Sustainable Development, 23, 275-285, 2014.

• Search: Proquest for "school microgrid"

El-Leathey et al., "Technical Economic Analysis of a Small-Scale Microgrid for a Specific Location" Electrotehnică, Electronică, Automatică, 63, 2015.

• Search: Proquest for "school microgrid"