A Potential Field Load Scheduling Approach for Self-Sustainable Electrical Microgrids

The electrical microgrids concept emerged from the proliferation of renewable energy systems and their spreading across the distribution system, alongside with electrical vehicles and storage systems. This change in the electrical energy paradigm implies a change in the way these systems are modeled and controlled due to their ability to operate as autonomous entities, decoupled from the main grid. This separation implies that the microgrid operates under tighter control in order to remain independent and self-sustainable, where prioritization, scheduling and shedding assume crucial roles. This paper introduces an innovative way to optimize the resource allocation of controllable loads in an electrical microgrid operating in island mode by using the potential fields concept. For this purpose, individual nodes representing producers and consumers are enriched with potential fields, being able to optimize their schedule and behavior, and consequently increase the microgrid's self-sustainability.