Control-Centric Living Laboratory for Management of Distributed Energy Resources

Variability and uncertainty of renewable distributed generation increase power grid complexity, necessitating the development of advanced control strategies. demonstrates a real-world testbed and the implementation of control strategies on it to mitigate the challenges associated with variability and uncertainty of renewable distributed generation. This control-centric testbed includes 4.6 MW of controllable building loads, a 1 MW solar array, and a 125 kW / 130 kWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The capabilities of the testbed are illustrated by highlighting the implementation of three specific scenarios relevant to future smart grid infrastructures. In the first scenario, photovoltaic output variability is mitigated with the BESS using adaptive moving average and adaptive state of charge control methods. The second and third scenarios demonstrate peak load management and load following control to manage uncertainty using the Intelligent Load Control (ILC) algorithm. The ILC modifies controllable loads using a prioritization matrix and an analytical hierarchy process. The three scenarios all operate at a different time-constant, and are each effectively addressed, demonstrating the versatility and flexibility of the presented testbed. This demonstrated ability to rapidly test the efficacy of alternate control algorithms on a real system is crucial to the maturation of future smart-grid.