Microgrid Demand Response: A Comparison of Simulated and Real Results

Microgrids can be used in demand response (DR) and islanding operations. This paper explores a real-world microgrid implementation performed at the University of California, Riverside. The intended purpose is to see the feasibility of demand response and islanding in a real microgrid. An algorithm is used to generate “target data” for the Battery Energy Storage (BES) Inverter to follow. The other purpose is to see the accuracy when transitioning from a simulated model to a real-life implementation. The results from this implementation show it is feasible to respond to demand response scenarios with the current setup. However, more research is needed to successfully implement islanding responses due to infrequent power spikes that briefly draw more power than the microgrid can produce.