Distributed Energy Resources: A Review, Modeling, and Cyber-Physical Potential of Solar and Wind Generation

Over the last few decades, the need for renewable energy generation has been increasing rapidly. Much of this need stems from the necessity for cleaner energy sources that would heavily improve the quality of life for future generations. As such, this led to the rise of distributed energy resources (DERs), with a lot of focus on DER integration into the existing power grid. This integration comes with many research challenges centered on maintaining system reliability, power quality, resiliency, and security-opening the floor for highlighting the need for cyber-physical resilient energy systems. In this paper, we will perform a literature review on the different efforts made in modeling distributed energy resources and cyber-physical power systems. Additionally, we will introduce and develop models for solar and wind energy integrated into the IEEE 13 bus distribution network. The models are validated by studying and analyzing the bus voltage limits in comparison with the standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The criticality of this work lies in its future purpose of aiding in cyber-physical analyses complementary to implementing a cyber-physical resilient energy management system.