IoT-Enabled Real-Time Management of Smart Grids With Demand Response Aggregators

Integration of widely distributed small-scale renewable energy sources like rooftop photovoltaic panels and emerging loads like plug-in electric vehicles would cause more volatility in total net demand of distribution networks. Utility-owned storage units and control devices like tap changers and capacitors may not be sufficient to manage the system in real-time. Exploitation of available flexibility in demand side through aggregators is a new measure that distribution system operators are interested in. In this article, we present a developed real-time management schema based on Internet of things solutions which facilitate interactions between system operators and aggregators for ancillary services like power balance at primary substation or voltage regulation at secondary substations. Two algorithms for power balance and voltage regulation are developed based on modified optimal power flow and voltage sensitivity matrix, respectively. To demonstrate the applicability of the schema, we set-up a real-time simulation-based test bed and realized the performance of this approach in a real-like environment using real data of a network with residential buildings.