IoT-Based Cyber-Physical Distribution System Planning

Recently, there has been a large-scale integration of renewable sources to keep pace with the enormous increment of consumers’ load demand. The integration of these devices on a large scale can violate the technical and regulatory constraints of the smart power grid. Therefore, a proper control system must be designed to increase their power output and maximize the system owners’ benefit while meeting power grid standards. This paper is a collection of information to provide its reader with a holistic view of the implementation of a cyber-physical system to aid in distribution system planning. The goal of this paper is to review the current literature and identify research gaps that have yet to be fully explored. This is followed by making proposals for areas to be researched in order to improve the knowledge bank surrounding this important topic. This paper will begin by addressing the concept of a cyberphysical system by elaborating on its structure through its various layers. It will also describe the role of the Internet of Things (IoT) in improving the monitoring and control abilities of cyber-physical distribution systems. Furthermore, a detailed literature review is given to highlight the current state of distribution system research being done surrounding the implementation of cyber-physical systems to improve system planning. Based on this review, an analysis is given to better explain how a successful cyber-physical based distribution system can be constructed to achieve automation. Finally, gaps in current research are discussed to provide an understanding on which aspects of cyber-physical based distribution system planning have not been fully explored yet and where more exploration needs to be done. A list of research questions are provided to help aid potential researchers dive deeper into the area of fully automating distribution systems that consist of both renewable and non-renewable sources of energy.