AN1-001
This is determined by comparing the voltage of the
Microgrid Test Bed
A. Bross
L. Breslin
Z. Zeitler
DEC 2013
Overview
The basic microgrid design interconnects generation sources
with loads and storage through the use of an intelligent control
system. Microgrids can be made small enough to manage a
house or large enough to manage an entire city. We developed a
simple test bed for a microgrid that simulates PV generation as
an alternate energy source. It uses LabVIEW and the NI sbRIO
9636 to automate the system. Additional research regarding
battery storage was completed to determine ways to make the
system more robust in terms of using additional alternate energy
sources.
Introduction
The microgrid is a miniature, automated smart grid. It simulates
the storage and usage of green energy in a system that is tied to
a power grid. It is operated by the NI sbRIO-9636, which is
programmed using LabVIEW. The LabVIEW model controls
the grid based on three main inputs: the predicted weather for
the next day, the charge level of the storage/backup batteries,
and the difference between the load required and the power
generated. These factors determine which components of the
grid will operate to satisfy the load requirement.
Discussion
We started with a functional microgrid test bed, but
unfortunately had no intelligent monitoring or control system.
The system was designed to have a central control board that
ties multiple components together. These components include a
power supply to simulate the grid, a power supply to simulate
PV or renewable energy supply, an electronic load, battery
storage, and a solar battery charger.
Approach
To create an intelligent control system, a new control board was
fabricated that enabled connection to an FPGA board. The new
control board was designed to allow all voltage and current
measurement wires to connect with the FPGA. The current
measurements were done using shunt resistors placed in series
with all devices. Due to the FPGAs 16-bit analog input
resolution, instrumentation amps were used to add gain to the
shunt resistor signals. The FPGA board used was the NI sbRIO-
9636 which allows for 28 digital input/outputs and 16 analog
inputs. This board is programmed and controlled by NI
LabVIEW.
The LabVIEW model uses two case statements and a boolean
argument nested inside one another to determine which
components of the grid will operate at any given time. The first
case statement uses the result of the Weather Rating Scale
(WRS) input to decide how the system should operate based on
the irradiance of the sun. There are three cases for the
irradiance (1 = poor, 2 = okay, 3 = good). The boolean
argument nested in the WRS statement declares if the batteries
are charged.
batteries to a threshold that represents the minimum voltage
accepted for the batteries to be considered charged. Additional
focus on charging the batteries usually results when the
argument is false, as the battery voltage is not above the
threshold. The case statement nested inside the boolean
argument of the battery charge is controlled by the generation of
PV energy compared to the required load for the system. The
three cases represent PV generation that is greater than, less
than, or equal to the load. As the most deeply nested argument,
it ultimately determines which components of the microgrid will
be activated. All of the data is also logged so that it can be
viewed to help diagnose any problems with the microgrid.
PV data was collected from a PV array on campus and was used
to simulate the output of a PV array. Using a clamp-on current
meter, current data was collected for a house over the course of
a week. This data was sent to the electronic load to simulate the
load for the microgrid.
Conclusion
The microgrid is able to operate automatically using the NI
sbRIO-9636. All case statements and booleans respond
correctly to the measured input values, and the data of the
system can be logged and viewed as a spreadsheet.
Some problems were encountered when connecting multiple
power supplies of different voltages together. The reasons for
different voltages were that the PV power supply operated at a
higher voltage than the grid power supply because it had to be
able to charge the batteries. It was also determined that the PV
array needed to be stepped down to plug back into the grid
while charging a battery. This could all be completed using an
in-line Uninterrupted Power Supply. These systems allow DC
current to charge a battery system and convert DC to AC to
power the desired load. An autotransformer is also used in
conjunction with this system to step up or step down the voltage
to the correct rating. Uninterrupted Power Supplies complete all
the desired tasks needed to connect multiple voltage sources to
the grid. Each outside voltage source could be placed in line
with its own corresponding UPS, solving the problem of
connecting multiple voltage sources together. This would be
considered for future work with the system.
References
[1] "Electricity storage: Location, location, location and cost
- Battery storage for transmission support in Alaska".eia.gov.
Energy Information Administration (EIA). 2012 .
[2] Detailed explanation of UPS topologies "High-Availability
Power Systems, Part I: UPS Internal Topology".
[3] Staco Energy UPS On-line vs. Offline "UPS On-Line
Uninterruptible Power Supply Backup Power Source".
[4] Rasmussen, Neil (2011), The Different Types of UPS
Systems, Schneider Electric, White Paper 1 rev. 7