MODULE I

Distributed generation – Introduction - Integration of distributed generation to Grid

Micro Grid - Concepts of Micro Grid - Typical Microgrid configurations - AC and DC micro
grids - Interconnection of Microgrids - Technical and Economic advantages of Microgrid -
Challenges and disadvantages of Microgrid development
Smart Grid: Evolution of Electric Grid - Definitions and Need for Smart Grid, Opportunities,
challenges and benefits of Smart Grids

DISTRIBUTED GENERATION

 Conventional power system is facing the problems of gradual depletion of fossil fuel
resources, poor energy efficiency and environmental pollution
 New trend of generating power locally at distribution voltage level by using non-
conventional/renewable energy sources has emerged
 Sources include natural gas, biogas, wind power, solar photovoltaic cells, fuel cells,
combined heat and power (CHP) systems, microturbines, Stirling engines etc.
 Locally generated such power close to the end users is then integrated with the grid
 This type of power generation is termed as distributed generation (DG)
 The energy sources are termed as distributed energy resources (DERs)
 Concept of ‘Distributed Generation’ is thus different from centralised conventional
generation
 Thus, distributed generation or on-site generation or district/decentralized energy is
electrical generation and storage performed by a variety of small, grid-connected
devices referred to as distributed energy resources

DISTRIBUTED GENERATION VS CENTRALISED GENERATION

(Lists out the advantages, disadvantages and need for Distributed Generation)

1. Distributed generation is not centrally planned by the power utility, nor centrally
dispatched.
2. Distributed generation is normally smaller than 50 MW.
3. The power sources or distributed generators are usually connected to the distribution
system, which are typically of voltages 230/415 V up to 145 kV.
4. Mostly, distributed generators can provide lower-cost electricity
5. Distributed generators have higher power reliability, quality, resilience and security

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 6. Distributed generators have fewer environmental consequences than traditional power
generators.
7. Distributed generation systems that use combustion may be less efficient than
centralized power plants
8. By using local energy sources, distributed generation reduces or eliminates the “line
loss” that happens during transmission and distribution.
9. Distributed generation systems are subject to a different mix of local, state, and federal
policies, regulations, and markets compared with centralized generation.
10. Distributed generation has lower variable cost and maintenance cost.
11. Distributed generation may require restructuring of the existing electricity supply
infrastructure.
12. Distributed generation may not be able to meet high power demands.
13. Sources of power make distributed generation more sustainable.
14. Network stability issues under fault condition leads to system dynamics which may
cause instability depending on the characteristics of the DG.
15. Various technical and economic issues occur in the integration of distributed generation
into a grid. Technical problems arise in the areas of power quality, voltage stability,
harmonics, reliability, protection, and control.

Centralised Generation Distributed Generation

INTEGRATION OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION TO GRID

For reasons of reliability, distributed generation resources would be interconnected to the same
transmission grid as central stations. Each distributed generation resource has its own
integration issues. Various technical and economic issues occur in the integration of these
resources into a grid in the areas of power quality, voltage stability, harmonics, reliability,

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protection, and control. In spite of this, the following reasons have led to gradual development
and integration of DG systems:

1. Due to rapid load growth, there is a need for augmentation of conventional generation
with non-conventional/renewable energy resources as an alternative.
2. Reduction of environmental pollution and global warming.
3. DG provides better scope for setting up co-generation, trigeneration or CHP plants for
utilising the waste heat for industrial/domestic/commercial applications. This increases
the overall energy efficiency of the plant and also reduces thermal pollution of the
environment.
4. DERs are generally modular units of small capacity which are geographically
widespread and usually located close to loads. This is required for technical and
economic viability of the plants.
5. Deregulated environment and open access to the distribution network also provide
greater opportunities for DG integration.
6. Fuel diversity offered by DG is valuable.
7. In some countries, the shortage of power is so acute that any form of generation is
encouraged to meet the load demand.

ACTIVE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

Electricity networks are in the era of major transition from stable passive distribution networks
with unidirectional electricity transportation to active distribution networks with bidirectional
electricity transportation. Distribution networks without any DG units are passive since the
electrical power is supplied by the national grid system to the customers embedded in the
distribution networks. The distribution network becomes active with the integration of DG
leading to bidirectional power flows in the networks band hence is termed as active distribution
network.

MICROGRID
 A microgrid is a localized group of electricity sources and loads that typically operates
connected to and synchronous with the traditional centralized grid (macrogrid), but can
disconnect and maintain operation autonomously as physical and/or economic conditions
dictate.
 Distributed renewable power generation are naturally dispersed and by integrating all these
distributed units together, a micro power system is formed from the distribution side, hence
the nomination of microgrid.
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 Microgrid is an active distribution network
 Composed of distributed generation
 Generators or microsources employed are usually renewable/non-conventional DERs
integrated together to generate power at distribution voltage.
 Microsources must be equipped with power electronic interfaces and controls to provide the
required flexibility to ensure operation as a single aggregated system and to maintain the
specified power quality, reliability, security and energy output.

Differences between a Microgrid and a conventional power plant are as follows:

1. Microsources are of much smaller capacity with respect to the large generators in
conventional power plants.
2. Power generated at distribution voltage can be directly fed to the utility distribution
network.
3. Microsources are normally installed close to the customers’ premises so that the
electrical/heat loads can be efficiently supplied with satisfactory voltage and frequency
profile and negligible line losses.

TYPICAL MICROGRID CONFIGURATION

A typical Microgrid configuration is shown in Figure.
 consists of electrical/ heat loads and microsources connected through an LV distribution
network
 microsources have plug-and-play features
 microsources are provided with PEIs to implement the control, metering and protection
functions
 consists of three radial feeders (A, B and C) to supply the electrical and heat loads
 consists of two CHP and two non-CHP microsources and storage devices.

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  Microsources and storage devices are connected to feeders A and C through
microsource controllers
 Some loads on feeders A and C are assumed to be priority loads, while others are non-
priority loads.
 Microgrid is coupled with the main medium voltage utility main grid through the PCC
circuit breaker CB4
 CB4 is operated to connect and disconnect the entire Microgrid from the main grid as
per the selected mode of operation.
 Feeders A, B and C can however be connected and disconnected by operating breakers
CB1, CB2 and CB3, respectively.

Operation
 Microgrid is operated in two modes: grid-connected and standalone.
In grid-connected mode, the Microgrid remains connected to the main grid either totally
or partially, and imports or exports power from or to the main grid. In case of any
disturbance in the main grid, the Microgrid switches over to stand-alone mode while
still feeding power to the priority loads. This can be achieved by either
(i) disconnecting the entire Microgrid by opening CB4 - Microgrid will operate as an
autonomous system with all the microsources feeding all the loads in feeders A, B
and C

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 (ii) disconnecting feeders A and C by opening CB1 and CB3 - feeders A and C will
supply only the priority loads while feeder B will be left to ride through the
disturbance
 Operation and management of Microgrid in different modes is controlled and co-
ordinated through local MCs and the central controller (CC)

Functions of Microsource Controller

- Independently without any communication from CC control the power flow and load-
end voltage profile of the microsource in response to any disturbance and load changes.
- participates in economic generation scheduling, load tracking/management and demand
side management by controlling the storage devices.
- ensure that each microsource rapidly picks up its generation to supply its share of load
in stand-alone mode and automatically comes back to the grid-connected mode with
the help of CC
- quick response to the locally monitored voltages and currents irrespective of the data
from the neighbouring MCs.
- MC will not interact independently with other MCs in the Microgrid
- will override the CC directives that may seem dangerous for its microsource

Functions of Central Controller

- executes the overall control of Microgrid operation and protection through the MCs
- maintains specified voltage and frequency at the load end through power-frequency and
voltage control
- ensures energy optimisation for the Microgrid
- performs protection co-ordination
- provides the power dispatch and voltage set points for all the MCs

Two main functional modules of CC are:

Energy Management Module
- EMM provides the set points for active and reactive power output, voltage and
frequency to each MC.
- function is co-ordinated through state-of-the-art communication and artificial
intelligence techniques.
- The EMM must see that
 Microsources supply heat and electrical loads to customer satisfaction.

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  Microgrids operate satisfactorily as per the operational a priori contracts with
main grid.
 Microgrids satisfy its obligatory bindings in minimising system losses and
emissions of greenhouse gases and particulates.
 Microsources operate at their highest possible efficiencies.

Protection Co-ordination Module

- Performs protection co-ordination of the Microgrid
- Adapts to the change in fault current levels during changeover from grid-connected to
stand-alone mode through proper communication with MCs and upstream main grid
controllers
- For,
 main grid fault - PCM immediately switches over the Microgrid to stand-alone
mode for supplying power to the priority loads
 if the grid fault endangers the stability of the Microgrid, then PCM may
disconnect the Microgrid fully from all main grid loads
 minor faults- PCM allows the Microgrid to ride through in the grid-connected
mode
 If a fault occurs within a portion of the Microgrid feeder the smallest possible
feeder zone is eliminated to maintain supply to the healthy parts of the feeder.
- helps to re-synchronise the Microgrid to the main grid after the initiation of switchover
to the gridconnected mode of operation through suitable reclosing schemes
Functions of the CC in the grid-connected mode are as follows:
1. Monitoring system diagnostics by collecting information from the microsources and
loads.
2. Performing state estimation and security assessment evaluation, economic generation
scheduling and active and reactive power control of the microsources and demand side
management functions by using collected information.
3. Ensuring synchronised operation with the main grid maintaining the power exchange
at priori contract points.

Functions of the CC in the stand-alone mode are as follows:

1. Performing active and reactive power control of the microsources in order to maintain
stable voltage and frequency at load ends.
2. Adopting load interruption/load shedding strategies using demand side management
with storage device support for maintaining power balance and bus voltage.
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 3. Initiating a local black start to ensure improved reliability and continuity of service.
4. Switching over the Microgrid to grid-connected mode after main grid supply is restored
without hampering the stability of either grid.

AC AND DC MICRO GRIDS

AC MICROGRID
- Three-phase AC bus is commonly employed at the point of common coupling
- PCC is the only power interface between a utility grid and the microgrid
- Fast switch can be placed in between PCC and utility grid as the cutoff point between
the microgrid and utility grid.
- Renewable DGs and ESSs are interfaced with power electronics converters with
distributed control
- Renewable DGs try to maximize power extraction from natural environment and
integrate it to the grid.
- ESSs are considered to be a controllable bidirectional source in a microgrid. A high-
performance power electronics interface enables an ESS to provide instant support to
power grid in addition to storage energy management.
- A coordinating scheme, either distributed or centralized, is usually designed to combine
all the above-mentioned DGs, loads, ESSs, and relays together to form a subsystem

DC MICROGRID
- DG units are dominated by power electronics devices. These devices need the DC
power for their operation. This led to the development of DC Microgrid
- By connecting all the DC links of the sources and loads, a DC microgrid is formed
- Commonly designed for a distributed DC power source connecting intermittent
renewable power sources, energy storages, and DC loads
- DC microgrid does not directly connect to the prevalent three-phase AC utility grid but
via a bidirectional DC/AC converter for common integration.
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 - DC capacitors which help to maintain system DC voltage are located at each of the
terminals.

Comparison of AC and DC Microgrids

INTERCONNECTION OF MICROGRIDS
- To supply a large load pocket from several Microgrids through a common distribution
network, the load pocket is split into several controllable load units, with each unit
being supplied by one Microgrid.
- In this way, Microgrids can be interconnected to form much larger power pools for
meeting bulk power demands.
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 - For interconnected Microgrids, each CC must execute its control in close co-ordination
with the neighbouring CCs.
- An interconnected Microgrid would achieve greater stability and controllability with a
distributed control structure
- It would also have more redundancy to ensure better supply reliability.

TECHNICAL AND ECONOMICAL ADVANTAGES OF MICROGRID

Development of Microgrid is very promising for the electric energy industry because of the
following advantages:
1. Environmental issues: Microgrids would have much lesser environmental impact than
the large conventional thermal power stations.
- Reduction in gaseous and particulate emissions due to close control of the
combustion
- Physical proximity of customers with microsources may help to increase the
awareness of customers towards judicious energy usage.
2. Operation and investment issues – Reduction of physical and electrical distance
between microsource and loads can contribute to:
- Improvement of reactive support of the whole system, thus enhancing the
voltage profile.
- Reduction of T&D feeder congestion.
- Reduction of T&D losses to about 3%.
- Reduction/postponement of investments in the expansion of transmission and
generation systems by proper asset management.
3. Power quality and Reliability - Improvement in power quality and reliability is achieved
due to:
- Decentralisation of supply.
- Better match of supply and demand.
- Reduction of the impact of large-scale transmission and generation outages.
- Minimisation of downtimes and enhancement of the restoration process
through black start operations of microsources.
4. Cost saving - The following cost savings are achieved in Microgrid:
- significant saving comes from utilisation of waste heat in CHP mode of
operation
- no substantial infrastructure is required for heat transmission.
- Higher energy efficiency
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 - Cost saving is also effected through integration of several microsources.
- T&D costs are drastically reduced or eliminated.
- generated electricity can be shared locally among the customers, which again
reduces the need to import/export power to/from the main grid over longer
feeders.
5. Market issues – The following advantages are attained in case of market participation:
- Market-driven operation procedures of the Microgrids will lead to a significant
reduction of market power exerted by the established generation companies.
- Microgrids may be used to provide ancillary services.
- Widespread application of modular plug-and-play microsources may
contribute to a reduction in energy price in the power market.
- Appropriate economic balance between network investment and DG
utilisation is likely to reduce the long-term electricity customer prices by about
10%.

CHALLENGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MICROGRID DEVELOPMENT

Development of Microgrids suffers from several challenges and potential drawbacks as

explained.
(1) High costs of distributed energy resources
- High installation cost for Microgrids
- Can be reduced by arranging some form of subsidies from government bodies
to encourage investments.
(2) Technical difficulties
- Requires extensive real-time and off line research on management, protection
and control aspects of Microgrids
- Requires research on the choice, sizing and placement of microsources
- Specific telecommunication infrastructures and communication protocols
must be developed.
- Economic implementation of seamless switching between operating modes is
still a major challenge since the available solutions for reclosing adaptive
protection with synchronism check are quite expensive.
(3) Absence of standards
- Standards are not yet available for addressing operation and protection issues.
- Power quality data for different types of sources, standards and protocols for
integration of microsources and their participation in conventional and
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 deregulated power markets, safety and protection guidelines, etc., should be
laid down.
- Standards like G59/1 and IEEE 1547 should be reassessed and restructured for
the successful implementation of Microgrid and active distribution networks.
(4) Administrative and legal barriers
- In most countries, no standard legislation and regulations are available to
regulate the operation of Microgrids.
(5) Market monopoly
- If the Microgrids are allowed to supply energy autonomously to priority loads
during any main grid contingency, the main question that arises is who will
then control energy supply prices during the period over which main grid is
not available. Since the main grid will be disconnected and the current
electricity market will lose its control on the energy price, Microgrids might
retail energy at a very high price exploiting market monopoly. Thus, suitable
market infrastructure needs to be designed and implemented for sustaining
development of Microgrids.

SMART GRID
Smart grid is an electric network that can smartly integrate all clients connected to it in
order to efficiently deliver sustainable, cost-effective and secure power supplies.

Smart grid can be described as a two-way transmission system of signals (power),

enabling the utilities companies to better supervise energy delivery and transmission and
authorizing consumers to have more control over power assessment.

Smart grid can be defined as "a conventional grid network which have a mind to solve
all vulnerabilities of transmission circuits, distribution circuits supply and demands
automatically and secure power network from physical, internal and external threats or natural
calamities."

EVOLUTION OF SMART GRID

The Smart Grid is quite a new concept with the term introduced in the late-1990s and first
practical large-scale example introduced in the early 2000s.

Early Smart Grid initiatives include a simple distribution network with distributed generation
(DG) with a Distribution Management System Controller (DMSC) assesses the network
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conditions and takes action to control the network voltages and flows. Later came the concept
of a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to aggregate many small generators into blocks that can be
controlled by the system operator and then their energy output is traded.

The credit for the first smart grid implementation is credited to Italy, where country's largest
energy provider, Enel S.P.A., set up the ENEL Telegestore Project, start in 2000. During the
s setup company fixed more than 30 million smart meters across country.

In the US, Austin, Texas, began setting up its first Smart Grid in 2003. It has now 200,000
devices online with another 300,000 estimated to join the network. Austin was followed by
Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is the fully functional Smart Grid-enabled city in the US, with a
network of more than 23 smart meters.

Since then, many other regions, mostly in North America and Europe, have taken early steps
toward accepting Smart Grid technology and shifting from one-way systems to fully bi-
directional systems.

In India, Ministry of Power has allocated 14 Smart Grid pilot projects which is being
implemented by state-owned distribution utilities in India.

Initial initiatives to the evolution of smart grid involved introduction of AMR. AMR in the
distribution network allows utilities to read the status from consumer premises, alarms and
record consumption remotely. Capability of AMR is restricted to reading meter data due to its
one way communication system and does not address DSM. Utilities across the world have
moved now to AMI. Through AMI, utilities can congregate their fundamental targets for
revenue protection and load management. AMI gathers instantaneous information about

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individual and aggregated demand, put caps on consumption and performs various revenue
models to control their costs. Yet to be realised Smart Grid technologies and topologies has to
evolve from this.
Evolution of Smart Grid can be summarised as follows:
i. Adding nerves
ii. Adding brains
iii. Adding muscles
iv. Adding bones

DEFINITIONS OF SMART GRID

The Smart Grid concept combines a number of technologies, end-user solutions and addresses
a number of policy and regulatory drivers. It does not have a single clear definition.

In Smarter Grids: The Opportunity, the Smart Grid is defined as

“A smart grid is uses sensing, embedded processing and digital communications to enable the
electricity grid to be observable (able to be measured and visualised), controllable (able to
manipulated and optimised), automated (able to adapt and self-heal), fully integrated (fully
interoperable with existing systems and with the capacity to incorporate a diverse set of energy
sources).”

DOE (The US department of Energy) defines the smart grid as:

“A smart grid uses digital technology to improve reliability, security and efficiency (both
economic and energy) of the electric system from large generation through the delivery systems
to electricity consumers and a growing number of distributed-generation and .storage
resources.”

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Definition of Smart Grid by European Technology platform is,
“ A Smart Grid is a electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users
connected to its generators, consumers and those that do both-in order to efficiently deliver
sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies.”

IEC definition for smart grid is,

“ The Smart Grid is a developing network of transmission lines, equipment, controls and new
technologies working together to respond immediately to our 21st century demand for
electricity.”

IEEE definition for smart grid is,

“The Smart Grid is a revolutionary undertaking-entailing new communications and control
capabilities. Energy sources, generation models and adherence to cross jurisdictional
regulatory structures.”

Smart grid is basically a conventional grid with added information and communication
technologies (ICTs).

Smart Conventional ICTs

= +
Grid Grid

Thus, smart grid can be defined as "a conventional grid network which have a mind to solve
all vulnerabilities of transmission circuits, distribution circuits supply and demands
automatically and secure power network from physical, internal and external threats or natural
calamities."

WHAT IS A SMART GRID?

Block diagram of smart grid

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A smart grid is an electric network that uses digital and other advanced technology to supervise
and manage the transport of electricity from all generation sources to meet the unstable
electricity demands of end-users (consumers). Smart grid manages the needs and capabilities
of all generations, grid operations, consumers and electricity market stockholders to operate all
parts of the system as professionally as possible, reducing costs and environmental impacts
while increasing system reliability, flexibility and stability. The Smart Grid concept combines
a number of technologies, end-user solutions and addresses a number of policy and regulatory
drivers.

Following are the attributes of a Smart Grid:

1. It enables demand response and demand side management through the integration of
smart meters, smart appliances and consumer loads, micro-generation, and electricity
storage (electric vehicles) and by providing customers with information related to
energy use and prices. It is anticipated that customers will be provided with information
and incentives to modify their consumption pattern to overcome some of the constraints
in the power system.
2. It accommodates and facilitates all renewable energy sources, distributed generation,
residential micro-generation, and storage options, thus reducing the environmental
impact of the whole electricity sector and also provides means of aggregation. It will
provide simplified interconnection similar to ‘plug-and-play’.
3. It optimises and efficiently operates assets by intelligent operation of the delivery
system (rerouting power, working autonomously) and pursuing efficient asset
management. This includes utilising asserts depending on what is needed and when it
is needed.
4. It assures and improves reliability and the security of supply by being resilient to
disturbances, attacks and natural disasters, anticipating and responding to system
disturbances (predictive maintenance and self-healing), and strengthening the security
of supply through enhanced transfer capabilities.
5. It maintains the power quality of the electricity supply to cater for sensitive equipment
that increases with the digital economy.
6. It opens access to the markets through increased transmission paths, aggregated supply
and demand response initiatives and ancillary service provisions.
7. “Self-healing” from power disturbance events
8. Operating resiliently against physical and cyber attacks

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WORKING OF SMART GRID

A smart grid will allow renewable-energy projects to connect to the grid. The smart grid will
also provide the pricing and control system to flexibly integrate new distribution energy
resources - solar panels, energy storage devices, and electric vehicles close to the point of
demand.

Working of smart grid technology can be stated by grouping into following significant areas:
1. Integrated system
2. Energy storage
3. Advanced control and pricing mechanism ~ real time pricing
4. Sensing and measurement - smart meter, phase measurement units
5. Advanced components - superconductivity
6. Distributed generation - feed-in tariff, renewable energy resources.
7. Electric vehicles .

The smart grid idea consists of an evenly integrated communication system with the
conventional power system. The communication system should be a two-way system where
the load can be organized remotely from a control center and also the real time power
consumption of the load can be read. To enable this real time monitoring, innovative devices
like smart meters, smart sensors and phase measurement units will be needed to be incorporated
in the smart grid system. It would allow quick fault detection and security of the system, thus
increasing trustworthiness (reliability). The real time monitoring and control will allow a
pricing mechanism dependent on market and thus a decontrolled market. Also, consumers who
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want to generate power would be able to feed power back into the grid and earn. All these will
help in decreasing the pack demand and the .country's dependence on non-renewable fuel
energy. The next stage envisioned is integration of advanced technologies like
superconductivity in transmission network to make the system more efficient.

NEED FOR SMART GRID

To deliver the growing demand for the power, as well as provide a stable and sustainable supply
of electricity is a heavy stress on today's existing grids. Generation of electrical energy,
however, emits currently the largest amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), constituting a significant
role to climate change. To moderate the outcome of climate change, the current electrical
system needs to go through considerable modifications.

The key requirements behind modernization of Conventional Grid to Smart Grid

 Ageing assets and lack of circuit capacity
Transmission and distribution equipment that was installed is now beyond its design
life and in need of replacement. Some of the existing power transmission and
distribution lines are operating near their maximum capacity and further generation
cannot be connected. This calls for more intelligent methods of increasing the power
transfer capacity of circuits dynamically and rerouting the power flows through less
loaded circuits.
 Thermal constraints
Thermal constraints in existing transmission and distribution lines and equipment are
the ultimate limit of their power transfer capability. When power equipment carries
current in excess of its thermal rating, it becomes over-heated and its insulation
deteriorates rapidly.
 Operational constraints
Any power system operates within prescribed voltage and frequency limits. Any
variation calls upon response and reserve to bring the frequency back within its
operating limits
 To boost reliability, effectiveness and security of the power grid.
 To facilitate decentralized bulk power generating plants for two way transmission,
 Power consumption should be flexible at the client's side to allow supplier selection
 To boost GDP by creating more new green collar energy jobs related to renewable
energy industry
 Cost-effective way to modernise their power system infrastructure while enabling the
integration of low-carbon energy resources.
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  To control power theft
 Integration of renewable energy
 Affordable energy with reliable, scalable and manageable design :

 Growth justifies the cost i.e. down unit rate of power

To satisfy these above things, we need an electric system that can handle these
challenges in sustainable, trustworthy (reliable) and cost-effective ways.

Smart grids will provide extra electricity to meet rising demand, increase reliability and
value of power suppliers, increase energy efficiency, be able to integrate renewable energy
sources into power networks. Smart grids will provide greater control over energy and have
demand response capacity to help balance electrical consumption with supply, as well as the
potential to integrate new technologies to enable energy storage devices and the large-scale use
of electric vehicles. Environmental benefits of a smarter grid include reduce peak demand
integration of more renewable energy sources and reduced C02 emission along with other
pollutants.

COMPARISON BETWEEEN CONVENTIONAL GRID AND SMART GRID

The main difference between our electric conventional grid and smart grid is the way of
transmission that generation and demand is kept in balance.
In conventional grid, these is a one-way transmission system that works such as bulk power
generation plants to transmission substation via transmission line, transmission substation to
distribution substation via sub transmission line then, distribution substation to consumers via
feeders But in smart grid, there is two-way transmission system, where all components of smart
grid is connected to communication layer with conventional grid operation.

Sl. No. Objective Conventional -Grid Smart Grid

1. Energy meter Electromechanical based Solid state Digital/
Microprocessor based
2. Generating plant Centralized generation Decentralized - Accommodate
distributed generation
3. Transmission type One way Integrated two way
4. Monitoring None/NA Self monitoring
5. Damage Repair Manual. Self healing, automated
6. Reliability Estimated reliability Predictive reliability

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 7. Protection Limited, monitoring & controlling WAMPAC, cyber security,
system Adaptive protection
8. Control system Limited, possibility Inbuilt control system
9. Operator Check equipment manually Monitor equipment remotely
10. Efficiency Less due to demand side power loss Improved due to AMI used
11. Consumer None Active Participation
Participation
12. Response to Slow Fast
resolve Power
Quality Issues
13. Optimization of Little Wide
Assets
14. New products, Limited and poorly integrated Mature and well integrated
services and
markets
15. Topology Mainly radial Network
16. Power Flow Limited Extensive
Control
17. Interaction with Limited to large energy users Extensive two-way
energy users
communications
18. Cyber Attack & Vulnerable Resilient
natural Disasters
19. System Limited to power companies Expanded & real-time
Communications
20. Reaction Time Slow Extremely fast

OPPORTUNITIES
The basic research and development and fundamental technologies that will move the Smart
Grid forward
Local Opportunities
 Integrated Communications – To connect components to open architecture for drive
real-time information and control allowing every part of the grid to both “talk” and
“listen” at the same time
 Sensing and Measurement Technologies – To support faster and more accurate
responses such as remote monitoring, time-of-use pricing, and demand-side
management
 Advanced Components – To apply the latest research in superconductivity, storage,
power electronics, and diagnostics
 Advanced Control Methods – To monitor essential components that enable rapid
diagnostics and precise solutions appropriate for any event
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SG (Regional & National) Opportunities
Before looking at the particular technologies for moving forward, the government and utilities
have shared input about basic functions they require of the smarter grid
 Be self-healing
 Resist attack
 Provide higher quality power that will save money lost on outages
 Motivate consumers to actively participate in grid operations
 Accommodate all generation and energy storage options
SG for Global Opportunities
The smart grid is a simple upgrade of the 20th century power grids which generally ‘broadcast’
power from a few central power generators to a large number of users to be capable of routing
power in more optimal ways to a very wide range of conditions to charge a premium to those
who use energy at peak hours or inefficiently. The global energy challenges that are policy and
technical will require efficient analysis for the smart(er) grid to:
 Run the grid more efficiently
 Enable electricity markets to flourish
 Enable higher penetration of intermittent power generations sources

CHALLENGES
Challenges of smart grid is categorized into two class:
 Technical Challenges
 Non-Technical Challenges

Technical Challenges
Indian power sector posses a number of technical issues such as management of vast amount
of data, inadequate grid resources, lack of integrated communication, cyber-security etc. These
issues are key technical challenges:
1. Management of Vast Amount Data
Proper management of the vast amount of data collected from different stackholders
such as the power utilities, vendors, municipalities, consumer etc a challenge.
2. Inadequate Grid Resources
There is need for new technologies in the electricity supply system and new
infrastructure for transmission and distribution.
3. Integrated Communication
There is lack of integrated communication as each device in the network should be an
intelligent electromechanical device.

29
 4. Transition from Legacy Systems
Old legacy systems cannot always be retrofitted with new technologies and there may
be a need for an entire different technology solution.
5. Cyber Security
In a complex network data communicates via public internet or via private internet,
overall security is a must for these networks. Remote access to control system poses a
huge Danger.
6. Lack of standard and Interoperability
The major challenge is to integrate interchangeable parts from a variety of different
worldwide service providers. There is a huge need for interoperability standard that will
allow utilities to buy pieces of equipment from any vendor knowing that they will work
with each other and existing equipment at every level.
7. Demand Response
Demand Response (DR) mechanisms and incentives characterize basic Smart Grid
objectives for utilities, business, industrial, and residential customers to – cut energy
use during times of peak demand, be efficient when power reliability is at risk and
optimize the balance of power supply and demand regardless of system size
8. The Smart Grid requires a means of storing energy, directly or indirectly.
9. Distribution Grid Management include Maximizing performance of feeders,
transformers, and other components of networked distribution systems – Integrating
transmission systems and customer operations

Non-Technical Challenges
1. Power theft
Power theft is one of the most key challenge for smart grid. With development of smart
grid power theft can be controlled to a greater extent. A few ways to help prevent the
power theft are the use of overhead lines that are insulated and the LT overhead wire
used for distribution of power could be replaced with insulated cable in order to
minimize the theft of energy through hooking. The conventional energy meters could
be replaced with digital tamper proof electronic meters and the use of prepaid energy
card is yet another solution to eradicate theft of energy.
2. Low Meter Efficiency
The commercial losses are mainly due to low metering efficiency, theft and pilferage.
This may be eliminated by improving metering efficiency, proper energy accounting
and auditing and improved billing.

30
 3. Affordable Energy
To make more energy available at affordable prices, is a great challenge for smart grid.
It also enables all people to use modern energy management.
4. Transmission and Distribution Losses
Fixing of accountability of personal/feeder mangers may help considerably in reduction
of transmission and distribution (T&D) losses.
5. Lack of Awareness
Consumers are not aware on how power is delivered to them. Therefore;
 consumers should be made educated about utilization of power
 clients should be made aware about smart grid, its benefits and its contribution
to reduce global warming.
 policy makers and regulations must be very clear about the future prospects of
smart grid
 utilities need to focus on overall capacities of smart grid.
6. Changes in Regulatory Policies
The current regulatory policies were typically designed to deal with conventional
networks. Today's regulatory policies are against to smart grid concepts and operations.
The government will have to change these regulatory policies and design a new policy
according to smart grid.
7. Smart Consumer
The consumers or clients are ultimately the stockholders that the entire grid was created
to support. Use of smart appliances, electric vehicles, AMI or two-way communication
is a big challenge for consumers.

BENEFITS
Smart grid benefits for consumers and service providers are follows:
1. Economic Electricity: Minimize the increase in energy costs.
2. Giving Opportunity to Consumers with Much Choices:
o Consumers have the maximum opportunity to reduce their energy bills by
changing their behavior; using less energy, using energy at off peak charging
times, by installing energy efficient appliances as well as choosing lower carbon
energy supply.
o Suppliers are able to offer a number of ranges of products based on factors
including renewable power resources such solar and wind energy with flexible
tariffs that may incentivize load shedding during peak demand, or automated
controllers to minimize energy bills.
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3. Increased Reliability and Resilience and self-healing capabilities in the network.
4. Automatic Fault Location removing outages and enabling faster maintenance using few
minutes only.
5. Long Term Saving can be done by using:
o Automatic meter reading
o isolate connection and disconnection
o Load management - use lower load during peak hours to relieve grid stresses,
enable deferment of capital for new assets, and align supply and demand loads.
6. Providing two way Communications, so consumers can sell their generation on the grid.
7. Environmental benefits to society includes:
Energy Conservation

a. Reduction in Usage of electricity by Customers Making Informed Decisions:

b. Reduced Transmission Losses: Through new technologies better managing of
electricity supply, to assist bringing electricity supply closer to the consumer,
thereby reducing the amount of wasted power from long haul electricity
transmission.
c. Improved Voltage Regulation: By operating the grid at the lower end of the
allowable voltage tolerance (230V) the magnitude of transmission and distribution
losses can be reduced.
CO2 Reduction
a. Improved Integration of Renewable Energy; The integration of renewable if
facilitated by the Smart Grid where, renewable energy plans will be affected on
C02 generation associated with those choices will enable consumers to reduce their
carbon footprint.
b. Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) and Electric Vehicles (EV): Use of
electricity as a fuel for vehicles has the opportunity to lower CO2 production.
Alternatively, vehicles plugged in at night when the majority of electricity
generated is "running reserve", which would have been generated anyway, could
also lower C02 generation.
c. Enhancing smart grid operations through vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology
facilitating the use of EV batteries for peak leveling and managing intermittent
renewable energy generation could provide further benefits.

32
MODULE II

Distributed energy resources: Introduction - Combined heat and power (CHP) systems - Solar
photovoltaic (PV) systems – Wind energy conversion systems (WECS) - Small-scale
hydroelectric power generation - Storage devices: Batteries: Lead acid, nickel metal hydrate,
and lithium ion batteries, ultra-capacitors, flywheels
Control of Microgrids: Introduction to Central Controller (CC) and Microsource Controllers
(MCs) - Control functions for microsource controller, Active and reactive power control,
Voltage control, Storage requirement for fast load tracking, Load sharing through power-
frequency control

DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES

- Renewable or non-conventional electricity generators employed in DG systems or
Microgrids are known as distributed energy resources (DERs) or microsources.
- Prospective DERs range from micro-CHP systems based on Stirling engines, fuel cells
and microturbines to renewables like solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, wind energy
conversion systems (WECS) and small-scale hydroelectric generation.
- Choice of a DER very much depends on the climate and topology of the region and fuel
availability.

COMBINED HEAT AND POWER (CHP) SYSTEMS

- CHP-based DERs facilitate energy efficient power generation by judicious utilisation
of waste heat
- Reaching an efficiency of more than 80%, compared with that of about 35% for
conventional power plants
- CHP plants can be located somewhat remotely from their electrical loads, but they must
always be located close to the heat loads for better performance
- CHP plants are commonly employed in district heating systems of big towns, hospitals,
prisons, oil refineries, paper mills and industrial plants with large heat loads
- Large industrial CHP units generate electricity as the primary product with heat as
secondary
- CHP systems usually installed in smaller premises like homes or small commercial
buildings are known a Micro-CHP systems
- Micro-CHP systems generate heat as the primary commodity with electricity as a by-
product

33
MICRO-CHP SYSTEMS

- Micro-CHP sets are basically microturbines coupled to single-shaft, high-speed

permanent magnet synchronous machines with airfoil or magnetic bearings.
- Provided with power electronic interfaces for connection to the electrical loads.
- They also have their own heat recovery systems
- Micro-CHP sets are reliable, robust and cheap.
- Available in the range of 10–100 kW capacity.
- Primary fuel is natural gas, propane or liquid fuel, which permits clean combustion

Operation
During operation of a CHP set, the pressure of incoming air is raised after passing through the
centrifugal compressor. Temperature of the compressed air is increased on passing through the
heat exchanger. When the hot compressed air enters the combustion chamber, it is mixed with
fuel and burnt. The high temperature combustion gases are expanded in the turbine to produce
mechanical power, which in turn drives the permanent magnet synchronous machine to
produce electrical power at high frequency. High-frequency output voltage is converted into
DC using a rectifier and the DC voltage is re-converted into AC of 50/60 Hz of frequency as
per necessity using an inverter interface.

Microgrids can secure the following major advantages by using micro-CHP plants:
1. It is much more suitable to place micro-CHP plants near heat loads than electrical loads
to achieve full utilisation of heat.
2. Micro-CHP plants have greater flexibility in matching several small heat loads.

Micro-CHP systems are primarily based on the following technologies:

1. Internal combustion (IC) engines
2. Stirling engines
3. Microturbines
4. Fuel cells.

1. Internal Combustion Engines

- In IC engines, fuel is burnt in air in a combustion chamber with or without
oxidisers to create high-temperature and high-pressure gases that are allowed to
expand and act on movable bodies like pistons or rotors
- provided with spark ignition or compression ignition systems in their cylinders
- Include intermittent combustion engines and the continuous combustion engines
34
 - Commonly used fuels are diesel, gasoline petroleum gas and propane gas

2. Stirling Engines
- closed-cycle piston heat engine where the working gas is permanently contained
within the cylinder
- uses an external heat source and an external heat sink
- contains a fixed quantity of air, hydrogen or helium gas as the working fluid.
- A Stirling engine cycles through four main processes,
(i) cooling, (ii) compression, (iii) heating and (iv) expansion, accomplished by
the movement of the working gas back and forth between hot and cold heat
exchangers.
- The ‘hot’ heat exchanger is kept in thermal contact with an external heat source
while the ‘cold’ heat exchanger is kept in thermal contact with an external heat
sink.
- A change in gas temperature causes a corresponding change in its pressure, and
the motion of the piston causes the gas to be alternately expanded and
compressed. This work difference yields the net power output.
- The primary heat source enters the Stirling engine heater and produces
mechanical power, and the waste heat from the engine’s heater is used to supply
the secondary heating applications. The mechanical power produced by the
engine is used to generate electricity as a secondary product.
- Stirling engines are basically of three categories: (i) Alpha Stirling, (ii) Beta
Stirling and (iii) Gamma Stirling.

3. Microturbines
- Microturbines are small and simple-cycle gas turbines with outputs of the range
typically from around 25 to 300 kW.
- Used as generating units in DG systems and as energy producers in CHP
systems
- Microturbines have the following features:
 Size – Smaller in size as compared to other DERs.
 Fuel-to-electricity conversion can reach the range of 25–30%. However,
if the waste heat recovery is used for CHP applications, energy
efficiency levels are greater than 80%.
 NOx emissions are lower than 7 ppm for natural gas machines.

35
  Operational life is about 11,000 hours of operation between major
overhauls with a service life of at least 45,000 hours.
 Economy of operation – System costs are lower
 Fuel flexibility – It is capable of using alternative fuels, like natural gas,
diesel, ethanol and landfill gas, and other biomass-derived liquids and
gases.
 Reduced level of noise and vibrations.
 Simpler installation procedure.
- Microturbines are available as single-shaft or split-shaft units.

- Major parts of a microturbine and their functions are as follows:

1. Turbine – High-speed single-shaft or split-shaft gas turbines.
2. Alternator – In single-shaft units, the alternator is directly coupled to the
turbine. In split-shaft units, a conventional induction machine or
synchronous machine is mounted on the turbine through the gearbox.
3. Power electronics – In single-shaft machines, the high-frequency AC
voltage generated by the alternator is converted into standard power
frequency voltage through the power electronic interfaces. However, in
the split-shaft design, these are not required due to the presence of the
gearbox.
4. Recuperator – The recuperator recovers the waste heat to improve the
energy efficiency of the microturbine. It transfers heat from the exhaust
gas to the discharge air before the discharge air enters the combustor. This
reduces the amount of fuel needed to raise the discharge air temperature
to the required value. Exhaust heat can be used for water heating, drying
processes or absorption chillers for air conditioning from heat energy
instead of electric energy.

36
 5. Control and communication – Control and communication systems
include the entire turbine control mechanism, inverter interface, start-up
electronics, instrumentation and signal conditioning, data logging,
diagnostics and user control communications.

4. Fuel Cells
- A fuel cell converts chemical energy of a fuel directly into electrical energy.
- It consists of two electrodes (an anode and a cathode) and an electrolyte,
retained in a matrix.
- During operation, the hydrogen-rich fuel and oxidant are separately supplied to
the electrodes. Fuel is fed to the anode and oxidant to the cathode, and the two
streams are separated by an electrode–electrolyte system. Electrochemical
oxidation and reduction take place at the electrodes to produce electricity. Heat
and water are produced as by-products.
- Fuel cells have several advantages over conventional generators - emit less CO2
and NOx, free from noise and vibration, robust, low maintenance, versatile etc.
- Steam reforming of liquid hydrocarbons (CnHm) is a potential way of providing
hydrogen-rich fuel for fuel cells
- The endothermic reaction that occurs in the reforming process in the presence
of a catalyst is

- Carbon monoxide combines with steam to produce more hydrogen through the
water gas shift reaction

37
Types of Fuel Cells
1. Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operating at 80oC
- The electrolyte in a PEMFC is a solid polymeric membrane with liquid water
fitted between two platinum-catalysed porous electrodes
- To get sufficient ionic conductivity, the proton-conducting polymer electrolyte
requires liquid water
- operating temperature is maintained below 100 oC
- PEMFC operates on a pure hydrogen source obtained by reforming a
hydrocarbon fuel
- PEMFC system efficiency is limited to 42% and is developed for capacities
below 500 kW
- PEMFCs are currently being developed for capacities below 500 kW.
- Used for light duty (50–100 kW) and medium duty (200 kW) vehicles, power
generation for residential premises (2–10 kW) and commercial premises (250–
500 kW) and small or portable generators and battery replacements.
2. Phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) operating at 200oC
- Electrolyte for PAFC is 100% phosphoric acid. It acts as a transport fluid for the
migration of dissolved hydrogen ions from the anode to the cathode and
conducts the ionic charge between the two electrodes, thus completing the
electric circuit.
- PAFC uses platinum electrocatalysts in the cell electrodes to limit the amount
of carbon monoxide to 2% by volume
- Factors that degrade cell performance and life expectancy are (i) corrosion of
the carbon support for the catalyst layer and the separator/bipolar plate by
phosphoric acid and (ii) sintering of platinum particles and electrolyte flooding
due to changes in material properties at elevated temperatures.

3. Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC)

- MCFC is a liquid electrolyte-based fuel cell. The cells are arranged as flat,
planar configured stacks. An MCFC typically consists of a lithium–potassium
or lithium–sodium based electrolyte. After cathode reaction, carbonate ions
migrate through the electrolyte to the anode to complete the fuel oxidation
- Product exchange device is required to transfer carbon dioxide from anode
exhaust to cathode inlet
- MCFC is inherently resistant to carbon monoxide poisoning, it can operate on
different types of fuel

38
 - Operating temperature of MCFC is about 650 oC
- MCFC requires costly, temperature-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials
due to high operating temperature
- MCFC produces high quality waste heat that can be effectively utilised for fuel
processing, cogeneration, internal methane reforming and industrial processes.
4. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)
- Consists of a solid-state electrolyte and a solid yittra-stabilised zirconia ceramic
material as the electrolyte layer
- SOFC geometries are available as tubular design for large capacity cogeneration
and DG applications and planar design for small capacity power generation
applications.
- Highest operating temperature of 1,000oC
- During operation, the oxidant enters the cathode compartment. After electrode
reaction, oxygen ions migrate through the electrolyte layer to the anode where
hydrogen is oxidised. Endothermic reforming reaction takes place due to heat.
- SOFC is more tolerant to fuel impurities, can operate using hydrogen and carbon
monoxide fuels directly at the anode, does not need external reformers or
catalysts to produce hydrogen, has 70–75% electrical efficiencies, lifetime of
10–20 years and is well suited for DG systems, CHP applications
- Disadvantage of the SOFC is the stringent material requirement for the critical
cell components due to high operating temperature

WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS

- Convert wind energy into electrical energy
- Wind turbine is coupled to an induction generator through a multiple-ratio gearbox
- Wind turbines may have horizontal axis configuration or vertical axis configuration.
- Main parts of a wind turbine are the tower, the rotor and the nacelle
- Nacelle accommodates the transmission mechanisms and the induction generator
- Rotor may have two or more blades
- Wind turbine captures the kinetic energy of wind flow through rotor blades and
transfers the energy to the induction generator side through the gearbox. The generator
shaft is driven by the wind turbine to generate electric power.
- Function of the gearbox is to transform the slower rotational speeds of the wind turbine
to higher rotational speeds on the induction generator side.
- Output voltage and frequency is maintained within specified range, by using
supervisory metering, control and protection techniques.
39
- Output power of a wind turbine is determined by several factors such as wind velocity,
size and shape of the turbine. The power developed is given by
1
𝑃= 𝐶 𝜌𝑉 3 𝐴
2 𝑃
where P is power (W), Cp power coefficient, 𝜌 air density (kg/m3), V wind velocity
(m/s) and A swept area of rotor blades (m2).
- Power coefficient Cp gives a measure of the amount of energy extracted by the turbine
rotor which varies with rotor design and the tip speed ratio (TSR). TSR is the relative
speed of the rotor and the wind and has a maximum practical value of about 0.4.

Disadvantages
- Torque output often suffers from dynamic variations due to fluctuations in wind speed
caused by tower shadow, wind shear and turbulence which lead to a perturbation in the
output power and hence a flicker in the generated voltage.
- Due to the intermittent nature of generation and energy consumption in the generating
plant itself, the declared net capacity is lesser than the nameplate capacity

Wind Turbine Operating Systems

Depending on controllability, wind turbine operating systems are classified as
Constant speed wind turbines
Variable speed wind turbines

Constant speed wind turbines

- Operate at almost constant speed as predetermined by generator design and
gearbox ratio
- Control schemes are always aimed at maximising either energy capture by
controlling the rotor torque or the power output at high winds by regulating the
pitch angle.
According to the control strategy, constant speed wind turbines are again subdivided into
i. Constant speed stall-regulated turbines have turbine blades designed with a fixed
pitch to operate near the optimal TSR for a given wind speed. When wind speed
increases, the angle of attack also increases.
ii. Constant speed pitch-regulated turbines typically use pitch regulation for starting
up. After start-up, power can be controlled only above the rated wind speed of the
turbine.

40
 Advantages:
1. Simple, robust construction and are electrically efficient.
2. Highly reliable due to fewer parts.
3. No current harmonics are generated as there is no frequency conversion.
4. Lower capital cost as compared to variable speed wind turbines
Disadvantages:
1. Aerodynamically less efficient.
2. Prone to mechanical stress
3. More noisy

Variable Speed Wind Turbine System

Variable speed pitch-regulated wind turbine system has two methods for controlling the turbine
operation, viz. speed changes and blade pitch changes
(i) Power Optimisation Strategy:
- Employed when the wind speed is below the rated value
- Optimises the energy capture by maintaining a constant speed
corresponding to the optimum TSR. If, however, speed is changed
due to load variation, the generator may be overloaded for wind
speeds above nominal value. To avoid this, methods like generator
torque control are used to control the speed.
(ii) Power Limitation Strategy:
- Used for wind speeds above the rated value
- Limits the output power to the rated value by changing the blade
pitch to reduce the aerodynamic efficiency.
Advantages:
1. High energy capture capacity
2. Subjected to less mechanical stress
3. Aerodynamically efficient
4. Low transient torque
5. Do not suffer from synchronisation problems or voltage sags due to stiff electrical
controls
6. No mechanical damping systems are required as the electrical system can
effectively provide the damping
Disadvantages:
1. Lower electrical efficiency
2. More expensive

41
 3. Require complex control strategies

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) SYSTEMS

- Generation of electricity from free and inexhaustible solar energy
- Solar energy reaches the PV cell in two - direct component about 85% and comes
through direct radiation and diffuse component about 15% and comes through scattered
diffusion in the atmosphere. A PV cell behaves as a photodiode. Light energy incident
on the cell surface in the form of photons generates electron–hole pairs as current
carriers at the p-n junction. Thus, photocurrent produced by a PV cell is directly related
to its surface area, incident irradiance and ambient temperature. Generated voltage is
limited by the forward voltage drop across the p-n junction. As the voltage and the
current output of a single cell are very small, a large number of cells are arranged in
series– parallel combination to produce PV arrays or modules of higher voltage and
power rating. Most PV modules are equipped with maximum power point tracking
(MPPT) systems that maximise the power output from the modules by shifting the
operating point depending on the solar irradiance.
Advantages
(i) sustainable nature of solar energy as fuel
(ii) minimum environmental impact
(iii) drastic reduction in customers’ electricity bills due to free availability of sunlight
(iv) long functional lifetime of over 30 years with minimum maintenance
(v) silent operation.
42
Disadvantages
(i) high installation cost
(ii) low energy efficiency
Applications
(i) powering navigation buoys, lighthouses and offshore warning light vessels around
coastlines
(ii) trickle charging batteries for agricultural applications
(iii) providing power for lighting systems and telephone boxes in premises like railway
platforms
(iv) powering summer cottages and farm buildings.
(v) PV-powered control systems, data loggers and automatic reading equipment.

Types of PV cell
Four different types of PV cells are as follows:
(1) Monocrystalline silicon
(2) Multicrystalline silicon
(3) Thin-film silicon
(4) Hybrid

(1) Monocrystalline Silicon

- Consist of cells saw-cut from a single cylindrical crystal of silicon
- Advantage of monocrystalline cells is their high efficiencies of about 15%
- Manufacturing process is complicated and expensive
(2) Multicrystalline Silicon
- Cells are ingots of polycrystalline silicon saw-cut into very thin wafers and
assembled into complete cells
- silicon is deposited in a continuous process onto a base material giving a fine-
grained, sparkling appearance
- Cell is encapsulated in a transparent insulating polymer with a tempered glass
cover and usually bound into a strong aluminium frame.
- Cheaper
- Simpler manufacturing process
- lower efficiencies
(3) Thin-film silicon
- Amorphous silicon cells are made from silicon atoms in a thin homogenous
layer

43
 - Absorbs light more effectively than crystalline silicon.
- less efficient than crystalline cells. Typical efficiency is around 6%,
- easier and therefore cheaper to produce.
- other light-sensitive materials like cadmium telluride and copper indium
diselenide are also used for thin-film PV cells - can be manufactured by
relatively inexpensive industrial processes and also offer higher module
efficiencies
(4) Hybrid
- Hybrid solutions like the amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction
solar cells are have excellent performance and use simple low-temperature
production process.
- hybrid PV cells combine both monocrystalline and thin-film silicons to produce
cells with the best features of both technologies.
- thin intrinsic layer of amorphous silicon is inserted between the amorphous
emitter and the crystalline base forming an HJ solar cell with heterogeneous
intrinsic thin layer. The buffer layer gives very high open circuit voltages and
module efficiencies as high as 17%.

44
SMALL-SCALE HYDROELECTRIC POWER GENERATION

- Small-scale hydroelectric generators are used for generating power onsite in

Microgrids. Depends on the topography of an area and its annual precipitation
- Suffer from large variations in generation due to variable water flow caused by uneven
rainfall
- Variable water resources also lead to varying generation with a low capacity factor.
- The power output from a hydro turbine is given by
P=QHηρg
where P is power output (W), Q water flow rate (m3/s), H effective head (m), Z overall
efficiency, r water density (1,000 kg/m3) and g acceleration due to gravity.
- Power output can be increased by increasing both effective head and water flow rate.
Cross section of the penstock is suitably designed for optimum water flow rate.
- Various types of water turbines are used depending on available water heads and flow
rates.
Reaction turbines operate at lower heads and extract energy from pressure drop.
Impulse turbines operate at higher heads and extract power from the kinetic energy of
water jets at atmospheric pressure.
Cross-flow impulse turbines are used where kinetic energy is extracted from water
striking the turbine blades as a water sheet.
- Both synchronous and induction generators may be used for small-scale
hydrogeneration with suitable multiple-ratio gearboxes. However, suitable precautions
must be taken during designing a turbine so that its damage due to overspeeding can be
avoided during sudden loss of load.

STORAGE DEVICES
The backup energy storage devices that must be included in Microgrids to ensure uninterrupted
power supply are
1. Storage Batteries
2. Flywheels
3. Ultra Capacitors
These devices should be connected to the DC bus of the Microgrid and provided with ride-
through capabilities during system changes.

45
1. Storage Batteries

Batteries store energy in chemical form during charging and discharge electrical energy
when connected to a load. In its simplest form a battery consists of two electrodes, a positive
and a negative placed in an electrolyte. The electrodes exchange ions with the electrolyte
and electrons with the external circuit.
Common batteries are Lead acid, nickel metal hydrate and lithium ion batteries

Lead Acid Battery

The battery uses sponge lead as negative plate and lead peroxide as positive plate for the
conversion of the chemical energy into electrical power. Dilute sulphuric acid is used as
electrolyte.

When the sulfuric acid dissolves, its molecules break up into positive hydrogen ions (2H+)
and sulphate negative ions (SO4—) and move freely. If the two electrodes are immersed in
solutions and connected to DC supply then the hydrogen ions being positively charged and
moved towards the electrodes and connected to the negative terminal of the supply. The
SO4— ions being negatively charged moved towards the electrodes connected to the positive
terminal of the supply main. The oxygen, which produced from the above equation react
with lead oxide and form lead peroxide (PbO2.) Thus, during charging the lead cathode
remain as lead, but lead anode gets converted into lead peroxide. If wire connects the
electrodes, then current will flow from the positive plate to the negative plate through
external circuit i.e. the cell is capable of supplying electrical energy.

Charging and discharging are represented by a single reversible equation given below:

46
Nickel Metal Hydrate Battery
Nickel-metal-hydride batteries use hydrogen as the active element at a hydrogen-absorbing
negative electrode. This electrode is made from a metal hydride usually alloys of Lanthanum
and rare earths that serve as a solid source of reduced hydrogen that can be oxidized to form
protons. The electrolyte is alkaline potassium hydroxide. Cell voltage is 1.2 V.

Charge
At the negative electrode, in the presence of the alloy and with an electrical potential
applied, the water in the electrolyte is decomposed into hydrogen atoms, which are absorbed
into the alloy, and hydroxyl ions as indicated below.
Alloy + H2O + e`‹› Alloy (H) + OH`
At the positive electrode, the charge reaction is based on the oxidation of nickel hydroxide
just as it is in the nickel-cadmium couple.
Ni(OH)2 + OH`‹› NiOOH + H2O + e`

Discharge
At the negative electrode, the hydrogen is desorbed and combines with a hydroxyl ion to
form water while also contributing an electron to the circuit.
Alloy (H) + OH`‹› Alloy + H2O + e`
At the positive electrode, nickel oxyhydroxide is reduced to its lower valence state, nickel
hydroxide.
NiOOH + H2O + e`‹› Ni(OH)2 + OH`

Lithium ion Battery

Li-ion is gaining its place as a distributed energy storage system and in electric vehicles.
These have a graphite or carbon negative electrode and lithium cobalt oxide, lithium iron
phosphate or lithium manganese oxide positive electrode. The electrolytes generally use
47
 lithium salt in an organic solvent. A metal case holds a long spiral comprising of three thin
sheets pressed together: - Positive electrode, Negative electrode and a separator. The
separator is a very thin sheet of microperforated plastic. As the name implies, it separates
the positive and negative electrodes while allowing ions to pass through.

When the battery charges, ions of lithium move through the electrolyte from the positive
electrode to the negative electrode and attach to the carbon. During discharge, the lithium
ions move back to the positive electrode from the carbon.

2. Flywheels
- Flywheels store kinetic energy in a rotating mass and release it by slowing the rotation
when electrical energy is required.
- Used for power quality improvement by providing energy for UPS.
- Used on customers’ premises and in micro-grids.

48
 Construction
- Consists of a rotor made of high strength carbon-composite filaments, suspended by
magnetic bearings in a vacuum chamber to reduce friction and spinning at speeds from
20000 to over 50000 rpm.
- Coupled to a motor/generator set
Working
- Flywheels are charged and discharged via an integral motor/generator
- Works by accelerating a rotor(flywheel) to a very high speed as it draws current
provided by the grid to spin the rotor
- It maintains the energy in the system as rotational energy
- During a power outage, voltage sag, or other disturbance, the motor/generator provides
power. The energy is converted back by slowing down the flywheel.
- The kinetic energy stored in the rotor is transformed to DC by the generator, and the
energy is delivered at a constant frequency and voltage through an inverter.

- Consider the simple rotating disc shown in Figure. The stored energy is proportional to
the square of the rotor speed (ω) and the moment of inertia of the rotating mass (J):
1
Stored Energy = 2 𝐽 𝜔2

Thus, to store energy, two options can be used: a low speed flywheel which uses a
heavy steel rotor with high inertia or a high speed flywheel which uses lighter
composite materials.
- The moment of inertia is given by:
- J = ∫ 𝑥 2 dmx
where x is the distance to an element of mass dmx from the axis of rotation.

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 Thus, the location of the mass is important. In some designs the mass is formed as a
rim, placed away from the axis of rotation, to maximise the moment of inertia.
- High speed flywheels, which rotate at up to 50,000 rpm, operate in a vacuum with
magnetic bearings in order to reduce friction losses.

3. ULTRACAPACITOR / SUPERCAPACITOR
- Supercapacitors or electrochemical double layer capacitors or ultracapacitors are
electrochemical capacitors that have an unusually high energy density
- Supercapacitors are constructed with a carbonised porous material with two plates
as one electrode and a porous liquid chemical electrolyte conductor made of positive
and negative ions dissolved in a solvent such as Polyethylene Terephathalate as the
other electrode. They have a double layer structure. During charging when voltage
is applied across the two metal plates, ions from the electrolyte accumulate on the
surface of each carbon-coated plate - one positive, one negative. This then causes
each electrode to attract ions of the opposite charge. But for an ultracapacitor, each
carbon electrode ends up having two layers of charge coating its surface
- Increased storage capacity is because of the double layer structure which causes
large increase in surface area, thus C and higher relative permittivity of PET

- Advantages:
High energy storage..
Low Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR)
Low Temperature performance.
Fast charge/discharge.
- Disadvantages:

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 Low per cell voltage.
Cannot be used in AC and high frequency circuits.

CONTROL OF MICROGRIDS

- Microgrids require wide-range control to ensure system security, optimal operation,

emission reduction and seamless transfer from one operating mode to the other without
violating system constraints and regulatory requirements. This control is achieved
through a central controller (CC) and the dedicated microsource controllers (MCs)
connected to the microsources and the storage devices.
- MCs take care of the local control functions of the microsources.
- CC executes the overall control of Microgrid operation and protection through the MCs.
This controller is designed to operate in automatic mode with provision for manual
intervention as and when required. It continuously monitors the operation of the MCs
through two significant modules, viz. the Energy Manager Module (EMM) and the
Protection Co-ordination Module

MICROSOURCE CONTROLLER
- Microsources and storage devices in a Microgrid are fitted with MCs that execute
smooth and flexible operation of these devices to meet customer and utility
requirements.
- MCs may operate with or without any intervention of the CC.
- MC functioning depends on the power electronic interfaces provided in the
microsources and storage devices.
- MCs ensure
o new microsources can be added to the system without modification in the
existing configuration
o Microgrid can connect/disconnect itself to/from the utility in a rapidly
o active and reactive power can be independently controlled,
o voltage sag and system imbalances can be corrected,
o faults can be handled without the loss of stability
o to meet the requirements of load dynamics of the power utility.
- Features of an MC design are as follows:
o Each MC to respond effectively to the system changes without requiring data
from any other MC or data source.
o Can override those CC directives that are deemed unacceptable for its
microsource.
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 - Control functions for microsource controller are as follows
o Active and reactive power control
o Voltage control
o Storage requirement for fast load tracking
o Load sharing through P-f control.

ACTIVE AND REACTIVE POWER CONTROL

The microsources may be
(i) DC sources like solar PV, fuel cells and storage battery - For this, DC power is
directly converted into P-f (50/60 Hz) AC through voltage source inverter
(ii) AC sources like microturbines and wind turbines - For this, AC output at non-
standard frequencies is first rectified to DC and then reconverted into power
frequency AC through voltage source inverter

Figure shows the basic scheme for a typical MC consisting of the microsource and the power
electronic converter.
VSI in the converter system controls both magnitude (V) and phase angle (1) of the output
voltage (V<1) at converter terminal (Bus-1).
Microsource supplies controlled power to the Microgrid bus (Bus-2) at a voltage of E<2
through an inductor of reactance X. Normally, V<1 leads E<2 by the power angle , where
1-2 .
Active power flow (P) is controlled by controlling , whereas reactive power (Q) is controlled
by controlling V.
The controls are based on feedback loops of output power P and Microgrid bus voltage
magnitude E, which are related as per the following equation:

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VOLTAGE CONTROL
Voltage control at the Microgrid bus is needed for overall stability and reliability
Voltage control is required to damp out reactive power oscillations
Circulating currents much greater than the rated currents of the microsources may flow as the
feeders are mostly radial with small impedance between the sources Circulating currents can
be controlled by using voltage– reactive power (V-Q) droop controllers with droop
characteristics as shown in Figure.

Function of the controller is to increase the local voltage set point when the microsource
reactive currents become predominantly inductive and to decrease the set point when the
current becomes capacitive.
Reactive power limits is set by VA rating (VAR; S) of the inverter and active power (P) output
of the microsource as per the following relation:

STORAGE REQUIREMENT FOR FAST LOAD TRACKING

For grid-connected Microgrids, the initial power balance during connection of new loads is
taken care of by the large inertia of utility generators.
For standalone operation, the Microgrid needs to ensure initial power balance through its
storage devices, which effectively provide the system inertia for the Microgrid. The DC storage
devices are connected to the DC bus of the microsource, whereas AC storage devices are

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connected directly to the Microgrid bus. The MC ensures proper utilisation of the storage
devices for fast load tracking.

LOAD SHARING THROUGH P-f CONTROL

Microgrid controllers ensure smooth and automatic change over from grid-connected mode to
stand-alone mode and vice versa as per necessity.
During grid-connected mode, Microgrid loads are supplied both from the main utility grid and
the microsources, depending on customer needs. When utility supply is interrupted due to any
contingency, the Microgrid switches over to the stand-alone mode. During transition to
standalone mode, the voltage phase angles of the microsources also change, leading to obvious
drop in their power output. MC of each microsource exerts local P-f control to change the
operating point so as to achieve local power balance at the new loading. The controller does
this autonomously after proper load tracking without waiting for any command from the CC
or neighbouring MCs.

For example, it is assumed that two microsources operate at a common minimum frequency
with their maximum capacities P1max and P2max. In grid-connected mode they operate at a base
frequency delivering powers P01 and P02 respectively. With the change in load demand, the
microsources operate at different frequencies causing a change in relative power angles, and
the frequency of operation drifts to a lower common value with different proportions of load
sharing. This occurs as per the droops of the P-f characteristics as shown in Figure. Since droop
regulation decreases the Microgrid frequency, the MC needs to incorporate a control function
to restore the operation to the rated frequency with proper load sharing.

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CENTRAL CONTROLLER
CC executes the overall control of Microgrid operation and protection through the MCs.
This controller is designed to operate in automatic mode with provision for manual
intervention as and when required. It continuously monitors the operation of the MCs
through two significant modules, viz. the Energy Manager Module (EMM) and the
Protection Co-ordination Module

Functions of CC
- To maintain power quality and reliability through power-frequency (P-f) control,
voltage (Q-V) control and protection coordination.
- Executes economic generation scheduling of the microsources and helps to maintain
power intake from the main utility grid at mutually agreed contract points.
- Provides the power dispatch and voltage set points for all the MCs to meet the needs of
the customers
- Ensures energy optimisation for the Microgrid and maintains the specified frequency
and voltage profile for the electrical loads.

Information needed for central controller operation

- Tariff, price and regulatory information
- Microsource performance and monitoring
- Weather forecasts
- Load forecasts
- Heterogeneous combination of loads with different priority factors

Control strategies for central controller design

1. Real-time optimisation - System to be optimised is expressed mathematically as an
objective function that has to be maximised or minimised, subject to some constraints.
Standard algorithms are available for solving optimisation problems.
2. Expert system - An expert controller goes through a finite set of control options and
simply takes a decision according to some rule bases. Fuzzy logic systems are variants
of conventional expert systems.
3. Decentralised and hierarchical control strategies can be used for (i) aggregating
individual Microgrids to bid their excess capacity to the utility and (ii) aggregating
individual microsources to bid their capacity to the customers in the Microgrid. In this
control, decision-making follows a hierarchical structure.

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ENERGY MANAGER MODULE
- EMM incorporates various control functions for controlling the energy optimal
operation of the Microgrid
- Provides the voltage set point to the MCs for certain critical buses of the Microgrid. To
arrest the voltage rise, the MCs constantly monitor the local voltage and provide the
feedback to EMM. Following this the EMM dispatches the necessary voltage set points
to the MCs to carry out the required voltage regulation.
- Constantly monitors the Microgrid frequency and if any frequency drop is not restored
by the MCs within a preset time, the EMM performs rapid load shedding on an
emergency basis to achieve power balance in order to ensure Microgrid stability.
- EMM incorporates a priority-setting parameter for heat as well as electrical loads as per
the relative importance in dispatching signals to the MCs
- EMMs of neighbouring Microgrids should incorporate a control for achieving a basic
energy optimisation for the entire interconnected system. In order to attain the best
efficiency points for the microsources, the EMMs should ensure running optimum
number of microsources at their near-rated capacities during light load conditions,
instead of running all of them at fractional capacities.
- For interconnected Microgrids, the EMMs control the non-priority loads by shedding
them as and when necessary

Operating Strategy
Grid-connected operation: In grid-connected mode, EMM control signals are restricted to the
active power and local voltage set points for microsources. EMM dictates the voltage control
of microsources only for certain critical Microgrid buses
Stand-alone operation: In stand-alone mode also, the main function of the EMM is to provide
the active power and voltage set points for MCs. In addition, it continuously monitors the
Microgrid frequency and implements rapid load shedding through MCs in case the frequency
is not restored within a preset time for ensuring system stability.

Intelligent EMMs
- Should have extensive information handling capacity, intelligent power electronic
interfaces and sufficient communication networks to communicate with the
neighbouring equipment. Should also incorporate control algorithms based on artificial
intelligence (AI) techniques.
- Should have remote monitoring and control facilities.
- Internet and GIS compatibility may also be included in the EMMs.

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 - Must have data/event logging features to allow authorised operators to obtain necessary
information about parameters or operating conditions.
- Should also provide manual intervention features.
- Should be capable of managing information, providing operation guidelines and set
points to the system operator and making decisions autonomously to improve overall
system performance.
- Must monitor equipment degradation and diagnose process problems.
- With supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, they can also
supervise and control industrial processes along with Microgrid generation and storage.
- Provide an overview of the process control systems focusing on energy consumption
analysing energy saving opportunities depending on the time of day, process conditions
and weather conditions.
- Monitor the power consumption for electrical loads in a premise and use this data for
assessing thermal equipment efficiencies under full and part loads.
- To automatically optimise the utilisation of microsources and storage by using real-
time market price signal for electricity and fuel.

PROTECTION CO-ORDINATION MODULE

- PCM supervises the overall protection for the Microgrid.
- A key feature of PCM is its ability to distinguish between the protection requirements
for the two operating modes - grid connected and standalone mode and address the
contingencies accordingly.
- In grid-connected mode, the PCM detects and acts for five possible events. These are
(i) normal condition, (ii) Microgrid feeder fault, (iii) utility fault, (iv) Microgrid bus
fault and (v) re-synchronisation. PCM takes into account the response times of
individual microsources, as well as that of the PCC (point of common coupling) circuit
breaker CB4.
- When the Microgrid operates in stand-alone mode, the short-circuit level at the
Microgrid bus reduces. Standard relays may take a long time to pick up lower fault
currents or may not respond at all. Thus, alternate fault detection schemes like
impedance protection, differential current/ voltage relaying, zero sequence
current/voltage relaying, directional overcurrent/ earth-fault schemes may be adopted
for protection of stand-alone Microgrids
- The design and operation of PCM must take into account the complexity of the
Microgrid scheme, the number of microsources, the types of generation technologies,
the number of priority loads and the response characteristics of the protective devices.
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