Micro grid laboratory

It consists of an isolated microgrid based on 100% of inverters. It is ideal to test any advanced control in low inertia systems.

In addition to this test bench where you can find solar and wind emulators, energy storage systems, programmable loads, a diesel generator and a syncronous compensator and even a programmable network by using SCADA. On top of that, the micro grid lab has a real time simulator which can interact with the grid creating the hardware-in-the-loop system. Thus, the researcher writes his experiment in Matlab/Simulink and control the real elements and receives the feedback in the simulink to close the contrl loop. The real-time simulator is the OPAL-RT 5600.

In addition to the micro grid test-bench, the micro grid lab also includes solar and wind generation. Regarding solar generation, the students can use the training bench which allows to study efficiency, shadowing and incidence angle. The training bench provides information about the irradiance and the electric measurements so students can evaluate the performance a real PV panel. Students use this bench during smart grid course (Term 4)

For real and higher power applications, the power electronics team has installed in the roof of the building several PV panels to compare and study efficiency of converters and PV panels. This can be connected to the micro grid directly in order to test the grid in real condition.

For wind generation, the micro grid lab has also a training bench, in which students can characterize the power extraction as a function of the wind speed, blades’ angle, and number of blades. The wind turbine can be connected to a simple programmable load or to a real enery storage system, to observe the impact of a non linear load. Students use this bench, during the smart grid course (Term 4)

This facility is a modernized electricity network, that used information and communication networks and technologies to gather information on energy production and consumption, allowing automatically improve the efficiency, reliability, economic benefits, as well as production stability and distribution of electricity. Includes: Solar panels, Wind farm, Energy storage system, Diesel generator, Heat Pump, Fuel cell instalation, Hydro generator, Programmable loads, Connection matrix.

The Micro lab allows us :

To test any kind of new devices like renewable energy generators, smart loads, or different types of energy storage systems in a real grid.3
To validate a microgrid design for remote areas. The Lab allows us to introduce different load and generator profiles to test a microgrid design for remote areas by selecting the island mode.
To estimate the energy saving by using a microgrid attached to the main grid.
To perform and study different energy management controls, like peak shaving strategies in order to improve the reliability and the power quality of the grid.
To simulate different kind of energy storage systems attached to a real grid.
To study instabilities and develop strategies to minimize them.
To analyze power flow between different point of a grid by using a network matrix with transmission line impedances.

PV and Wind generators consist of tri-phase inverters that allow us :

To emulate any power profile from a virtual PV panel or a wind turbine

To attach the real PV panel or wind turbine to test the microgrid in a real mode

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Active and Reactive programmable loads.

They consist of two tri-phase programmable RL loads that permit us:

To emulate any active or reactive power demand from an industry or residential areas
The profiles can be fixed at the beginning of the experiment or can be variable in real-time in order to follow a demand from another place
The power demand can also be modified by the energy management control unit in order to test any kind of smart load which increase the demand when the renewable energy is available

Energy storage system.

ESS consists of tri-phase bidirectional inverters that can charge or discharge the energy storage devices. The energy storage devices are: untitledss

Li-ion batteries as an energy resource

Supercapacitors as a peak power resource

A mixture of both devices allows us:

To simulate other kind of energy storage technologies by modifying the inverter/charger dynamics

To analyze and test different kind of strategies in energy management control. It is possible to evaluate

Peak shaving strategies

Frequency regulation

Diesel generator.

It provides the back-up system when the energystorage is empty

It consists of tri-phase inverters connected to a the real diesel generator

Connection matrix.

It allows us to have four connection points to the microgrid

Each connection point is attached to a transmission line in order to simulate some distance between each node

It allows us to measure the power flow and the voltage in each node in order to control the grid parameters

Grid emulator (OPAL-RT + Converter) can simulate the main grid and can intercact with the microgrid. So a hardware in the loop simulation for smartgrids is achieved.

Future devices in the grid.
Actually, we are expanding the capabilities of the grid.
It will be added :

→ A 1000W fuel cell with an electrolizer that can produce H2 by absorbing energy from the grid.

→ A emulator than can simulate or test a hydro generator.