Renewable source penetration and microgrids: Effects of MILP – Based control strategies

The implementation of the Distributed Generation (DG) concept requires to face with technical issues regarding integration and control of energy fluxes at the grid nodes. A predictive control strategy integrating renewable and non-renewable sources, as well as energy storage systems, is a potential solution to face with the aforementioned problems. The behavior of a smart building consisting of 30 apartments has been considered in this work. The Hybrid Renewable System (HRS) has been controlled by a Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy. The HRS includes both sub-systems for the conversion of renewable energy sources and non-renewable ones, connected to the main grid. Several scenarios have been tested under different weather conditions and renewable sources penetration quotas. Results obtained with the MPC control strategy have been compared with a Rule Based Control (RBC) one, turning out that the use of MPC improves the integration of the residential microgrid with the renewable sources available at the grid thanks to the predictive system smoothing out the energy demand profile and absorbing the peak of production from the photovoltaic and wind farms, even in cases of high RES penetration. •Demand Side Management (DSM) strategy allows for increased renewable penetration.•DSM and battery limit fluctuations of power exchanged with the grid.•Power peaks have been reduced with cheaper energy purchased from the grid.•Energy consumptions are moved in phase with renewable production.•Costs of energy drawn from the grid may be cut up to 70%.