Understanding the Panel

When starting the demo, three panels can be selected.
They are named Main, Acquisition, and Profiles.
They can be seen under Panels (inside the red ellipse) in figure 3.
In this section, the description of each of these panels is provided.

Figure 3: Panels of the Microgrid Laboratory

Main Panel

When selecting the panel referred to as Main under Panels, figure 4 below appears with the default settings.
To simulate the two operation modes of the microgrid, the student can open or close the breaker near the Primary distribution substation.
When the push button for the islanding breaker is green, Mode 1 is active.
Otherwise, Mode 2 is active.

The parameters such as wind speed, solar irradiance, power from (or to) the main grid utility, and loads are represented by sliders that enable to modify their default values.
The controller can be activated or deactivated through the on/off button.
In addition, the student can control through the panel whether to operate the battery bank as a ”PV” or ”PQ” bus.
For ”PV mode” the active power and the voltage are known, while for ”PQ mode” the active and reactive powers are known.

A 24-hours solar irradiance, load demand, and wind speed profiles taken from California ISO webpage, can be simulated for the microgrid operation by a simple push button.
The color red for the button indicates that the profiles are not active, while a color green indicates otherwise.

Table 2 below summarizes the control parameters of the microgrid.

Figure 4: Main Panel of the Microgrid Laboratory

Table 2: Control Parameters of the Microgrid

Acquisition Panel

When the panel referred to as Acquisition is selected, figure 5 appears with the default settings.
Under the Acquisition panel, the student should find Battery Acquisition, PV Acquisition and Wind Turbine Acquisition.
Figures 5 to 7 below show the acquisition panels for the battery, the PV, and the wind turbine.

Figure 5: Acquisition Panel of the Microgrid Laboratory - BESS Acquisition

Battery Acquisition

As shown in figure 5 above, the 60 kW battery energy storage can be simulated with and without connection to the main grid.
The student can push the ’Grid-Connected’ button for connection/disconnection.
The panel offers the student the opportunity to operate the battery either in ”PQ mode” or in ”PV mode” through the “Operation mode” button.
In the scopes are displayed the BESS DC voltage and current, the SoC, the grid and BESS reactive powers, the three-phase AC voltages and currents of the BESS, and the active powers of the grid, PV, WT, BESS, and loads.

PV Acquisition

As presented in figure 6 below, the 12 kW PVGS can be simulated with and without connection to the main grid.
The student can push the ’Grid-Connected’ button for connection/disconnection.
In the scopes are displayed the PV DC voltage and current, the three-phase AC voltages and currents of the PV, and the PV output power.

Wind Turbine Acquisition

As observed in figure 7 below, the 12 kW wind turbine can be simulated with and without connection to the main grid.
The student can push the ’Grid-Connected’ button for connection/disconnection.
In the scopes are displayed the three-phase AC voltages and currents, the frequency, and the output power of the wind turbine generation system.

Figure 6: PVGS Acquisition

Figure 7: WTGS Acquisition

Profiles Panel

When the panel referred to as Profiles is selected, figure 8 appears.
The student can activate/deactivate the 24-hours profiles of the load, wind speed and solar irradiance via the push button.
Once activated, the scopes display the following waveforms: solar irradiance, wind speed, load profile, PV output power, wind turbine power production, and the battery active power.

Figure 8: Profiles Panel of the Microgrid Laboratory