Autonomous Multi-Factor Energy Flows Controller (AmEFC): Enhancing Renewable Energy Management with Intelligent Control Systems Integration

The transition to sustainable energy systems is one of the defining challenges of our time, necessitating innovations in how we generate, distribute, and manage electrical power. Micro-grids, as localized energy hubs, have emerged as a promising solution to integrate renewable energy sources, ensure energy security, and improve system resilience. The Autonomous multi-factor Energy Flow Controller (AmEFC) introduced in this paper addresses this need by offering a scalable, adaptable, and resilient framework for energy management within an on-grid micro-grid context. The urgency for such a system is predicated on the increasing volatility and unpredictability in energy landscapes, including fluctuating renewable outputs and changing load demands. To tackle these challenges, the AmEFC prototype incorporates a novel hierarchical control structure that leverages Renewable Energy Sources (RES), such as photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and hydro pumps, alongside a sophisticated Battery Management System (BMS). Its prime objective is to maintain an uninterrupted power supply to critical loads, efficiently balance energy surplus through hydraulic storage, and ensure robust interaction with the main grid. A comprehensive Simulink model is developed to validate the functionality of the AmEFC, simulating real-world conditions and dynamic interactions among the components. The model assesses the system’s reliability in consistently powering critical loads and its efficacy in managing surplus energy. The inclusion of advanced predictive algorithms enables the AmEFC to anticipate energy production and consumption trends, integrating weather forecasting and inter-controller communication to optimize energy flow within and across micro-grids. This study’s significance lies in its potential to facilitate the seamless incorporation of RES into existing power systems, thus propelling the energy sector towards a more sustainable, autonomous, and resilient future. The results underscore the potential of such a system to revolutionize energy management practices and highlight the importance of smart controller systems in the era of smart grids.

Energy-Saving and Control of General Indoor Lighting Elements Fed from a Micro-Controlled Hybrid Power Generation System

In this study, an off grid wind-solar hybrid power generation system was established at Afyon Kocatepe University to meet the energy need of lighting system of three different laboratories. It is planned to efficiently use the energy obtained from the designed hybrid power generation system. For this purpose, PIC 16F877 was used in controlling of lighting load of laboratories. The off-grid wind-solar hybrid power generation system consists of 570 W 24 V mono crystal solar panels, 600 W wind power generation system and accumulator groups. The load control circuit made with PIC 16F877 is designed in a manner that will control the lighting armature groups individually activate and deactivate the armature groups according to intensity of illumination in environment. Besides, separately from generation and storing units constituting the hybrid power generation system, data in kWh are recorded by means of software in 10 seconds intervals. With the obtained power generation and storing data, analyzing of power consumption data when the load control system in active or passive position is made. According to analysis results, with controlling of lighting load and using of energy obtained from off grid wind-solar hybrid power generation system, 20.6% energy saving has been ensured.

Research on power control strategy of household-level electric power router based on hybrid energy storage droop control

In the light of user-side energy power control requirements, a power control strategy for a household-level EPR based on HES droop control is proposed, focusing on the on-grid, off-grid and seamless switching process. The system operating states are divided based on the DC bus voltage information with one converter used as a slack terminal to stabilize the DC bus voltage and the other converters as power terminals. In the on-grid mode, the GCC and the HES are used as the main control unit to achieve on-grid stable operation, whereas in the off-grid mode, the PV, HES and LC are used as the main control unit at different voltages to achieve stable operation of the island network. Finally, a DC MG system based on a household-level EPR is developed using the PSCAD / EMTDC simulation platform and the results show that the control strategy can effectively adjust the output of each subunit and maintain the stability of the DC bus voltage.