Today's electric power grid is experiencing a significant transformation because of rapid developments in renewable energy and smart grid technologies. This transition inevitably demands significant transformative research on many rapidly arising issues while the operation, stability, and reliability of the existing power grid is not affected. This project supports the acquisition of a modern real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation system to advance smart grid and renewable energy technologies. The project will model smart grid components in a multi-disciplinary manner and investigate the interoperability characteristics of renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, and "smart" loads within a smart microgrid framework. The project will result in advanced computational technologies efficient for simulation-based study of both long- and short-term dynamics of future ?mixed system? and ?mixed signal? power grid configurations. At the same time, the project will examine how to integrate energy and intelligent-agent-based computing and communication systems within a decentralized electric power grid. The project will enhance the development of advanced technologies for the future smart power grid, reduce energy-related emissions, improve energy efficiency of all economic sectors, and strengthen the technological lead for the United States in the advanced computing and energy fields. The project will attract and retain more minority and female students to the computational energy system program and educate young engineers and scientists to meet the rapid developments in energy and cyber technology for the 21st century.
The electric power grid today is experiencing a significant change because of the rapid development of renewable energy and smart grid technologies. However, due to the intermittent and distributed nature of renewable energy sources, multidisciplinary characteristics of renewable energy systems, and extensive applications of advanced digital technologies in a smart grid, design and management of a smart and renewable energy system (SRES) is a great challenge to both power and computing industry. This project developed a modern REAL-TIME hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation system to advance research and education in SRES area. It has resulted in a significant increase in the cyber infrastructure currently in place at the University of Alabama (UA), allowing a number of important cross-disciplinary topics to be investigated over the HIL facility, including both fundamental and applied studies. The system has provided efficient and advanced methodologies, approaches and test beds for research and education of next-generation smart and renewable power grids in modern parallel and REAL-TIME computing environments. The special outcomes of the project include: (1) Acquired modern real-time HIL parallel simulation system and cyberinfrastructure to enhance computational experiment and thinking ability for SRES research. (2) Investigated interoperability characteristics of typical renewable energy sources (including wind turbines and solar photovoltaic cells, modules and arrays), energy storage systems (including batteries and supercapacitors) and loads, and describe and model those components through cross-disciplinary research collaborations and considerations. (3) Examined how to integrate energy and agent-based computing systems together using computational experiment approaches. (4) Explored advanced strategies to enhance computational experiment efficiency that can meet computing needs of different SRES sub-simulation systems and configurations. (5) Developed new technology for control and management of renewable energy conversion systems and microgrids. (6) Developed and enhanced curriculum relevant to SRES field. Integrate education with research through both graduate and undergraduate participations in the project research activities. (7) The project has also been extended to advanced research topics in demand response and smart grid areas, such as smart homes and intelligent buildings.
