Hello, solar enthusiasts! Have you ever wondered about the various ways to increase grid resilience against extreme weather storms and pesky hackers? Well, let’s dive right into it. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are currently exploring the concept of building a self-healing grid. Sounds exciting, right? This innovative idea comprises encoded algorithms in grid relays enabling a swift restoration of power to critical infrastructures such as hospitals, grocery stores, assisted living facilities, and water treatment plants.
These imagined grid relays would find their home embedded in microgrids of renewable energy supplies and their local energy storage systems. Imagine small islands of power, encircling critical infrastructure, that can not only heal themselves but also share electricity, powering as many users as possible. That’s the primary focus of the Sandia project – a self-sustaining, eco-friendly power source network.
These microgrids come with automated functions that balance energy production with consumption and reconfigure if part of the system is impaired. The prevention of unintentional circuit loops in the microgrids forms another core function of the algorithm. Microgrids thus put to use device-specific local measurements, avoiding the costs that would otherwise arise from the necessity for power inverters offering high-speed communications. An effective strategy by the Sandia-led team in automating energy production and consumption regulation has seen ample success.
To give a bit more clarity, let’s delve into the automated reconfiguration process. Initiated by computer-aided design software algorithm, the method revolves around isolating issues such as tree-downed lines or a damaged power plant, and then restoring electricity to essential infrastructure. Truly, it’s a system built to withstand and recover.
As fascinating as it is, curbing the grid from forming an unintentional loop is something that is being carefully investigated. This becomes increasingly relevant as the proliferation of solar panels for your home and the development of microgrids invites opportunities for the grid to morph into an unstable loop. A stepping stone to combat this is the use of local measurements to determine which sides of a line are already connected, thereby thwarting the formation of a loop should the switch come under closure.
One innovative solution the researchers developed to troubleshoot unintentional loops is a morse-code-like process. Picture this; an overloaded line relay tempers voltage, opening and closing a specific pattern, essentially modulating the voltage. This distinctive pattern allows relays for lower-priority customers to disconnect themselves from the line when overloaded. Best of all, this system doesn’t need a separate communication system, defending against cyber-attacks by using the power line itself to relay the signal.
Looking forward, researchers aim to fine-tune the performance of each method with hopes of collaborating with line and load relay manufacturers for product integration tests. The idea here is to see how the algorithms perform when embedded in the manufacturer’s products towards creating a more robust, efficient and secure solar array for homes. The early demonstrations would be done in a hardware-in-the-loop testbed before moving onto test facilities like Sandia’s Distributed Energy Technologies Laboratory. Stay tuned with me, as I closely monitor this fascinating progression in our journey towards a more sustainable and resilient power grid. Until next time, solar enthusiasts!
Original Article: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/01/25/sandia-national-laboratories-design-grid-resiliency-algorithm/
