A review of microgrid research

Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1971, 040004 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5041146

Published Online: 07 June 2018

Yuqi Wang

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AIP Conference Proceedings 1971, 040004 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5041146 1971, 040004

© 2018 Author(s).
 A Review of Microgrid Research
Yuqi Wang

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Baoding 071003, China

1351135814@qq.com

Abstract. The origin, development and characteristics of microgrid technology are summarized in this paper. This paper
mainly introduces the protection technology and control technology in the microgrid technology. The protection
technology of microgrid is very different from the traditional large power grid protection technology. As for as microgrid
protection, the follows need to be taken into account: (1) the direction of the power flow in the microgrid is bidirectional;
(2) the magnitude of short-circuit current is quite different in the two cases of grid connected operation and island
operation. The control technology of microgrid includes master and slave control and peer control. In addition, the abuse
of the large power grid is becoming more and more obvious. This paper introduces the related research of DC micro grid.
Finally, the development direction of microgrid technology is prospected.

Key words: Microgrid, Characteristic, Protection technology, Control technology.

INTRODUCTION
With the development of the world economy, the consumption of fossil fuels such as coal and oil is increasing,
resulting in the global energy supply is drying up, and the problem of environmental pollution is more serious. In
recent years, several large-scale blackout events in the world have made the disadvantages of the traditional large
power grid increasingly prominent. Wind, solar and other emerging renewable energy has the characteristics of
clean and pollution-free. It is an important way to solve the current energy shortage and environmental pollution,
and has been strongly supported by governments all over the world. In recent years, the global wind power installed
capacity and photovoltaic power installed capacity have increased rapidly, reaching 20% and 25% respectively. The
growth rate of wind power installed capacity and PV installed capacity in China are two times that of the world
average, reaching 40% and 50%. Renewable energy generation constitutes an important decentralized power source
in distributed generation technology, which promotes the rapid development of distributed generation technology.
Distributed generation technology makes full use of features of flexible and decentralized power, adapt to the
demand for power and resources distribution, but also does not need to update the transmission network and
distribution network, saves a lot of investment. In addition, the distributed generation technology improves the
reliability of the power supply by means of mutual backup with the large power grid. But distributed generation
technology is facing the following problems: (1) distributed generation has high access cost and is hard to control; (2)
wind power and photovoltaic generation in distributed generation have intermittent and fluctuating characteristics,
which may endanger large power grid.
The concept of microgrid has coordinated the contradiction between large power grid and distributed generation
technology, reduced the adverse impact of distributed generation on large power grid, and improved the utilization
efficiency of new renewable energy. Microgrid is a small modular and decentralized power generation and
distribution system based on distributed generation technology, relying on decentralized resources or small power
stations of users, combined with power quality management and energy grads utilization technology of end users.

Materials Science, Energy Technology and Power Engineering II (MEP2018)

AIP Conf. Proc. 1971, 040004-1–040004-5; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5041146
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1678-9/$30.00

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROGRID

Miniaturization
Miniaturization is the primary feature of microgrid, which is mainly embodied in low voltage level. In our
country, the voltage level of microgrid is mainly 380V; the system is small in size, usually below MW level; it is
connected with terminal users and can be used on the spot. Figure 1 the basic structure of microgrid.

FIGURE 1. The basic structure of microgrid.

Self Balance
The micro grid can realize the self balance of the internal power of the microgrid by adjusting the distributed
generation, energy storage and load, and the power exchange is very little with the external power grid. As grid
connected operating, the microgrid load is the main power users, power generated by microgrid should meet the
principle of local consumption of micro grid generation. As off network operating, by adjusting the distributed
generation and energy storage system, the power supply needs of all or part of the load are guaranteed, and the self
balance of the electric power of the microgrid is realized in the state of the off network.

Clean and Efficient

The distributed powers in the microgrid is mainly new types of renewable energy, such as wind power and
photovoltaic power generation, or the form of power generation that takes the comprehensive utilization of energy as
the goal, such as the combined supply system of cold, heat and electricity, and the residual heat and residual
pressure power generation system. Micro grid also uses fossil energy and is characterized by "high efficiency". The
overall utilization rate of energy is generally above 70%. At the same time, the microgrid configures the efficient
energy management system to make the whole system run in the state of economy, energy saving and environmental
protection.

PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY OF MICROGRID

Microgrid has two operation modes: grid connected operation and islanding operation. Therefore, microgrid
protection requires that it can respond to the fault information in the two operation modes and meet the requirements
of reliability, sensitivity, speed and selectivity of traditional large power grid. But the protection of microgrid is
different from the traditional relay protection. The typical performance can be summed up as follows:

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 (1) There are fundamental differences in the short circuit current size of the microgrid under the two operating
modes of the grid-connected operation and the isolated operation.
(2) The size of the fault current in the microgrid is closely related to the grounding mode of the distributed power
supply and the related load.
(3) After the entry of DG, the bidirectional power flow characteristics of the microgrid are changed. Therefore,
the direction discrimination of the microgrid protection also changes.
(1) The key to the protection of microgrid is that in the case of failure, the isolation strategy of microgrid and
distribution network is coordinated with the protection method of microgrid.
There are two main types of protection schemes for microgrid. One is based on the protection of local
information. The current research results mainly include the protection scheme of low voltage microgrid based on
microprocessor-based protection; the distribution network protection configuration containing distributed power
realizing through the directional element and the reclosing characteristic of the microcomputer. The other is to use
modern communication technology to realize the real-time sharing of microgrid information, and to simplify the
setting and coordination of microgrid protectionThe current research results mainly include using advanced
communication technology to share information of microgrid and realizing microgrid protection according to the
change of current direction after fault; using intelligent electronic equipment and communication technology,
aggregate the information to the logical processing center, and the logic processing center makes the protection
action plan.

CONTROL TECHNOLOGY OF MICROGRID

Control technology is one of the difficulties that restrict the development of microgrid. The development of
power electronic control technology determines whether the microgrid can operate in a long-term, stable and reliable
way, and whether it can connect well with the main power grid, and whether it can achieve rapid development.
Compared with the traditional power system, the difference of the control system of the microgrid is caused by
the following reasons: the steady and transient characteristics of microgrid is different from traditional power grid;
microgrid has inherent imbalance load, such as single-phase load; the electricity provided by microgrid comes from
uncontrollable sources, such as wind energy and solar energy; the influence of the energy storage element to the
control mechanism is large.
The control strategy of microgrid can be divided into constant power control, V/f control and Droop control.
(1) Constant power control. Constant power control mode is mainly used in grid connected converter control of
microgrid. Through constant power control mode, microgrid converter realizes output of active and reactive power
according to power commands. The constant power control mode is usually realized by current control or voltage
control.
(2) V/f control. The V/f control mode is often used in the isolated operation mode Under isolated operation mode,
V/f control mode uses constant voltage amplitude and frequency to control the stability of output voltage and
frequency of converter, so as to meet load demand.
(3) Drooping control. The droop control model can control the voltage amplitude and frequency of the microgrid
system by simulating the static droop characteristics of the synchronous generator. Figure 2 is the droop
characteristic curve:

FIGURE 2. The droop characteristic curve.

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 DC MICROGRID
With the development of the distribution system, it has been proved that the DC microgrid is more advantageous
than the AC microgrid. The advantages of DC microgrid include easy control, high system efficiency and less
energy conversion. Therefore, the in-depth study of DC microgrid will promote the application and popularization of
new energy generation technology.
Through DC power distribution, The DC microgrid connects all the micropower sources on a common bus to
form an independent controlled system. The micropower supply in the DC microgrid mainly consists of photovoltaic
cells, fuel cells, wind power and gas turbine. The DC/AC converter connects various forms of micropower to large
power grids.
In addition, due to the characteristics of both DC micro grid and AC microgrid, the AC / DC hybrid microgrid
has attracted people's attention. The power between the AC system and the DC system can flow bidirectionally. And
the subsystems can also operate independently, and can run under grid connected operation mode or off grid
operation mode. Figure 3 shows a hybrid three port AC/DC/DC microgrid structure:

FIGURE 3. Topology of the three ports of AC/DC/DC microgrid.

At present, the main technical difficulty of DC micro grid is the configuration optimization and stability control
of the AC and DC hybrid microgrid system.

PROSPECT OF MICROGRID TECHNOLOGY

Microgrid is a single controllable independent power generation system which consists of distributed generation,
load, energy storage devices and control devices. It is a new network structure in China's power grid construction,
and it is an effective way to deal with the current global energy crisis and environmental pollution. At present, many
research achievements have been made by scholars at home and abroad on Microgrid technology, and the future
research directions include:
(1) More perfect tide analysis
(2) A more perfect model of microgrid economic operation
(3) Synchronous control of grid-connected operation of microgrid
(4) Optimal control of different types of distributed power supply

SUMMARY
This paper first discusses the origin, development and characteristics of microgrid technology, then introduces
the core technology of protection technology and control technology, then introduces the new DC micro grid
technology, finally looks forward to the future research directions of the microgrid technology.

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