A Smart Distribution Grid Laboratory

Abstract

This paper details a Smart Grid Laboratory for the study of modern house distribution systems with multiple energy sources and energy regeneration capability. The laboratory is designed to perform real-time simulation of a realistic distribution system connected to multiple houses. In addition, a real house with typical appliances and power sources is connected to the eMEGAsim real-time simulator with a Power-Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) interface. Such PHIL interface enables the simulation of a simulated plant and real devices at a connection point where actual energy is exchanged between the two parts. Because of the coupling delays and the bandwidth of the plant and real devices, the stability of such a PHIL connection is not guaranteed. This paper will have a special emphasis on the stability of such power-HIL simulation.