Analysis and Improvement of Communication Network Performance for Interoperable Smart Micro Grids

Abstract

The unrelenting growth of present-day urbanization and its consequent burden on newlinethe utility grid, and insufficient conventional energy sources encourage demand-side energy management. This needs the deployment of local microgrids that uses renew-able/alternative energy sources. Also, the present-day urban scenario is equipped with the combination of heterogeneous buildings (with different generation and load pro-files) formed as community microgrids. So, there is a possibility of energy sharing newlineamong these buildings to cater for their electricity needs instead of depending on the newlineutility grid all the time, thereby can reduce the utility grid burden. In this view, this newlinethesis proposes an effective communication network and technology for Interoperable newlineSmart Microgrids (ISMs) application. To effectively use the available energy sources, newlinean energy management scheme is proposed. Further, switchport security aspects are newlinediscussed and realized a three-mode security mechanism to identify and isolate unau- newlinethorized users in the network. To address the communication link failures in the single newlinemicrogrid scenario, retrofitted Internet of Things (IoT) based communication network newlinewith Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) is implemented. Besides, to enhance relia- newlinebility of the communication network in ISMs, a refined network topology is proposed newlinewhich provides more communication paths between microgrids, while retaining the newlinesame number of total links needed, as in conventional HSRP-based networks. Further, newlineenhanced Dijkstra algorithm is proposed to find the optimum path during link failures. newlineFinally, to test and validate the performance of the proposed communication network newlinefor the ISMs, a real time LoRa (Long Range) based experiment was conducted at the newlineuniversity campus. The measured results illustrate that the proposed network can be newlinesuccessfully implemented for the urban energy communities. newline