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Frontier Technologies for the Utilization of Power Generation and Energy Sources

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 10793

Special Issue Editors

Department of Electrical and Data Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Australia
Interests: smart grid; power system resilience; renewable energy; control engineering; electrical energy storage; power system control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Electronic Engineering, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
Interests: microgrids; renewable energy systems; neuroscience-based artificial intelligence; digital twins; cybersecurity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Discipline of Engineering and Energy, Murdoch University, Murdoch 6150, Australia
Interests: electric distribution systems power; microgrids; smart-grid-distributed energy resources
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A secure energy supply is crucial to maintaining various functionalities of power grids. The integration of more and more renewable energy sources is reshaping traditional power systems. This brings more challenges in utilizing power generation and energy sources for the future grid, and it is evident that existing technical solutions and industry practices will no longer be sustainable due to these rapid changes. Considering the growing interest in this area, this Special Issue aims to explore the current research progress on the utilization of power generation and energy sources in power systems. The targeted research will cover a broad spectrum of topics, such as distributed energy resources (DERs), energy storage systems, electric vehicles, energy solution for residential homes, smart/microgrids, energy market participation, and power electronic devices for DERs, etc. It is expected that academics, researchers, practitioners, market regulators, system operators, policymakers, and other energy stakeholders will benefit from these state-of-the-art research results.

This Special Issue solicits original research papers that target, but are not restricted to, the following topics:

  • Microgrid design, control and operation
  • Applications of centralized or distributed optimization and control techniques in smart grids
  • Applications of data analytics and artificial intelligence techniques in smart grids
  • Advanced energy charging and pricing technologies
  • Energy harvesting techniques
  • Backup power technologies for smart homes and offices
  • Clean and renewable energy
  • Energy storage technology
  • Energy efficiency and smart buildings
  • Energy transactions and market
  • Energy end use and demand side management
  • Energy solution for residential homes, farmers, etc.
  • Grid resilience
  • Home energy management systems (HEMS)
  • On-demand energy innovations
  • Energy analytics
  • Sustainable power supply and transmission design
  • Sustainable energy (charging, etc.) for electric vehicles
  • Virtual power plant
  • Smart converter/inverter design

Dr. Li Li
Prof. Dr. Josep M. Guerrero
Dr. Farhad Shahnia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • distributed energy resources
  • energy storage systems
  • electric vehicles
  • smart grids
  • microgrids
  • energy market
  • energy management system
  • virtual power plant

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2949 KiB  
Article
Homogenising the Design Criteria of a Community Battery Energy Storage for Better Grid Integration
by Muhammad Adnan Hayat, Farhad Shahnia, GM Shafiullah and Remember Samu
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 733; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14020733 - 10 Jan 2022
Viewed by 1441
Abstract
Historically, minimum system demand has usually occurred overnight. However, in recent years, the increased penetration of rooftop photovoltaic systems (RPVs) has caused an even lower demand at midday, forcing some of the conventional generators to shut down only hours before the evening peak [...] Read more.
Historically, minimum system demand has usually occurred overnight. However, in recent years, the increased penetration of rooftop photovoltaic systems (RPVs) has caused an even lower demand at midday, forcing some of the conventional generators to shut down only hours before the evening peak demand period. This further complicates the job of power system operators, who need to run the conventional generator at the minimum stable level at the midday low-demand period so that they can reliably supply power during the peak periods. Employing a community battery storage system can alleviate some of the technical issues caused by the high penetration of RPVs. This paper proposed a design criterion for community battery energy storage systems and employed the battery for the improvement of the duck curve profile and providing the desired level of peak-shaving. Furthermore, remote communities with high penetration of RPVs with a community battery energy storage can achieve the desired level of self-sufficiency. To this end, this study recommends and confirms an applicable design criterion for community battery energy storage. The study shows that the suitable size of community battery storage should be based on the community’s daily excess generation and consumption requirements. The results of various scenarios performed on the proposed design criterion show the extent to which the desired objectives of peak-shaving, duck curve mitigation, and self-sufficiency can be achieved. Full article
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24 pages, 6097 KiB  
Article
Optimal Load and Energy Management of Aircraft Microgrids Using Multi-Objective Model Predictive Control
by Xin Wang, Jason Atkin, Najmeh Bazmohammadi, Serhiy Bozhko and Josep M. Guerrero
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13907; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132413907 - 16 Dec 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2280
Abstract
Safety issues related to the electrification of more electric aircraft (MEA) need to be addressed because of the increasing complexity of aircraft electrical power systems and the growing number of safety-critical sub-systems that need to be powered. Managing the energy storage systems and [...] Read more.
Safety issues related to the electrification of more electric aircraft (MEA) need to be addressed because of the increasing complexity of aircraft electrical power systems and the growing number of safety-critical sub-systems that need to be powered. Managing the energy storage systems and the flexibility in the load-side plays an important role in preserving the system’s safety when facing an energy shortage. This paper presents a system-level centralized operation management strategy based on model predictive control (MPC) for MEA to schedule battery systems and exploit flexibility in the demand-side while satisfying time-varying operational requirements. The proposed online control strategy aims to maintain energy storage (ES) and prolong the battery life cycle, while minimizing load shedding, with fewer switching activities to improve devices lifetime and to avoid unnecessary transients. Using a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation, different objective functions are proposed to realize the control targets, with soft constraints improving the feasibility of the model. In addition, an evaluation framework is proposed to analyze the effects of various objective functions and the prediction horizon on system performance, which provides the designers and users of MEA and other complex systems with new insights into operation management problem formulation. Full article
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20 pages, 1929 KiB  
Article
PV-EV Integrated Home Energy Management Considering Residential Occupant Behaviors
by Xuebo Liu, Yingying Wu and Hongyu Wu
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13826; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132413826 - 14 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2525
Abstract
Rooftop photovoltaics (PV) and electrical vehicles (EV) have become more economically viable to residential customers. Most existing home energy management systems (HEMS) only focus on the residential occupants’ thermal comfort in terms of indoor temperature and humidity while neglecting their other behaviors or [...] Read more.
Rooftop photovoltaics (PV) and electrical vehicles (EV) have become more economically viable to residential customers. Most existing home energy management systems (HEMS) only focus on the residential occupants’ thermal comfort in terms of indoor temperature and humidity while neglecting their other behaviors or concerns. This paper aims to integrate residential PV and EVs into the HEMS in an occupant-centric manner while taking into account the occupants’ thermal comfort, clothing behaviors, and concerns on the state-of-charge (SOC) of EVs. A stochastic adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) model was proposed to optimally determine the setpoints of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), occupant’s clothing decisions, and the EV’s charge/discharge schedule while considering uncertainties in the outside temperature, PV generation, and EV’s arrival SOC. The nonlinear and nonconvex thermal comfort model, EV SOC concern model, and clothing behavior model were holistically embedded in the ADP-HEMS model. A model predictive control framework was further proposed to simulate a residential house under the time of use tariff, such that it continually updates with optimal appliance schedules decisions passed to the house model. Cosimulations were carried out to compare the proposed HEMS with a baseline model that represents the current operational practice. The result shows that the proposed HEMS can reduce the energy cost by 68.5% while retaining the most comfortable thermal level and negligible EV SOC concerns considering the occupant’s behaviors. Full article
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19 pages, 3888 KiB  
Article
Design and Analysis of a High-Gain Step-Up/Down Modular DC–DC Converter with Continuous Input Current and Decreased Voltage Stress on Power Switches and Switched-Capacitors
by Maysam Abbasi, Ehsan Abbasi, Li Li and Behrouz Tousi
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5243; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13095243 - 07 May 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2403
Abstract
Due to concerns, such as global warming and depletion of fossil fuels, countries are forced to integrate energy storage devices (ESSs) and renewable energy sources (RESs), such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, wind turbines and fuel cells, into their power networks. Here, a new [...] Read more.
Due to concerns, such as global warming and depletion of fossil fuels, countries are forced to integrate energy storage devices (ESSs) and renewable energy sources (RESs), such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, wind turbines and fuel cells, into their power networks. Here, a new high gain DC–DC converter with step-up/down ability is proposed for modern applications. Since this converter provides high variable voltage gain, it can be employed for output voltage regulation purposes in RESs such as solar panels. Additionally, this converter provides a remarkable reduction in voltage stress on the switched capacitors and power switches. Due to its modular structure obtained by employing switched-capacitors (SCs), it is possible for this topology to gain a very high voltage conversion ratio using low duty-cycles produced by a simple and straightforward control system. To be specific, the more the number of SC cells increase, the more the output voltage increases. The proposed converter has a continuous input current allowing to extract the maximum power from RESs like PV panels. It should be noted that the application of this converter is not limited to the aforementioned ones since it can be used in various applications needing high voltage gains such as generating the desired voltage level in high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems especially their transmission lines. For validating the performance of the proposed structure, comprehensive comparisons and experimental results are presented. Full article
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