Microgrids and Renewables

• Access full-fletched reference examples in Simulink and Simscape Electrical to get you started on microgrids control and testing renewable energy source integration.

• Deploy controls created in Simulink and its toolboxes, include switching mechanisms like pulse-width modulation (PWM) or space vector modulation (SVM), and interface to your equipment via communication protocols like DNP3 and IEC61850.

• Visualize, log and tune parameters in real-time from Simulink. Furthermore, you can even perform PID autotuning with your hardware.

• Extend your plant model with ready-to-use I/O driver blocks. For example, capture high-frequency signals such as PWM from your controller, generate feedback signals such as quadrature encoder or resolver, and communicate over protocols such as SPI, I2C, EtherCAT, or CAN.  

• Execute Simulink and Simscape Electrical™ models on multicore CPUs and Simulink-programmable FPGAs. Include the electrical, hydraulic, or mechanical dynamics from renewable energy sources like wind turbines, tidal generators, solar panels, or combined heat and power (CHP).

• Interface with supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and monitor signals in real-time (on the CPU or FPGA).

• Simulate microgrids when grid-connected or disconnected (islanded mode), including renewable distributed energy resources (DER) and utility-scale energy storage systems. Design and validate energy management system (EMS) supervisory logic for all operating conditions.

• Add multicore real-time target machines, I/O modules, and FPGAs as your project grows. Interface multiple Simulink-programmable FPGAs with Aurora protocol via multi-gigabit transceivers.

Test and verify controls for AC or DC microgrids using Simulink, Simscape Electrical, and Speedgoat hardware. From rapid control prototyping of supervisory microgrid PLC controllers to power systems real-time simulation. Explore operating conditions and fault scenarios at different levels of fidelity: combine phasor, electromagnetic transient (EMT), and even detailed power electronics switching, with interconnected multicore CPUs and FPGAs. Thoroughly test microgrid controllers using real-time simulations. 

Design and test DC power networks, microgrids, and the associated power converters using Simulink, Simscape Electrical, and Speedgoat real-time target computers. Verify power flow and the impact of transportation electrification, energy storage, and renewables on power stability. Use Power HIL to test equipment against virtual power sources, energy storage, and DC load conditions. For example, evaluate topologies for regulating bus voltage with various renewable energy sources, balance the state of charge of energy storage systems or assess grid impact and fault handling of high-speed DC battery chargers for electric vehicles.

Test renewable energy sources, inverters, and their protection systems against a virtual power grid or microgrid using Simscape Electrical and Speedgoat hardware. Reference examples are available to get you started modeling solar inverters, wind generators, fuel cells, grid-tied inverters, grid-forming inverters, or energy management systems. Choose from a wide range of protocols, including Modbus, PROFINET, DNP3, and IEC61850. Test controllers using hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and include electrical power transfer via power amplifiers with Power HIL.

Design and test onboard power systems using a digital twin of your complete vehicle, from electric cars to more electric aircraft (MEA) and all-electric ships. Using Simulink and Speedgoat hardware, you can perform HIL tests with the same models you used for the desktop simulation. This enables you to verify your power system at an early design stage, in both the model and the physical domains. 

Use a Speedgoat real-time system combined with a power amplifier to test electrical components against virtual microgrids with actual electrical power transfer. Validate renewable energy sources and their grid interactions. Advanced power hardware-in-the-loop  (Power HIL) enables testing of electric vehicle (EV) chargers, relays, converters, and renewable energy sources (both AC or DC). From a few watts to hundreds of kilowatts.

Success Stories

• SuperGrid Institute: An efficient and compact power converter to enable the supergrids of the future - Success story

• Wind Technologies: New drivetrain for wind turbines dramatically decreases lifetime capital costs - Success story

Relevant Resources

• From Desktop to Real-Time Simulation for Electrical Grids – Webinar

• E-mobility - Regenerative Braking - Fault Handling – Reference Application

• Power Conversion for Wind Energy – Webinar

• Electric Aircraft Modeling and Simulation - Webinar

• More-Electric-Aircraft-in-Simscape - Simulink models