IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - March 2018 - 37
parallel processes to ensure energy sustainability at all times.
This presumes the need for a robust technique that can
accommodate and allow multiple parallel operations. This
further implicates the suitability of an MAS in the BEMS
design of such buildings. Keeping in mind the demands and
challenges posed by this complex, dynamic energy manage-
ment problem and the benefits that an MAS offers, the
domains of this technique may be explored to suit the re-
quirements in this context.
The most urgent need is to develop
the electrical system of buildings
as individual entities, which
self-generate and supply power to
their loads without depending on
external sources.
BUILDING DESIGN: A MULTIAGENT PERSPECTIVE
The self-sustainability of a building implies that it is capable
of satisfying its loads with its locally generated power, and it
does not import any power from external sources under nor-
mal operating conditions. In these circumstances, a building
becomes energy-independent, minimizing the burden on the
grid. Figure 8 illustrates the basic components and structure of
a self-sustainable building. For carbon-free generation within
the building, it is logical to employ RESs that are suitable for
its location. However, power generation from a single RES is
likely to be discontinuous, owing to the variable nature of
these sources, which results in a power supply that is inconsis-
tent and unreliable. Hybrid systems, which harness energy
from more than one RES, therefore become necessary to
ensure a reliable power supply. In this type of system, various
generating units in the building are connected to a nanogrid
through suitable control equipment. The output received from
these units may be either ac or dc, as shown in Figure 8.
The dc sources feed power necessary for the dc equip-
ment, while the ac units satisfy the ac power demand. Note
that this type of building design may also accommodate two
different categories of generating units. First, there may be
generator units that can be connected to the nanogrid for any
time interval because of the ease of operation and economic
benefits available. Second, the building may also have
reserve generation sources such as fuel cells or diesel genera-
tors that should normally be kept disconnected from the
nanogrid, due to the expenses incurred by them, or any other
undesirable factors associated with them. Thus, their opera-
tion should be controlled by an entity that can decide whether
to switch these units on or off depending on the real-time
demand-supply gap.
The first choice of an agent in this regard would be a gen-
eration agent (GenA), which would be entrusted with the task
of managing power generation in the building. Many factors
must be considered when controlling this generation, e.g., a
GenA would perform the task of weather forecasting, to
include evaluating and analyzing the expected power genera-
tion capability according to the forecasted conditions. This
enables the GenA to anticipate and address potential power
shortfalls. It also performs the task of controlling and manag-
ing the various RESs installed in the building by switching
the reserve units on and off, contingent on the real-time load
requirements. Since the power aggregated at the nanogrid is
procured from a variety of sources, proper handling is essen-
tial before it can be fed to the loads. A GenA is also responsi-
ble for carrying out power conditioning before it is fed to the
loads. Figure 9 shows the requirements of an agent at the
generation side in a self-sustainable building.
Since the power available from an RES is intermittent, it
is generally not completely utilized at the moment of its
generation. Moreover, there is a significant power demand
during the period when RESs are not sufficiently capable of
catering to the load requirement-this necessitates the cre-
ation of a suitable energy storage system. As shown in Fig-
ure 8, among the major components of a self-sustainable
building is a suitable storage system. An energy storage sys-
tem is assisted by suitable electronic circuitry that decides
its charging rate (Crate) or discharging rate (Drate) depend-
ing on its state of charge (SOC). A control mechanism is
therefore required to ensure that its SOC remains within its
prescribed limits to ensure the health of the storage system.
In similar environments where the generation sources are
dispersed, it becomes increasingly important to relay infor-
mation for control of the Crate and Drate in an efficient man-
ner. This is done to ensure optimum distribution of stored
energy among the loads. Accordingly, this system requires a
coordinated operation of each generation source and load,
along with an efficient management of the energy storage
systems. Real-time management of the generations and their
storage necessitates a suitable controller that is able to man-
age the power generated from the RES, given the real-time
weather and load conditions. The choice of agent to address
otal
l of T wer
o
r
t
n
Co
d Po
erate
n
e
G
Anticipation
of the Various
RES Outputs
GenA
Co Powe
nd
itio r
nin
g
FIGURE 9. The need of a GenA.
MARCH 2018
^
IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine
37
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