IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2017 - 72

The idea behind the incorporation of residential generation is to have local supply available in the event of a disaster, which is possible only if energy storage is available. The
idea of having one battery for each house with PV panels is
too expensive, especially in a poor community, so some kind
of community arrangement must be put in place. Hence, the
prototype will be implemented on a small street, where each
house will be equipped with a PV panel, and a battery storage system will be shared by all the houses. The interaction,
control, and communication among the devices will be made
through an energy management system. The battery storage
system will have the double objective of avoiding technical
problems in the network (e.g., voltage rise and thermal problems) and supplying critical loads when main grid supply is
lost, and this will be achieved economically by using both
thermal and battery storage.
Thermal storage (i.e., water heaters) will be used to store
heat from day to night, which is useful in this geographical
area where the thermal oscillation between day and night
is considerable (a 13-15 °C difference on average). Part of
the peak generation can be used to heat the water, therefore
minimizing the possibility of reverse power flows. The battery storage is used to store electricity for emergency purposes. So in the event of supply loss due to a natural disaster, the community can supply electricity for essential loads

like lighting, communication, and refrigeration. Community
engagement is crucial to optimally select critical loads from
an economic, technical, and social perspective. For example, the choice of where to locate the battery must take into
account possible voltage problems (technical perspective),
the size and cost of the battery (economic perspective), and
the loads that should be protected (social/community perspective). In conclusion, the prototype will allow the large
penetration of residential PV panels within standard voltage and thermal limits but, more importantly, will help to
increase the resilience of the community.

Transition to Microgrid-Based
Resilient Distribution Systems
Based on the experience and outcome from these microgrid
projects, Figure 8 shows a conceptual approach for the transition process to achieve a resilient distribution system through
the implementation of microgrids. This process can be
accomplished by following two parallel tracks: single agent
and multiple agent.
In the first track, the implementation of single-agent
microgrids, the operation and management of urban microgrids, are developed by only one agent. Generation assets
might be shared by different owners [i.e., distributed generation (DG) solutions], but usually it will be a single owner

Transition to Microgrid-Based Resilient
Distribution Systems

Main Grid

Single-Agent Microgrids
* Ownership:
- Generation: Single/Multiple*
- Grid: Single
- Enablers: Single
* DNO Role: Coordination
* Boundary: PCC
DG
* Economic Viability: According
St
to the Owner Business Model
* Additional Subset of the
Distribution Network
* Examples: Community Based
Microgrid, Campus Microgrid.
*: Community, Private, or Public
Institution.

Multiple-Agent Microgrids

St
DG
DG

* Ownership:
- Generation: Multiple
- Grid: DS Operator
- Enablers: DS Operator
and Aggregators
* DNO Role: Operation
* Boundary: One or More PCC
* Economic Viability: Not
Viable to Date
* Existing Subset of the
Distribution Network
* Examples: Feeder-Based
Microgrid

figure 8. The proposed tracks to incorporate resilience by means of microgrid implementation.
72

ieee power & energy magazine

may/june 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2017