This article is the first in a series from the Microgrid Conference Panel 2019 – Making Sure Your Microgrid Will Work: Risk Reduction with Controller Hardware In the Loop (C-HIL) and Model-based Engineering.
Paul Roege, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Typhoon HIL, introduced panelists from Schneider Electric, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Eaton, Raytheon and EPC Power. He adeptly described major problems with the current approach to microgrid development.
And how C-HIL and model-based engineering allows for a more integrated approach to microgrid design and testing throughout the entire project lifecycle.
“If we didn't have this, we'd be stuck using a platform that we couldn't change and therefore optimize. It really helps with confidence.
-Solon Mardapittas, CTO of Powerstar
For this next spotlight, we got a chance to speak with Powerstar’s CTO, Solon Mardapittas, on developing Powerstar’s intelligent energy management system (EMS) with real-time Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) technology.
Based in the UK, Powerstar’s integrated energy system combines its voltage optimization technology with energy storage solution. This not only secures power but lowers energy costs and provides demand side response services to the grid.
Here is the insightful interview with Solon Mardapittas on Powerstar’s rigorous quality assurance process for its leading-edge technology:
This is an extension of my previous blog relating a ship's power system to a microgrid - interconnected loads (propulsion, C4ISR, propulsion and auxiliary) and distributed energy resources (power generation, distribution and energy storage) acting as a controllable entity. I will be describing a layman’s perspective on digital engineering as it applies microgrid design, building, commissioning, operation and maintenance or lifecycle of a ship.
Industry 4.0 is dawning, and digitalization, decarbonization, and decentralization (aka D3) are fueling the electric grid (r)evolution. D3, in turn, creates opportunities for immense value creation, but invokes new technologies and design concepts, and change brings risk.
For this next spotlight, we got a chance to travel on-site and meet the brilliant team behind Schneider Electric’s active harmonic filters division in the quiet town of Salem, Oregon. This division develops solutions for active harmonic filtering in industrial installations.
Nicolas LaRue, global offer manager for Schneider Electric’s AccuSine products, talks about how Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) technology gives his customers peace of mind.
For the uninitiated, HIL is a model-based design and testing tool that simulates power electronics and power systems in real-time at ultra-high fidelity. It tests the actual controller which is directly interfaced with the model-based simulation.
We also got to speak with Nanda Marwali, engineering manager, and John Batch, firmware engineer, on how Schneider used HIL to push the limits of their controller throughout the entire product lifecycle.
As Europe’s premiere research and technology organization, the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), bridges the gap between industry and research by utilizing innovative solutions to key infrastructure issues.
Zoran Miletic, Senior Research Engineer and Power Electronics Design specialist at AIT, talks about how AIT developed its powerful pre-certification toolbox to design and test smart grid converters for grid code compliance using controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (C-HIL) technology.
As the industrial revolution 4.0 is dawning on us, the digitalization of the utility grid and more broadly digitalization of our complete energy system is inevitable. While digitalization brings massive opportunities for value creation, it also brings significant challenges.
Considering the cyber-physical nature of the future grid, where massive amounts of sensors, communications, embedded computing, embedded controllers, and cloud software will dominate the operation and performance, industry leaders are embracing new design, test, deployment and life cycle maintenance processes based on model based engineering and more specifically model based testing.
“The Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop is a very important and required step before actual validation or implementation because we can take care of all the corner cases.”
At the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center at North Carolina State University, U.S. universities and industry partners focus on modernizing the electric grid using advanced power electronics.
As one of the founding faculty members at FREEDM System Center, Dr. Subhashish Bhattacharya’s research focuses on power electronics and power systems including DC Microgrids.
Dr. Bhattacharya discusses how Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (C-HIL) reduced the cycle time of design, validation and testing of DC Microgrid controllers from academia to industry.
FlexGen leads the energy storage industry worldwide with its breakthrough hybrid energy storage software and power conversion products for oil and gas, marine, and industrial power systems.
Their energy storage system was commissioned by power producer and retailer, Vista Energy, to build its 10-megawatt/42-megawatt-hour storage system, making it the largest battery in Texas.1
Tony Olivo, Director of Engineering, and Preston Miller, firmware engineer at FlexGen, discuss how they used Typhoon HIL's integrated platform to test and verify the highest quality control system.
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