Real time modeling and simulation of campus microgrid for voltage analysis

Abstract

Microgrids enable campus-scale facilities, like universities, or large corporations, a greater flexibility to manage their own distributed energy sources and in meeting their energy demands, even with power disturbances or outages in the grid. Simulation of these microgrids, which can disconnect or connect itself from the grid through a point of common coupling (PCC), yields insights into behavior of each load, if modeled in detail. Also, the simulation models are useful to investigate the effects of integrating new renewable generation in the distribution system. In this paper, the Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) is used to model the distribution system in real time and study the system dynamics in events of connection/disconnection to/from the main grid and disturbances. This paper reports results from simulation of a campus microgrid and its operation in several scenarios, by considering a representative model of the Washington State University campus electricity distribution system.