Management of solar energy in microgrids using IoT-based dependable control

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dependable IoT-based control system for managing solar energy in microgrids, integrating real-time sensor and meteorological data to optimize energy capture and ensure system resilience.

Contribution

It proposes a novel dependable control framework that enhances fault tolerance and real-time management of solar energy in microgrids using IoT technology.

Findings

Effective control of photovoltaic arrays achieved

System maintains performance despite controller failures

Experimental validation confirms approach's reliability

Abstract

Solar energy generation requires efficient monitoring and management in moving towards technologies for net-zero energy buildings. This paper presents a dependable control system based on the Internet of Things (IoT) to control and manage the energy flow of renewable energy collected by solar panels within a microgrid. Data for optimal control include not only measurements from local sensors but also meteorological information retrieved in real-time from online sources. For system fault tolerance across the whole distributed control system featuring multiple controllers, dependable controllers are developed to control and optimise the tracking performance of photovoltaic arrays to maximally capture solar radiation and maintain system resilience and reliability in real time despite failures of one or more redundant controllers due to a problem with communication, hardware or cybersecurity. Experimental results have been obtained to evaluate the validity of the proposed approach.