Distributed control of DC grids: integrating prosumers motives

TL;DR

This paper introduces a distributed control method for islanded DC grids that balances technical, physical, and psycho-social factors, ensuring stability and prosumer welfare through a convex optimization approach and primal-dual dynamics.

Contribution

It presents a novel distributed control strategy integrating psycho-social motives into DC grid management, with proven convergence and validated through simulations.

Findings

Global asymptotic convergence to desired steady-state

Controller effectively balances technical and psycho-social factors

Simulations confirm theoretical stability and welfare objectives

Abstract

In this paper, a novel distributed control strategy addressing a (feasible) psycho-social-physical welfare problem in islanded Direct Current (DC) smart grids is proposed. Firstly, we formulate a (convex) optimization problem that allows prosumers to share current with each other, taking into account the technical and physical aspects and constraints of the grid (e.g., stability, safety), as well as psycho-social factors (i.e., prosumers' personal values). Secondly, we design a controller whose (unforced) dynamics represent the continuous time primal-dual dynamics of the considered optimization problem. Thirdly, a passive interconnection between the physical grid and the controller is presented. Global asymptotic convergence of the closed-loop system to the desired steady-state is proved and simulations based on collected data on psycho-social aspects illustrate and confirm the theoretical results.