Abstract
Herein is discussed the instrumentation and control requirements for achieving the goal of operating multiple Distributed Energy (DE) devices in parallel to regulate local voltage. The process for establishing the flexible laboratory control and data acquisition system that allows for the integration of multiple Distributed Energy (DE) devices in XXXX Laboratory's Distributed Energy - Communications and Controls Laboratory (DECC) is discussed. The DE devices control local distribution system voltage through dynamic reactive power production. Although original efforts were made to control the reactive power (RP) output using information from commercially available meters specifically designed for monitoring and analyzing electric power values, these "intelligent" meters did not provide the flexibility needed. A very flexible and capable real-time monitoring and control system was selected after the evaluation of various methods of data acquisition (DAQ) and control. The purpose of this paper is to describe the DAQ and controls system development.
The chosen controller is a commercially available real-time controller from dSPACE. This controller has many excellent features including a very easy programming platform through Simulink and Matlab's Real Time Workshop. The dSPACE system proved to provide both the flexibility and expandability needed to integrate and control the RP producing devices under consideration.
The desire was to develop controls with this flexible laboratory instrumentation and controls setup that could be eventually be included in an embedded controller on a DE device. Some experimental results are included that clearly show that some functional control strategies are currently being tested.