Comparative analysis of photovoltaic/rechargeable batteries sizing-dependent configurations for optimal energy management strategies in microgrids

To address the increasing demand for clean electrical energy, renewable energy technologies that generate power for microgrids have become a promising solution. The number of distributed generators connected to microgrids have been dramatically increased. Microgrids were first proposed as a solution for islanded and isolated systems. However, microgrids have the ability to operate autonomously, unlike conventional power grids. In this paper, a control system is proposed for microgrids that use a photovoltaic (PV) energy source and batteries, which are responsible for energy storage. An energy management strategy (EMS) is provided to stabilize the direct current (DC) bus voltage in the case of photovoltaic power fluctuation or load variation. This paper also proposes the sizing of PV panels and batteries to give the number of batteries and photovoltaic panels connected in series and in parallel. This proposed sizing system is based on different parameters, such as the losses from the installation of batteries as well as the maximum and minimum state of charge. Simulation results demonstrates that the proposed EMS and sizing of photovoltaic panels and batteries is able to respond to load demands. A comparison of different configurations is also made to determinate the optimum technology in terms of low cost and small PV field surface.