Multilevel home energy management integrated with renewable energies and storage technologies considering contingency operation

Abstract

This paper presents a multilevel energy management system between homes and the electrical grid. The proposed model includes three levels: the first level is made of the utility grid, and it can send or receive energy from the second level. The second level is formed as a common level that is equipped with a wind turbine, battery energy storage, and a diesel generator. The second level can exchange energy with both the first and third levels. The third level is formed with a set of buildings with different loading patterns, and some of them are also equipped with solar panels. The third level can send or receive energy from the second level. The second level is a common level between two other levels. The proposed planning minimizes the cost of consumed energy by houses in the third level through optimal utilization and management of all levels. The problem optimizes the power between levels 1 and 2, the power between levels 2 and 3, the charging-discharging pattern of the battery in level 2, and the operation pattern of the diesel generator in level 2. The plan optimally utilizes both wind and solar resources (in levels 2 and 3) to minimize the energy cost and deals with their intermittency nature by means of stochastic programming. The plan is also designed to operate under contingency conditions when the utility grid (first level) is out of access. In such a situation, the problem utilizes the available technologies in levels 2 and 3 (i.e., wind, solar, battery, and diesel) to supply the houses in the third level. The diesel generator plays a major role under contingency and emergency conditions to maintain the resiliency of the system.