Method and apparatus for control of intelligent loads in microgrids
AssigneeEnphase Energy, Inc.
InventorsDonald Richard Zimmanck, Christopher N. Rowe
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling a microgrid load. In one embodiment, the method comprises measuring at least one grid parameter of a microgrid transmission line coupled to a load in a microgrid; computing, using the at least one grid parameter and a droop control technique, at least one virtual set-point; determining a modification to operation of the load based on the at least one virtual set-point; and modifying operation of the load based on the modification.
Claims20
A method for controlling a microgrid load, comprising:
- measuring, by a load controller that is part of a load in a microgrid, the load controller comprising a processor, at least one grid parameter of a microgrid transmission line coupled to the load;
- computing, by the load controller and using the measured at least one grid parameter and a droop control technique that is also utilized by a generator that is part of the microgrid, at least one virtual generator set-point, wherein each virtual generator set-point of the at least one virtual generator set-point is a current set-point which indicates whether the generator would be commanded to increase or decrease at least one of its active or reactive currents in order to support grid stabilization;
- determining, by the load controller, a modification to operation of the load based on the at least one virtual generator set-point;
- and
- modifying, by the load controller, operation of the load based on the modification.
An apparatus for controlling a microgrid load, comprising:
- a load controller that is part of a load in a microgrid, wherein the load controller (i) measures at least one grid parameter of a microgrid transmission line coupled to the load;
- (ii) computes, using the measured at least one grid parameter and a droop control technique that is also utilized by a generator that is part of the microgrid, at least one virtual generator set-point, wherein each virtual generator set-point of the at least one virtual generator set-point is a current set-point which indicates whether the generator would be commanded to increase or decrease at least one of its active or reactive currents in order to support grid stabilization;
- (iii) determines a modification to operation of the load based on the at least one virtual generator set-point;
- and (iv) modifies operation of the load based on the modification.
A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer instructions stored therein for causing a computer processor to perform a method for controlling a microgrid load, the method comprising:
- computing, by a load controller that comprises the computer processor and is part of a load in a microgrid, using a droop control technique that is also utilized by a generator that is part of the microgrid and at least one grid parameter measured by the load controller on a transmission line coupled to the load, at least one virtual generator set-point, wherein each virtual generator set-point of the at least one virtual generator set-point is a current set-point which indicates whether the generator would be commanded to increase or decrease at least one of its active or reactive currents in order to support grid stabilization;
- determining, by the load controller, a modification to operation of the load based on the at least one virtual generator set-point;
- and
- modifying, by the load controller, operation of the load based on the modification.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.