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Renewable Energy Sources: A Solution in the Operation of Smart Grids and Sustainable Energy Systems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 February 2024) | Viewed by 14368

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Digital Systems Department, Hydro-Québec/IREQ, Varennes, QC, Canada
2. Electrical Engineering Department, Université Laval, Québec City, QC, Canada
Interests: electrical power system planning and operation studies; security and economy of smart grids considering renewable energies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Power System Simulation and Evolution Department, Hydro-Québec/IREQ, Varennes, QC, Canada
Interests: interconnected power systems economics and planning; power system stability and control; energy storage; renewable energy resources

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Guest Editor
Simulation and Evolution of Electricity Grid, Hydro-Québec/IREQ, Varennes, QC, Canada
Interests: electrical power system planning and operation studies; security and economy of smart grids considering renewable energies; optimization; real-time simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce a new Special Issue, “Renewable Energy Sources: A Solution in the Operation of Smart Grids and Sustainable Energy Systems”, of the journal Sustainability.

In the context of severe concerns about the growing environmental pollution produced by thermal power plants, smart grid (SGs) technology enables the effective management and distribution of renewable energy sources (RESs) such as solar, wind, and hydrogen. Nowadays, RESs are becoming more cost-effective solutions compared with electricity generated from fossil fuels. The integration of RESs into power systems, especially distribution systems and SGs, has some benefits, e.g., reducing energy losses and improving system reliability; however, interconnecting high penetration levels of RESs into distribution and transmission grids poses considerable challenges to the planning and operation of power systems. These challenges are mainly due to the intermittency of the output power of RESs. Another challenge is that distribution systems were mainly designed under classical paradigms with no generation units installed in medium- and low-voltage distribution networks. Thus, adding substantial renewable-based distributed generation (DG) affects the principles for which the existing distribution system was designed, e.g., causing reverse power flow that forces significant reconfigurations of power system devices and management schemes. Energy storage systems (ESSs) comprise a promising technology that can mitigate some of these challenges; however, ESS is an expensive technology. Therefore, for this specific solution (i.e., ESS), finding the optimal size and location of ESS is necessary to direct investments toward other priority areas.

This Special Issue aims to provide an optimal solution to expansion of renewable energies and SGs technologies considering the planning and operation aspects. It also focuses on dealing with the imposed uncertainties associated with renewable energies in operation and real-time problems. Thus, scholars and researchers are kindly invited to consider submitting their original articles for consideration in this Special Issue to accelerate the existing practices in smart grids and sustainable energy systems. This Special Issue is welcomes submissions in, but not limited to, the following subjects:

  • Proposing new ideas on increasing the penetration levels of RESs;
  • Activating large-scale RES-based loads in the power market mechanisms;
  • Resilient integration of RESs into power systems and smart grids;
  • Maximizing the utilization rate of installed capacity of RESs in planning and control strategies;
  • Achieving net-zero carbon emissions and reliable power generation via RESs;
  • Enabling RES capabilities in power system dynamics studies;
  • Harmonic analysis of RES-dependant smart grids;

This Special Issue invites the submission of cross-disciplinary and empirical studies regarding smart grids and sustainable societies from the fields of economics, business strategies, innovations, environmental impact studies, engineering, public policy, sustainability and consumer research. Since the smart grid and its impacts on sustainable energy transition manifest differently in different countries and on different continents, a wide range of contributions are invited from all over the globe.

Dr. Seyed Masoud Mohseni-Bonab
Dr. Ali Moeini
Dr. Ali Hajebrahimi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • renewable energy sources (RESs)
  • smart grid
  • demand response
  • sustainable societies
  • electricity pricing
  • market mechanisms
  • environmental impact
  • power system dynamics and control
  • power system planning

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 4542 KiB  
Article
A Low-Cost Energy Monitoring System with Universal Compatibility and Real-Time Visualization for Enhanced Accessibility and Power Savings
by Hashim Raza Khan, Majida Kazmi, Lubaba, Muhammad Hashir Bin Khalid, Urooj Alam, Kamran Arshad, Khaled Assaleh and Saad Ahmed Qazi
Sustainability 2024, 16(10), 4137; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16104137 - 15 May 2024
Viewed by 1827
Abstract
Energy management is important for both consumers and utility providers. Utility providers are concerned with identifying and reducing energy wastage and thefts. Consumers are interested in reducing their energy consumption and bills. In Pakistan, residential and industrial estates account for nearly 31,000 MW [...] Read more.
Energy management is important for both consumers and utility providers. Utility providers are concerned with identifying and reducing energy wastage and thefts. Consumers are interested in reducing their energy consumption and bills. In Pakistan, residential and industrial estates account for nearly 31,000 MW of the maximum total demand, while the transmission and distribution capacity has stalled at about 22,000 MW. This 9000 MW gap in demand and supply, as reported in 2022, has led to frequent load shedding. Although the country now has an excess generation capacity of about 45,000 MW, the aging transmission and distribution network cannot deliver the requisite power at all times. Hence, electricity-related problems are likely to continue for the next few years in the country and the same is true for other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Several energy monitoring systems (EnMS) have been proposed, but they face limitations in terms of cost, ease of application, lack of universal installation capability, customization, and data security. The research below focused on the development of an economical, secure, and customizable real-time EnMS. The proposed EnMS comprises low-cost hardware for gathering energy data with universal compatibility, a secured communication module for real-time data transmission, and a dashboard application for visualization of real-time energy consumption in a user-preferred manner, making the information easily accessible and actionable. The experimental results and analysis revealed that approximately 40% cost savings in EnMS development could be achieved compared to other commercially available EnMSs. The performance of the EnMS hardware was evaluated and validated through rigorous on-site experiments. The front-end of the EnMS was assessed through surveys and was found to be interactive and user-friendly for the target clients. The developed EnMS architecture was found to be an economical end-product and an appropriate approach for small and medium clients such as residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial consumers, all on one platform. Full article
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17 pages, 4163 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Non-Uniformly-Aged Photovoltaic Array on Mismatch Power Loss: A Practical Investigation towards Novel Hybrid Array Configurations
by Ahmed Al Mansur, Md. Ruhul Amin, Molla Shahadat Hossain Lipu, Md. Imamul Islam, Ratil H. Ashique, Zubaeer Bin Shams, Mohammad Asif ul Haq, Md. Hasan Maruf and ASM Shihavuddin
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 13153; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151713153 - 1 Sep 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1823
Abstract
One of the most important causes of a reduction in power generation in PV panels is the non-uniform aging of photovoltaic (PV) modules. The increase in the current–voltage (I–V) mismatch among the array modules is the primary cause of this kind of degradation. [...] Read more.
One of the most important causes of a reduction in power generation in PV panels is the non-uniform aging of photovoltaic (PV) modules. The increase in the current–voltage (I–V) mismatch among the array modules is the primary cause of this kind of degradation. There have been several array configurations investigated over the years to reduce mismatch power loss (MPL) caused by shadowing, but there have not been any experimental studies that have specifically examined the impact of various hybrid array topologies taking PV module aging into consideration. This research examines the influence of the non-uniform aging scenario on the performance of solar PV modules with various interconnection strategies. Experiments have been carried out on a 4 × 10, 400 W array with 12 possible configurations, including three proposed configurations (LD-TCT, SP-LD, and LD-SP), to detect the electrical characteristics of a PV system. Finally, the performances of different module configurations are analyzed where the newly proposed configurations (SP-LD and LD-SP) show 15.80% and 15.94% higher recoverable energy (RE), respectively, than the most-adopted configuration (SP). Moreover, among the twelve configurations, the SP configuration shows the highest percentage of MPL, which is about 17.96%, whereas LD-SP shows the lowest MPL at about 4.88%. Full article
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23 pages, 4780 KiB  
Article
Demand Response Management of a Residential Microgrid Using Chaotic Aquila Optimization
by Sushmita Kujur, Hari Mohan Dubey and Surender Reddy Salkuti
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1484; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021484 - 12 Jan 2023
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1666
Abstract
In this paper, Chaotic Aquila Optimization has been proposed for the solution of the demand response program of a grid-connected residential microgrid (GCRMG) system. Here, the main objective is to optimize the scheduling pattern of connected appliances of the building such that overall [...] Read more.
In this paper, Chaotic Aquila Optimization has been proposed for the solution of the demand response program of a grid-connected residential microgrid (GCRMG) system. Here, the main objective is to optimize the scheduling pattern of connected appliances of the building such that overall user cost are minimized under the dynamic price rate of electricity. The GCRMG model considered for analysis is equipped with a fuel cell, combined heat and power (CHP), and a battery storage system. It has to control and schedule the thermostatically controlled deferrable and interruptible appliances of the building optimally. A multipowered residential microgrid system with distinct load demand for appliances and dynamic electricity price makes the objective function complex and highly constrained in nature, which is difficult to solve efficiently. For the solution of such a complex highly constrained optimization problem, both Chaotic Aquila Optimization (CAO) and Aquila optimization (AO) algorithms are implemented, and their performance is analyzed separately. Obtained simulation results in terms of optimal load scheduling and corresponding user cost reveal the better searching and constrained handling capability of AO. In addition, experimental results show that a sinusoidal map significantly improves the performances of AO. Comparison of results with other reported methods are also made, which supports the claim of superiority of the proposed approach. Full article
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22 pages, 3674 KiB  
Article
Optimal Design of Electric Vehicle Fast-Charging Station’s Structure Using Metaheuristic Algorithms
by Phiraphat Antarasee, Suttichai Premrudeepreechacharn, Apirat Siritaratiwat and Sirote Khunkitti
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 771; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010771 - 31 Dec 2022
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 3453
Abstract
The fast development of electric vehicles (EVs) has resulted in several topics of research in this area, such as the development of a charging pricing strategy, charging control, location of the charging station, and the structure within the charging station. This paper proposes [...] Read more.
The fast development of electric vehicles (EVs) has resulted in several topics of research in this area, such as the development of a charging pricing strategy, charging control, location of the charging station, and the structure within the charging station. This paper proposes the optimal design of the structure of an EV fast-charging station (EVFCS) connected with a renewable energy source and battery energy storage systems (BESS) by using metaheuristic algorithms. The optimal design of this structure aims to find the number and power of chargers. Moreover, the renewable energy source and BESS can reduce the impact on the grid, so these energy sources are considered as ones of the optimally-designed structure of EVFCS in this work. Thus, it is necessary to determine the optimal sizing of the renewable energy source, BESS, and the grid power connected to EVFCS. This optimal structure can improve the profitability of the station. To solve the optimization problem, three metaheuristic algorithms, including particle swarm optimization (PSO), Salp swarm algorithm (SSA), and arithmetic optimization algorithm (AOA), are adopted. These algorithms aim to find the optimal structure which maximizes the profit of the EVFCS determined by its net present value (NPV), and the results obtained from these algorithms were compared. The results demonstrate that all considered algorithms could find the feasible solutions of the optimal design of the EVFCS structure where PSO provided the best NPV, followed by AOA and SSA. Full article
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22 pages, 3899 KiB  
Article
Optimal Allocation of Fast Charging Station for Integrated Electric-Transportation System Using Multi-Objective Approach
by Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Perli Suresh Babu and Surender Reddy Salkuti
Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 14731; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142214731 - 8 Nov 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 1963
Abstract
The usage of Electric Vehicles (EVs) for transportation is expected to continue growing, which opens up new possibilities for creating new smart grids. It offers a large-scale penetration of Fast Charging Stations (FCE) in a local utility network. A severe voltage fluctuation and [...] Read more.
The usage of Electric Vehicles (EVs) for transportation is expected to continue growing, which opens up new possibilities for creating new smart grids. It offers a large-scale penetration of Fast Charging Stations (FCE) in a local utility network. A severe voltage fluctuation and increased active power loss might result from the inappropriate placement of the FCE as it penetrates the Distribution System (DST). This paper proposes a multi-objective optimisation for the simultaneous optimal allocation of FCEs, Distributed Generators (DGs), and Shunted Capacitors (SCs). The proposed Pareto dominance-based hybrid methodology incorporates the advantages of the Grey Wolf Optimiser and Particle Swarm Optimisation algorithm to minimise the objectives on 118 bus radial distribution systems. The proposed method outperforms some other existing algorithms in terms of minimising (a) active power loss costs of the distribution system, (b) voltage deviations, (c) FCE development costs, (d) EV energy consumption costs, and (e) DG costs, as well as satisfying the number of FCEs and EVs in all zones based on transportation and the electrical network. The simulation results demonstrate that the simultaneous deployment technique yields better outcomes, such as the active power loss costs of the distribution system being reduced to 53.21%, voltage deviations being reduced to 68.99%, FCE development costs being reduced to 22.56%, EV energy consumption costs being reduced to 19.8%, and DG costs being reduced to 5.1%. Full article
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Review

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26 pages, 2460 KiB  
Review
Energy Business Initiatives for Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Systems: An Overview
by Nicholas Mukisa, Ramon Zamora and Tek Tjing Lie
Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15060; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215060 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2226
Abstract
An overview of the adoption extent of the energy business models around the world was undertaken by considering both the developed and developing countries, with the emphasis on the customer-side renewable energy business models. The developed countries have widely adopted energy business initiatives [...] Read more.
An overview of the adoption extent of the energy business models around the world was undertaken by considering both the developed and developing countries, with the emphasis on the customer-side renewable energy business models. The developed countries have widely adopted energy business initiatives to advance the distributed generation of electricity from renewable energy sources, while developing countries are struggling and/or have failed to record significant success. Additionally, developing countries are shifting from customer-owned energy business initiatives to the community-shared energy business initiatives to enhance prosumer-generated energy self-consumption. Furthermore, the existent billing schemes as well as the store-on grid scheme applicable to the energy business initiatives are discussed in this paper. The virtual net metering scheme category is the main billing scheme used for the community-shared energy business initiatives. In addition, this study depicts how the store-on grid scheme addresses the shortfalls of the existent billing schemes. Finally, the study gives policy recommendations that the decision makers in the developing countries could use as a foundation to foster the solar PV technology deployment through energy business models, especially by the adoption of the store-on grid scheme as the billing scheme. Full article
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