A Unified Data Profile for Microgrid Loads, Power Electronics, and Sustainable Energy Management with IoT

Controllable devices in a classical centralized grid work independently, providing desired functionalities for the owner only, making grid stability and efficient energy management challenging. Therefore, the dynamically developing communication infrastructure has been crucial in improving local energy management and stability, introducing the Internet of Things and, finally, creating micro- or smart grids. Communication technology already allows for exchanging data and information with high bandwidth in practical industrial and grid applications. However, considering the increasing number of electrical devices with different purposes, parameters, and possibilities to work as an energy source or storage, the challenge is device profile standardization, especially for power electronics devices. As many devices as possible should be able to exchange information with the grid operator or local area/home energy management device, like industrial agents, energy routers, or smart transformers. The number and types of parameters, outputs, and input signals available in the devices from the communication point of view are significantly different, making it extremely difficult to apply the advanced energy management algorithm. Therefore, the unified data profile for modern loads was developed and discussed. The proposed device model was standardized, including mandatory information about the device’s work and parameters, with the possibility of reading the control commands from the supervisor device. The proposed unified model was studied in simulation research, integrating self-balanced and self-control areas.