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Smart Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Systems
Ahsan Shahid, Member IEEE
Abstract— Smart grid is an evolution of existing power
system with close interplay among energy, control and
communication infrastructure. Power processing is done
using both kinds of energy systems namely conventional
remote power generation and non-conventional power
generation in proximity with the loads and actuation is
done using power electronic devices and systems. The
realization of such type of interactive, resilient and
sustainable model is a challenge. In this paper, a unique
modeling and control prototype is presented for renewable
energy sources integration into the smart grid. The model
is scalable in nature which means more renewable energy
sources can be added according to design requirements.
Demonstration of transitory states, overall power
conditioning and the transient response of the system
indicate the usefulness of the proposed model.
Index Terms— Integration, Renewable Energy, Resilient,
Scalable, Smart Grid.
I. INTRODUCTION
Modern power system is a web of energy sources. These
sources are integrated within the mainstream system for
efficiency, reliability and economy [1]. The building blocks of
this system include small power sources such as solar
photovoltaic, fuel cells, wind turbines etc., power electronic
devices and interfaces, information and communication, and
supervisory control systems [2]. Non-conventional renewable
energy sources and systems (RESS) including but not limited
to biomass, biogas, geothermal etc. are increasingly playing
an important role for electric power distribution and storage.
The idea is to develop a resilient energy infrastructure
minimizing the cost of remote power and support green and
sustainable development efforts [3]. Moreover, the integration
of small and co-located generation into the modern power grid
with significant share of renewable energy sources is observed
to be restorative for power quality complications [4]. All of
this is combined in distributed generation (DG) mechanism
which allows to lower environmental impacts and improve
security of supply. Advanced research methodologies in this
area are leading towards developing a realistic model of this
type of complex and hybrid power generation, supply and
storage system which is resilient, robust and sustainable.
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Smart grid paradigm uses information and communications
technologies (ICT) collecting information and actuating
processes that improve resilience, power quality, sustainability
and economy of the production and distribution of electricity
[5]. Due to the provisions of urban services, the management
of energy systems and communication networks is seeking
more attention. Reliability and interoperability of systems
governing these networks are some of the key factors in
securing provision of higher level services depending on them
[6]. To support optimum performance and uninterruptible
delivery, utilities use several information and communication
technologies. Urbanization is demanding the increased usage
of renewable technologies to efficiently balance energy
demand and supply. On the other hand, the continuous and
independent deployment of renewable energy sources and
systems is creating the risks in terms of voltage and power
fluctuations, frequency mismatch, harmonics, inefficiencies
and other critical issues. With smart grid concept, small
distributed energy sources can be integrated in an urbanized
network enabling real-time optimization and facilitating the
interaction with other infrastructures [7]. Hence, the grid
integration of renewable energy resources with all technical
implications is playing a critical role in sustainable
development of smart cities.
In renewable energy sources (RESs) based power system,
various sources at W or kW level act as an integral part of
power generation and distribution along-with the main energy
source which may be a traditional hydro, gas or coal power
plant at MW level. The distributed system performs its
operation in grid-synchronized or islanded/standalone modes.
Based on efficiency and cost effectiveness, several
combinations of power sources can be formed for providing
uninterruptible power to the loads on the demand side. To
model this type of complex system, a scalable strategy is
needed which considers all diverse physical components, the
communication between decentralized units, the intermittent
and unstable nature of RES and power quality during transient
conditions [8]. In this paper, an integrated modeling approach
is proposed to govern efficient and reliable smart grid
operation under different operating conditions with distinct
operating states. The transient response of the system is
analyzed for a given disturbance validating the proposed
approach. The following subsections describe (II) proposed

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modeling, (III) system integration and control,
experiment and analysis (V) conclusions.
II. PROPOSED MODELING
A scalable and reliable renewable energy based smart grid
model with generic components is shown in figure 1. The
primary grid in the form of large generator with its excitation
system and secondary control serves as the main utility
supplying power using conventional transmission lines. On
the other side, distributed generators in the form of RESs are
connected through power electronic converters and interfaces
to the grid using static or dynamic coupling. The supervisory
control ensures the continuation of power supply during
dynamic events. For example, during blackouts or service
hours on the main grid side or transmissions lines, the system
transfers to islanded mode and continues to supply power
through RESs. If the dynamics keep changing, distributed
generators (or micro-grids) keep operating in synchronization
with the primary grid.
AC Bus
Loads Distributed Generation
Interface
DG Link
Primary Grid PCC
Transmission
. .
. .
Loads
. .
Fig. 1. Scalable model for smart grid with renewable energy sources
It is apparent from figure 1 that the distributed power
system based on renewable energy is composed of various
components; an energy source that provides power (micro-
source), a voltage source inverter or a converter and the
coupling equipment or link (inductance or switch) that
connects it to the main power grid. In MATLAB and
Simulink, SimPowerSystems™ toolbox has the libraries for
each of these components. These libraries can be used to
model and analyze the complete system behavior including
harmonic analysis (THD), transient response, power flow, and
other key electric power system parameters and automation.
Modern day concept of micro-grids provides a viable
solution to overcome the challenges of integrating renewable
energy sources and systems into the main grid. Micro-grids
are small scale electrical power generation and distribution
systems interconnecting multiple customers, distributed
generators and storage systems [9]. Cyber-physical system
design based approaches [10]-[12] to improve the resilience,
efficiency and transient performance of a smart grid system
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(IV) are becoming popular. This design based on hybrid and
scattered power sources and their combinations is very
effective in controlling various dynamic electrical parameters.
The system can be programmed to use only the most
economical power sources or efficiency and reliability
combinations can be formed depending on load demand and
excessive power can be dumped into the storage devices. The
components needed for renewable energy integration in smart
grids are described in the following subsections:
A. Micro-source
Micro-source is usually a small power source integrated in
the power network. Renewable energy sources are typically
used as micro-power sources. Due to the advantages of high
efficiency, less pollution and flexible molecular structure, fuel
cells are desirable renewable energy resources in an integrated
hybrid power supply system [12]. Figure 2 shows a MATLAB
model for fuel cell from SimPowerSystems™ toolbox that can
be used as a micro-source. A generic implementation of fuel
cell model is parameterized to represent most popular types of
fuel cell stacks with hydrogen and air [13].
Distributed Energy
Resources
+-
+-
+-
Fig. 2. Fuel cell model
B. Voltage Source Inverter
A voltage source is necessary for connecting micro-source
to the three-phase distributed power system. It comprises a
DC source, and an inverter with a filter to produce sinusoidal
output. Fuel cell based voltage source inverter (VSI) can be
developed in MATLAB/Simulink as demonstrated in figure 3.
Fig. 3. Renewable energy based voltage source inverter model
The control techniques for voltage source inverters depend
on many factors including, the nature of micro-source and its

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interface, modulation method, coupling and storage controls both the magnitude and phase of its output voltage.
technology. The harmonic content in the system at any instant Consequently
of time is decided by the modulation method. During voltage EV
P Sin (G ) (3.4)
mode control, pulse-width-modulation controls the output by X
varying the duty cycle of a square wave. IGBT based pulse- V
width-modulated inverters have been used for reduced losses Q {ECos (G )  V } (3.5)
X
and fast performance and a three-phase low pass filter is Hence, the relationship between the inverter voltage E,
installed for smoothness of inverter output voltage. The
system voltage V, and the inductor’s reactance X determines
feedback loop is implemented using the dq (synchronous) and
αβ (stationary) reference frames. The gating pulses are the flow of real and reactive power from the system. The
generated by the power electronic devices within the inverter active power (P) and reactive power (Q) are calculated from
to track the control’s requests. VSI is usually integrated with the voltage and current as shown in figure 4.
the main stream power system through a step-up transformer.
Power electronics technology that provides efficient and
reliable power conversion from renewable energy systems is
described in detail in [14]-[15].

C. Coupling
RESS are interfaced with the utility grid and loads using
coupling inductors or static switches at the point of common
coupling (PCC). The 3-φ series RLC configurable load block Fig. 4. Active and Reactive Power Calculation
can be used from SimPowerSystems™ for the implementation
of a three-phase balanced load as a series combination of RLC When RESS are operating in synchronization with the
elements. This load block exhibits a constant impedance at the primary grid, loads may get power from both types of sources.
If the grid power is lost because of IEEE 1547 events, voltage
specified frequency.
drops, faults, blackouts, etc., the system can autonomously
transfer to island operation [17]. These situations require
III. SYSTEM INTEGRATION AND CONTROL droop control for dealing with voltage and frequency
The control system must be designed such as addition of deviations. The real-time values for Active Power (P) and
new sources is allowed without modifying existing Reactive Power (Q) are used to implement the droops for
infrastructure, the RESS can be connected or disconnected frequency and voltage. This implementation provides the
from the main grid rapidly and seamlessly, frequency and desired frequency and voltage tuning for inverters. The VSI
power can be regulated independently to meet the dynamic behaves like a voltage source controlling the voltage
load demand [16]. RES must respond to the changes in the magnitude and frequency by respective droops [18]. The
system without requiring programmable information. The details of power sharing and balancing strategies are described
smart grid integration of RESS cannot be achieved with basic in [19]-[21]. A simplistic implementation of P and Q droops is
unity power factor controls. Systems with high penetrations of shown in figure 5.
RES may experience deviations in voltage and/or reactive
power that cannot be handled by local voltage and frequency
controls. Making sure that there are no large circulating
reactive currents between the sources is necessary for local
stability and reliability.
The inverter output voltage and frequency are dependent
on real and reactive power of the micro-source. The active and
reactive power for the integrated system can be realized as
3EVSin (G ) (3.1)
P
ZL
3V {ECos (G )  V } (3.2)
Q Fig. 5. Droop control implementation using P and Q
ZL
Where, V and E are the grid and inverter output voltages
respectively. L is the magnitude of inductive reactance. VSI

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IV. EXPERIMENT AND ANALYSIS
The state transition based control strategy is used for the
integration of renewable energy sources and systems with the
grid. Binary values are assigned to all sources where 1 means
the source is providing power and 0 means power is not
available from the source. For example, if three sources are
taken at a time, there can be eight possible combinations i.e.
000, 100, 110, 010, 011, 001, 101, and 111. Each combination
represents the status of available power and each mode shows
a supply status of available sources in the network. The binary
True represents ON state and False represents OFF state. The
transition from OFF to ON or vice versa is represented by an
arrowhead from previous state to current state. First two digits
in each sequence represent RES while the last digit represent
the grid.
Let us analyze the integration method with the following
case studies:
A. Case Study; Normal Operation
Consider the mode {101} which represents RES1=ON,
RES2=OFF and Grid=ON which means only one RES is
providing power to the loads. In this mode of operation, if
load demand increases, a transition RES2=ON occurs and the
system goes to the mode {111}. Here, both RESs as well as
the gird are supplying the power. This can also be termed as
grid-connected or synchronized operation. Now consider that
the load demand goes down and RES1 is the least efficient
energy source. In this situation, the system will transfer to the
mode {011} in order to maintain reliability and efficiency.
RES2 will keep on operating with the grid. This is shown in
figure 6.
111
101 011
Fig. 6. Control modes and transitions for normal operation
B. Case Study; Fault Operation
In case of fault operation, the power from grid is not
available, hence the Grid=OFF. Consider the state {010}
which represents RES1=OFF, RES2=ON. If more power is
needed, the transition RES1 OFF --> ON occurs and the
system transfers to the state {110}. In this case, both RESs are
supplying the power. When the load demand goes down, the
power from RES2 can be shut off and the system will move to
the state {100}. Here, only RES1 will be used to supply the
power. This strategy is demonstrated in figure 7.
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110
010 100
Fig. 7. Control modes and transitions for fault operation
To execute the transitions efficiently and appropriately, the
control must make decisions regarding which sources should
be supplying power depending upon the load requirement and
power quality factors. The communication with the grid and
distribution substations plays a very important role as the
information regarding the grid status (ON time or OFF time)
decides if back-up power is available and with how many
power sources. To verify the performance, a transitory
condition has been simulated to see the recovery time of the
system. It highlights the capability to operate and switch
between different states to ensure maximum efficiency and
reliability during varying system dynamics and load demand.
Hence, this approach is resilient for the operation of smart
grid in normal and fault conditions. The transient response can
be seen from figure 8.
Fig. 8. Transient response of the integrated system with three sources
V. CONCLUSIONS
A scalable strategy for the integration of renewable energy
sources into the smart grid is presented in this paper. The
purpose is to addresses ongoing issues in achieving seamless
and resilient operation of smart grids that are penetrated by
huge volume of renewable energy sources and systems. The
addition of sensing-actuation mechanism among the sources,
loads and the utility operators brings along new complexities
and architectures. For high performance, economy and
sustainability in addition to efficiency and reliability,
advanced control-communication and monitoring technologies
are required for realizing intelligent and scalable power

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system architecture. Bringing together and integrating all
these technologies into one homogenized system is a modern
challenge and needs a lot of attention. The integration method
proposed in this paper focuses on the all these aspects of
developing a smart power infrastructure that is self-healing
and capable of performing automatic remedial actions.
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