Intelligent energy facilities, e.g., smart grids and microgrids are the evolution of traditional energy grids through digital transformation. These modern paradigms are expected to foster the utilization of renewable energies, sustainable development, and resilience of the power grid. A barrier found when deploying experimental smart grids and microgrids consists of handling the heterogeneity of the required hardware and software components as well as the available commercial equipment. Despite the fact that there is various architecture proposed in previous literature, it commonly lacks experimental validation, specification of involved equipment concerning industrial/proprietary or open-source nature, and concretization of communication protocols. To overcome such drawbacks, this paper proposes an innovative multi-layered architecture to deploy heterogeneous automation and monitoring systems for microgrids. The architecture is structured into six functional layers to organize the hardware and software equipment in an integrated manner. The open protocol Modbus TCP is chosen to harmonize communications, enabling the interconnection of equipment from industrial and energy scopes, indeed of open-source nature. An experimental photovoltaic-based smart microgrid is reported as the application case to demonstrate the suitability and validity of the proposal.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2234/pdf

Innovative Multi-Layered Architecture for Heterogeneous Automation and Monitoring Systems: Application Case of a Photovoltaic Smart Microgrid

This article offers an overview of the two key outcomes of the 2015 Paris climate negotiations, the Paris COP decision, and the Paris Agreement. They chart a new course for the UN climate regime that started in earnest in Copenhagen in 2009. The Paris Agreement represents a course away from the top down approach and rigid differentiation among parties reflected in the Kyoto Protocol, toward a bottom up and flexible approach focused on collective long term goals and principles. It represents an approach to reaching these long term goals that is focused on self differentiation, support, transparency and review. The article highlights the key elements of the agreement reached in Paris, including its approach to mitigation, adaptation, loss & damage, finance, transparency and compliance.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2713942_code715387.pdf?abstractid=2708148

The Paris Agreement: Historic Breakthrough or High Stakes Experiment?

An Integrated Decision-Making Approach with Golden Cut and Bipolar q-ROFSs to Renewable Energy Storage Investments

Prospects of green hydrogen in Poland: A techno-economic analysis using a Monte Carlo approach

Plug-in hybrids (PHEV) have become popular due to zero-emission driving, e.g., in urban areas, and using an internal combustion engine on longer distances. Energy consumption by the PHEV depends on many factors which can be either dependent or independent of the driver. The article examines how the driver can use the vehicle’s capabilities to influence its wear. Determining the optimal driving technique, due to the adopted nature of the timetable, is the basic variable that determines the profitability of using a given drive system. Four driving techniques have been selected to determine which one can offer the largest advantages. A vehicle-dedicated application has recorded the drivetrain performance on a predetermined route through an urban area. The analysis of results has demonstrated which of the driving techniques provides measurable effects in terms of reduced energy consumption and the shortest travelling time. The study shows longitudinal acceleration and torque generated by the electric drive. The information included in the study can help any PHEV user reduce the operating cost by applying an appropriate driving technique. The proposed research introduces the possibilities of assessing the influence of the driving style on energy consumption. The innovative side of this research is the observation of stochastic phenomena that are difficult to detect when using approximation modelling.

The Economic Aspect of Using Different Plug-In Hybrid Driving Techniques in Urban Conditions

The objective of this paper is to identify the determinants of decarbonization processes in Poland by urban and rural areas. It also presents directions for knowledge diffusion on decarbonization to develop a sustainable energy strategy for Poland, particularly for local governments and cities. Despite extensive research on the determinants of decarbonization and sustainable energy development, there is a lack of specific solutions in this area. The authors of this paper investigated which determinants, according to the respondents, would lead to better decarbonization solutions in cities and villages in terms of sustainability. The studied sample was purposefully selected and an online questionnaire was used with the use of the “snowball” method. The authors conducted surveys that allowed the concerned parties themselves (respondents) to indicate which factors they believe best influence decarbonization. Such measures are helpful in terms of the understanding public acceptance of decarbonization in terms of the energy transition. This is of particular importance in terms of green governance globally and in Europe. The results of the authors’ research indicate that despite the reduction in the share of coal in residential and domestic heating, coal remains the main source of electricity generation and that the potential for low-carbon policy to have an impact on solving urban challenges is underestimated. From the findings, it can be concluded that more in-depth research is needed on public acceptance of decarbonization in its broadest sense and its implications.

Determinants of Decarbonization—How to Realize Sustainable and Low Carbon Cities?

Electromobility is a growing technology for land transport, constituting an important element of the concept of sustainable economic development. The article presents selected research results concerning one of the segments of this market-vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The subject of the research was to gain extensive knowledge on the economic factors influencing the future purchasing decisions of the demand side in relation to this category of vehicles. The research was based on a numerical experiment. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of purchase prices in relation to the TCO of the vehicle after 3–5 years of use was performed. The research included selected models that are powered by both conventional and alternative fuels. The use of this method will allow to assess the real costs associated with the hydrogen vehicle. The authors emphasize the important role of economic factors in the form of the TCO index for the development of this market. The experimental approach may be helpful in understanding the essence of economic relations that affect the development of the electro-mobility market and the market demand for hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles in Poland.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/8/2131/pdf

Total Cost of Ownership and Its Potential Consequences for the Development of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Vehicle Market in Poland

The article presents the methodology of isolating aperiodic phenomena constituting the basis of the energy balance of vehicles for the analysis of electromobility system indicators. The symptom observation matrix (SOM) and experimental input data are used to analyze periodic phenomena symptoms. The multidimensional nature of the engine efficiency shortage has been well defined and analyzed in terms of errors in the general model using neural networks, singular value decomposition, and principal component analysis. A more difficult task is the analysis of a multidimensional decision-making process. The research used a data fusion method and the concept of symptom reliability, which is applied to the generalized failure symptom obtained by applying the singular value decomposition (SVD). The model research has been based on the gray system theory (GST) and GM forecasting models (1,1). Input data were obtained from the assessment of driving cycles and analysis of the failure frequency for 1200 vehicles and mileage of 150,000 km. Based on this analysis, it can be concluded that with the current infrastructure and operating costs and the frequency of failure of PHEV and BEV drives, ICEV vehicles are unrivaled in terms of their operating costs.

Methodology for Assessing the Impact of Aperiodic Phenomena on the Energy Balance of Propulsion Engines in Vehicle Electromobility Systems for Given Areas

Microgrids with renewable power are becoming a widespread alternative for decarbonizing the electrical sector in light of climate change and global warming. However, such widespread penetration of renewables degrades some parameters of power quality along the low voltage utility grid. This research conducts an experiment with an advanced metering infrastructure of a power utility grid with hundreds of thousands of smart grid devices. The experiment identifies the location of the power quality disturbances. The results of the measurements have shown that the power quality parameters are mainly degraded along the downstream section of the low voltage power utility grid, despite the fulfillment of the regulatory quality requirements in the upstream high voltage substation. Thus, the novelty of the approach presented in the paper consists in the use of relatively low capacity energy storage units to locally mitigate the power quality disturbances, keeping them as close as possible to their source in the low voltage grid, instead of using large energy storage units connected to the medium voltage grid. Moreover, the research evaluated the parameters of power capacity, charge–discharge rate, weight, size, and the Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) implemented with five types of energy storage technology. Lithium-Ion Capacitor (LIC) presents the lowest LCOE. However, service type and location parameters also play an essential role in selecting other different types of energy storage technology. This research shows that locating small energy storage units close to the source of power quality disturbance is cost-effective and offers excellent potential for widespread implementation in the low voltage distribution grid. 

Advanced metering infrastructure and energy storage for location and mitigation of power quality disturbances in the utility grid with high penetration of renewables

Wojciech Drożdż

Papers

Determinants of Decarbonization—How to Realize Sustainable and Low Carbon Cities?

Total Cost of Ownership and Its Potential Consequences for the Development of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Vehicle Market in Poland

The Economic Aspect of Using Different Plug-In Hybrid Driving Techniques in Urban Conditions

Methodology for Assessing the Impact of Aperiodic Phenomena on the Energy Balance of Propulsion Engines in Vehicle Electromobility Systems for Given Areas

Advanced metering infrastructure and energy storage for location and mitigation of power quality disturbances in the utility grid with high penetration of renewables