Modular power architectures for microgrid clusters

One of the most important elements in microgrids is the configuration architecture which includes installed capacity, devices location, converter topologies, as well as system control and management strategies. Reliability, security and stability in microgrids require global communication systems in order to provide information for management, supervision, and protection purposes. In this paper, the main objective is to reveal the reasons leading to unreliability and insecurity in microgrids systems, and to propose a generic modular concept which is conceived from the viewpoint of a unified system. The user-frame concept proposed here when designing microgrids considers that the end-user is the basis for the geographical deployment. Meanwhile, a modular user-oriented approach is adopted in order to enhance reliability and expansibility. Finally, a unified dispatching and hierarchical management approach is proposed and evaluated to effectively optimize and manage modular microgrid architectures.