Distributed and Decentralized Control of Residential Energy Systems Incorporating Battery Storage

The recent rapid uptake of residential solar photovoltaic installations provides many challenges for electricity distribution networks designed for one-way power flow from the generator to residential customers via transmission and distribution networks. For grid-connected installations, large amounts of generation during low load periods or intermittent generation can lead to a difficulty in balancing supply and demand, maintaining voltage and frequency stability, and may even result in outages due to overvoltage conditions tripping protection circuits. In this paper, we present four control methodologies to mitigate these difficulties using small-scale distributed battery storage. These four approaches represent three different control architectures: 1) centralized; 2) decentralized; and 3) distributed control. These approaches are validated and compared using data on load and generation profiles from customers in an Australian electricity distribution network.