A Stochastic Power Network Calculus for Integrating Renewable Energy Sources into the Power Grid

Renewable energy such as solar and wind generation will constitute an important part of the future grid. As the availability of renewable sources may not match the load, energy storage is essential for grid stability. In this paper we investigate the feasibility of integrating solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind turbines into the grid by also accounting for energy storage. To deal with the fluctuation in both the power supply and demand, we extend and apply stochastic network calculus to analyze the power supply reliability with various renewable energy configurations. To illustrate the validity of the model, we conduct a case study for the integration of renewable energy sources into the power system of an island off the coast of Southern California. In particular, we asses the power supply reliability in terms of the average Fraction of Time that energy is Not-Served (FTNS).