A framework for real-time power management of a grid-tied microgrid to extend battery lifetime and reduce cost of energy

Because of different technical and economical concerns, battery is happened to be an inevitable part of a microgrid as well as the most expensive component. This fact brings up the necessity of a real-time power management to guarantee the maximum possible battery lifetime based on the final cost of energy. In this way, this study attempts to present a real-time management framework for a grid-tied microgrid based on battery life and cost estimation. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed framework, a grid-tied commercial microgrid, which is equipped with wind turbine, PV solar panels and Li-Ion battery package, is optimally sized by HOMER^® and dynamic models of different components have been developed in MATLAB/Simulink^®. Then, simulation study has been carried out for a year on the system. All data such as load demand, wind, temperature, solar radiation, and time-based electricity tariff are grasped from different places for a year. Results show that the proposed framework effectively extends the battery lifetime while slightly decreases the cost of energy for customer.