Control of power inverters for the smart grid

Energy and sustainability are now on the top agenda of many governments. Smart grids have become one of the main enablers to address energy and sustainability issues. Many research centres have been set up worldwide to address various aspects of energy and sustainability. Renewable energy, distributed generation, hybrid electrical vehicles, more-electric aircraft, all-electric ships, smart grids etc will become more and more popular. Arguably, the integration of renewable and distributed energy sources, energy storage and demand-side resources into smart grids, often via inverters, is the largest “new frontier” for smart grid advancements. Control and power electronics are the two key enabling technologies for this. Power electronics is becoming part of the grid and control is where the “smart” is from. Together with the power systems infrastructure, they form the backbone for smart grids.