A Multi-Agent Based Power Sharing Scheme for Hybrid Power Sources

The hybridization technique provides an effective approach to combining the best properties of a heterogeneous set of power sources to achieve higher energy density, power density and fuel efficiency. Hybrid power sources can be used to power hybrid electric vehicles using selected combinations of internal combustion engines, fuel cells, batteries, and/or supercapacitors. They can be deployed in all-electric ships to build a distributed shipboard electric power system. They can also be used in a bulk power system to construct an autonomous distributed energy unit. An important aspect of designing a hybrid power source is to find a suitable control strategy that can take advantage of the inherent scalability and robustness benefits of the hybrid system. This paper presents a multi-agent based power sharing scheme for hybrid power sources. In the paper, the main features of agent technology are discussed. The agent-based control framework for power sharing in the hybrid power source is then presented. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed multi-agent based power sharing scheme, simulation studies are performed for a hybrid power source that can be used in a solar car as the main propulsion power module. Simulation results clearly indicate that the agent-based control framework is effective to coordinate the various energy sources and manage the power/voltage profiles.