Wi-Fi based server in microgrid energy management system

Information exchange in a microgrid is vital for monitoring and control purposes. Before any monitoring and control algorithms can be applied to a microgrid system, a suitable, cost-effective and reliable communication network has to be built for information transfer to and from all distributed energy resources and other control devices. To set up a relatively easy-installation communication network system for controlling and sensing information in a small scale microgrid, Wireless local area network (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.11g technology is adopted. From the prototype setup in the laboratory, it is shown that Wi-Fi is a suitable technology to be adopted as the communication infrastructure in a small scale microgrid for monitoring and control purposes. The performance analysis discussed in this paper verifies the effectiveness of using Wi-Fi in a microgrid.