Article

Rahul Mohan, INNOVATIONS AND INCUBATION; Rajalakshmi Menon ,ASIET; Lakshmipriya K J ,Asiet; Rejoice Thomas Paul ,ASIET

In modern society, an increasing number of electrical loads in buildings, such as computers, consumer electronics, light emitting diodes (LEDs), or variable speed motors, are supplied by dc power. At the same time, distributed renewable sources such as photovoltaics (PV), as well as batteries for electric vehicles and on-site storage, are based on dc. To integrate these technologies into existing ac power systems, complicated dc/ac inverters and controllers are required to synchronize with ac systems and to provide high-quality ac currents without harmonics. DC power systems can integrate dc renewable generation, storage, and building electrical loads easier and more efficiently than conventional ac based systems. A key challenge for the successful market adoption of these systems is the integration with existing electrical loads and power grids in buildings. Hybrid ac/dc microgrids combine advantages of both ac and dc systems and may facilitate the integration process of dc power technologies into existing ac systems. In this work, the performance of a hybrid building microgrid coupling on-site PV generation with ac and dc loads of a residential building is investigated in simulation. An experimental dc network prototype, coupling PV electricity generation to LED lighting in a building, has been built and tested. Theoretical and experimental results are used for the design of a hybrid microgrid, planned to be implemented together with the PV system of a residential research buildings.