Recent advances on energy management and control of direct current microgrid for smart cities and industry: A Survey

Recently, the intent to use microgrid (MG) technology for urban, residential, and industrial applications has significantly increased. Thanks to the integration of shared storage technologies, these power systems allow for higher penetration of distributed renewable generation (DGs) and better mitigation of imbalances between demand and generation. This responds to social and environmental requirements in terms of decarbonizing energy and also contributes to strengthening smart cities. DC (Direct Current) microgrids offer several advantages compared to AC (Alternating Current) type microgrids, like superior efficiency, better control, stability, compatibility with the DC nature of renewables and storage sources, and the absence of reactive and synchronization problems. However, before fully exploiting the potential of microgrids in renewable-powered smart grids, it is necessary to conduct further research and discussion on critical technical and socio-economic challenges. This paper presents a review of the existing state-of-the-art research in DC microgrid development, relevant challenges related to security, communication, power quality, and operation, as well as the appropriate control and energy management strategies to handle them. As control and energy management strategies considerably impact other performance indicators such as operating cost, emissions, and power system safety, this paper offers a perspective on the potential improvement of such management solutions.