A real time simulation of rule-based energy management system for PV array and battery bank using OPAL-RT with ARTEMIS technique

A nano-grid is a power distribution system comprising several energy sources. However, the intermittent nature of photovoltaic energy sources and the uncertainty of load demands are major challenges in efficient and reliable nano-grid operations. As such, this study addresses gaps in real-time energy management for nano-grid system based on short-term dynamic validation by proposing a rule-based energy management system for real-time power flow control to maintain the stability and power balance of nano-grid system. Real-time simulations, via the OPAL-RT platform, specifically the OP5700 test bench, was used to validate the performance of the proposed rule-based energy management system. Furthermore, the researchers used the ARTEMiS optimization technique to carry out real-time activities in a multi-converter framework. This technique categorises the nano-grid system into four independent subsystems and pre-calculates the state-space matrices for the different switching topologies, thereby eliminating the computationally expensive matrix processes, which lead to execution overruns. The proposed rule-based energy management system was utilized to manage local controllers, namely, converters and inverters. The rule-based energy management system was responsible for making critical decisions regarding real-time power distribution, load balancing, and system stability, while the local controllers implemented the directives. This technique was used for testing the four operating scenarios, which included dynamic load requirements, variable photovoltaic generation, and grid interaction modes. The results of all the experiments indicated that the rule-based energy management system displayed a zero computational overrun, with a primary computation time of 8.84 μs, 48.48% CPU utilization, and communication latency less than 1 s. This study has addressed the crucial gap between theoretical energy management system designs and fully operational control systems by conducting a real-time validation of a rule-based energy management system technique specifically designed for nano-grid system based on the OPAL-RT platform with ARTEMiS optimization. The results provide reference real-time performance benchmarks relevant to short-term feasibility evaluation of energy management strategies for small-scale renewable energy systems.