DESIGNING A LABORATORY SETUP TO EXPERIMENT WITH SMART METERING FOR SMART LOW VOLTAGE GRID APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Smart grids are aimed at improving the operation, monitoring, and the control of the electricity networks. The deployment of distributed energy sources and electric vehicles changes the nature of the electric system and adds new challenges to its operation. The massive rollout of smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is a first step in solving these challenges. AMI-based smart grids technologies must be carefully designed and tested before they may be deployed in the field, which requires appropriate methods and tools. Software simulations, although very useful at early design stage, are not sufficient at testing and validation stage: they may eventually fail to capture important features of the physical system under consideration. The aim of our work is to set up a hardware and software infrastructure that emulates a low-voltage "smart grid" network, both from the power and the communication perspectives, and to utilize it to realize proofs of concepts of some prototypical smart grid mechanisms.