Remote Control of Nanogrids: a Cost-effective Solution in a Laboratory Setup

This paper proposes a cost-effective solution useful to remotely control via Internet a nanogrid. The effectiveness and the goodness of the proposed solution is demonstrated in a laboratory setup using a 1kW single-phase nanogrid prototype. A development board Atmel EVK1100 is used to generate the PWM signals that force the IGBTs of all power converters belonging to the nanogrid. A single-board computer Raspberry Pi3 is used to interface the Atmel EVK1100 and a web server where the set points of the nanogrid converters can be updated. Raspberry Pi3 regularly connects to Internet and it downloads the set points. The authors also show how the EVK1100 and Raspberry Pi3 exchange data each other. The laboratory set up includes the demonstration panel of a home automation system. The Raspberry Pi3 also interacts with the automation system; such a computer is able to write control frames on the communication bus, to force ON and OFF the peripherals, to invoke smart meters for measurements, to send the acquired data to the web server.