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Microgrid Planner: A Distributed Energy Resource Sizing Method

Daniel Reich

TL;DR

Addresses the need for diverse, rightsized microgrid options that satisfy a load profile over horizon $T$ using deficit metric $\bar{y}=\frac{\sum_{t\in T} y_t d_t}{\sum_{t\in T} d_t}$ and a dominance rule between designs $g^1 \succ g^2$ when $\bar{y}^1 \le \bar{y}^2$ and $c^1_i \le c^2_i$ for all $i$. Proposes a three-stage heuristic: exhaustive search with few capacity levels, binary search with many levels, and local search to refine non-dominated designs, to generate a diverse set $S$ of rightsized microgrids. Compared to the nested rightsizing method of Reich & Oriti, the results align within discretization limits and the approach scales better than exhaustive search, enabling practical planning for portfolios of DERs. Implemented in the open-source Microgrid Planner and demonstrated on a two-week, 4-minute-interval load profile, the work provides a concrete decision-support tool with potential for extension to additional DER types.

Abstract

We present a heuristic search method for distrubuted energy resource sizing, released in Microgrid Planner, an open-source software platform. Our method is constructed to identify a wide range of microgrid design options that satisfy a given set of power load requirements, allowing a decision maker to weigh trade-offs between potential designs and select preferred solutions. We introduce a global binary search algorithm to build a diverse set of microgrid design options and refine them using a local linear search method.

Microgrid Planner: A Distributed Energy Resource Sizing Method

TL;DR

Addresses the need for diverse, rightsized microgrid options that satisfy a load profile over horizon using deficit metric and a dominance rule between designs when and for all . Proposes a three-stage heuristic: exhaustive search with few capacity levels, binary search with many levels, and local search to refine non-dominated designs, to generate a diverse set of rightsized microgrids. Compared to the nested rightsizing method of Reich & Oriti, the results align within discretization limits and the approach scales better than exhaustive search, enabling practical planning for portfolios of DERs. Implemented in the open-source Microgrid Planner and demonstrated on a two-week, 4-minute-interval load profile, the work provides a concrete decision-support tool with potential for extension to additional DER types.

Abstract

We present a heuristic search method for distrubuted energy resource sizing, released in Microgrid Planner, an open-source software platform. Our method is constructed to identify a wide range of microgrid design options that satisfy a given set of power load requirements, allowing a decision maker to weigh trade-offs between potential designs and select preferred solutions. We introduce a global binary search algorithm to build a diverse set of microgrid design options and refine them using a local linear search method.
Paper Structure (6 sections, 3 figures, 2 tables, 3 algorithms)

This paper contains 6 sections, 3 figures, 2 tables, 3 algorithms.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Problem Statement and Metrics
  3. Sizing Method
  4. Computational Experiment
  5. Computational Results
  6. Conclusions

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: An example of non-dominated microgrid designs generated by our DER sizing method. Ratio values equal to -1 correspond to DER capacities of 0.
  • Figure 2: An example power load profile with 5040 time steps covering a 2-week horizon in 4-minute intervals.
  • Figure 3: An example of non-dominated microgrid designs with no power deficit generated by our DER sizing method. Ratio values equal to -1 correspond to DER capacities of 0.