Comparing the Advancement of Existing and Pending University Campus Microgrids: A Comprehensive Review on Principles, Geographical Locations and Applications | Chapter 7 | Engineering Research: Perspectives on Recent Advances Vol. 8

Microgrid systems have emerged as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for several university campuses. Over the past few decades, many universities have turned to using microgrid systems because of their dependability, security, flexibility, and less reliance on the primary grid. The effectiveness of microgrid technology varies among universities, influenced by factors such as campus size, weather conditions, and geographical location. Microgrids on campuses face challenges in the instability of power production due to meteorological conditions, as the output of renewable sources such as solar and wind power relies entirely on the weather and determines the optimal size of microgrids. Therefore, this chapter comprehensively reviews the university campuses’ microgrids. Some renewable energy sources, such as geothermal (GE), wind turbine (WT), and photovoltaic (PV), are compared in terms of installation costs, availability, weather conditions, efficiency, environmental impact, and maintenance. Furthermore, a description of microgrid systems and their components, including distributed generation (DG), energy storage system (ESS), and microgrid load, is presented. As a result, the most common optimization models for analyzing the performance of campus microgrids are discussed. Hybrid microgrid system configurations are introduced and compared to find the optimal configuration in terms of energy production and flexibility. Therefore, configuration A (Hybrid PV-grid connected) is the most common configuration compared to the others due to its simplicity and free charge operation. The installations of configuration A, configuration B, configuration C, and configuration D are %0.54, %0.08, %0.07, and %0.14, respectively.  Results showed that configuration C is less common due to the high cost of fossil fuels and the causes of air pollution.

 

Author(s) Details

Edrees Yahya Alhawsawi
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Effat University, Jeddah 21478, Saudi Arabia.

 

Khaled Salhein
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA.

 

Mohamed A. Zohdy
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA.

 

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/erpra/v8/4797