Microgrids

Foreword

The idea of microgrids is not new. However, as new technologies are coming into existence to harvest renewable energy as well as more efficient electricity production methods coupled with the flexibility of power electronics; a new industry is developing to promote these technologies and organize them into microgrids for extracting the maximum benefits for owners and the power grid. More than 15 years ago, the Department of Energy has sponsored early research that laid the foundations for microgrids and explored the benefits. One key aspect is the ability and promise to address environmental concerns that have been growing in recent years. Today the microgrid concept has exploded to include a variety of architectures of energy resources into a coordinated energy entity that its value is much greater than the individual components. As a result the complexity of microgrids has increased. It is in this environment of evolution of microgrids that the present book is very welcome. It is written in a way that provides valuable information for specialist as well as non-specialists.

Chapter 1 provides a well thought view of the microgrid concept from the various forms of implementation to the potential economic, environmental and technical benefits. It identifies the role of microgrids in altering the distribution system as we know it today and at the same time elaborates on the formation of microgrids as an organized entity interfaced to distribution systems. In a refreshingly ...