Demand-Side Management and Electric Vehicle Integration

This chapter extends the energy management systems developed in previous chapters to the case of controllable loads and electric vehicles. EVs are loads for the microgrid but, due to their storage capability, they can also supply energy to the microgrid when needed and thus they can be considered as prosumers. An appropriate management of loads and EV charging can help improve the operation of the microgrid. The concept of Demand-Side Management (DSM) is introduced, and the main Demand Response (DR) techniques are described and illustrated. The integration of EVs in the microgrid is approached, customizing the MPC techniques to this situation and contemplating the notion of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). The chapter presents some simulations to illustrate load shifting and curtailment and several experiments performed in a pilot-scale microgrid to demonstrate V2G capabilities.