The Use of Power Line Communication in Standalone Microgrids

Standalone Microgrids are used in various industrial operations to supply critical loads. The authors have proposed a stable and robust decentralised AC microgrid architecture, that provides an automatic and equitable load sharing between distributed generators, without the use of droop control. To deal with faults or real-time changes in the distributed generation levels, flexible reconfiguration of the microgrid can be advantageous. To achieve that, this paper proposes the use of Power Line Communication (PLC). Two PLC strategies are explored in the paper: the first is based on using a single and constant PLC frequency, and the second is based on using a variable PLC frequency within a given range. The paper details PLC injection, detection and suppression methods, as well as the overall communication logic. It demonstrates the ability of the microgrid to adapt to changes while minimizing the amount of battery support. Findings of the paper are supported by simulations and validated by experiments.