IEEE Electrification - December 2020 - 35

will minimize the grid power while fully recharged
prior to the next day demand window. This is done by
setting the minimum demand response during offpeak hours to enable a full Tesla BESS recharge. Considering a 48-h period, Figure 20 demonstrates that the
Tesla BESS is fully recharged each day prior to the
12 p.m.-10 p.m. discharging window. Note that this scenario considers the worst-case cloudy conditions. The
scenario in Figure 21 depicts the same demand-reduction scenario as that in Figure 20, but the PV power production is included. This case considers the worst-case
scenario of a high load with no PV production (Figure 16) to ensure that the batteries are never fully
depleted. In Figure 21, the PV system allows the Tesla
BESS to remain fully charged for most of the day under
the design load (i.e., 10% higher than the actual load).
Under the actual load, with the PV system in operation
(for example, on a sunny day), the Tesla BESS might not
be needed for achieving the targeted demand-reduction performance.

Island Operation
When the Crown Hall nanogrid is islanded, the building
load is carried by the Tesla BESS in parallel with the rooftop PV system. Should the battery storage become depleted [that is, less than 10% state of charge (SoC)] because the
sun is not shining, the Tesla BESS reverts to standby until
the grid is restored.

The SCADA System
The control technology embedded in the Crown Hall
nanogrid is a collaborative system with the IIT microgrid,
which is shown in Figure 22. The SCADA system for the
IIT microgrid (Figure 23) is updated every 5 s, which
allows the IIT microgrid to control the entire campus
system, including the Crown Hall nanogrid, in real
time. The SCADA system gathers the real-time data on
all building energy consumptions as well as the status of
the PV system, wind unit, and battery storage units. The
IIT microgrid operator utilizes the real-time data to optimize the delivery of electricity to the Crown Hall nanogrid,
as depicted in Figure 22.
The IIT microgrid applies the same SCADA system
for the monitoring and control of other renewable
energy sites and nanogrids at IIT (see Figure 24). The
actual locations of these sites are displayed in Figure 25.
The collected SCADA data will be used for the realtime simulation of the campus operation, which is discussed next.

Real-Time Simulation of Power
Flow in the Crown Hall Nanogrid
The IIT microgrid controller uses the Real-Time Digital
Simulator (RTDS) for the detailed modeling and control of
the campus components. RTDS operates in real time,

allowing the controller to interface the physical equipment with the simulated model to test and validate the
operation of the microgrid protection and control devices under realistic conditions. The RTDS allows the IIT to
simulate in real time the actual behavior of the microgrid
operation should a critical situation occur anywhere at the
IIT microgrid site. Figure 26 shows the RTDS, located on
the left side of the control room, for the monitoring and
control of the renewable energy sites and nanogrids at the
IIT. Figure 27 displays a sample result of power flows
across the IIT cable lines.

Acknowledgment
This work is completed through the financial support provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, Illinois Clean
Energy Community Foundation, ComEd, Willdan Energy,
and Robert W. Galvin Electricity Funds.

For Further Reading
M. Shahidehpour and J. F. Clair, " A Functional microgrid for
enhancing reliability, sustainability, and energy efficiency, "
Electr. J., vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 21-28, 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.tej.
2012.09.015.
M. Shahidehpour and M. E. Khodayar, " Cutting campus
energy costs with hierarchical control: The economical and
reliable operation of a microgrid, " IEEE Electrif. Mag., vol. 1,
no. 1, pp. 40-56, Sept. 2013. doi: 10.1109/MELE.2013.2273994.
" Real-time data and event infrastructure for the enterprise, " OSIsoft System, San Leandro, CA, 2017. [Online]. Available: http://www.osisoft.com/software-support/what-is-pi/
What_Is_PI.aspx
" Enphase microinverters, " Enphase Energy, Fremont, CA,
2018. [Online]. Available: https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/
downloads/support/IQ6-IQ6-plus_DS_EN-US.pdf
" Enphase networking, " Enphase Energy, Fremont, CA, 2018.
[Online]. Available: https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/
downloads/support/IQ-Comm-Envoy-EN-US.pdf
" Q.ANTUM solar module, " Q.Antum, North Sydney, Australia, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.solar-electric
.com/lib/wind-sun/Data_sheet_QPEAK_L_G4_2_360.pdf
" Tesla microgrid solution, " Tesla Motors, Palo Alto, CA,
2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.gemenergy.com.au/wp
-content/uploads/2017/11/Powerpack_Microgrid-System
-Brochure.pdf

Biographies
Mohammad Shahidehpour (ms@iit.edu) is with the Illinois
Institute of Technology, Chicago.
Wenlong Gong (wgong4@iit.edu) is with the Illinois
Institute of Technology, Chicago.
Marc Lopata (marc@azimuth.energy) is with Azimuth
Energy, St. Louis, Missouri.
Shay Bahramirad (shay.bahramirad@comed.com) is
with ComEd, Chicago.
Aleksi Paaso (esa.paaso@comed.com) is with ComEd,
Chicago.
Calvin Zhang (liuxi.zhang@comed.com) is with
ComEd, Chicago.

IEEE Elec trific ation Magazine / D EC EM BE R 2 0 2 0

http://www.osisoft.com/software-support/what-is-pi/What_Is_PI.aspx http://www.osisoft.com/software-support/what-is-pi/What_Is_PI.aspx https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/downloads/support/IQ6-IQ6-plus_DS_EN-US.pdf https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/downloads/support/IQ6-IQ6-plus_DS_EN-US.pdf https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/downloads/support/IQ-Comm-Envoy-EN-US.pdf https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/downloads/support/IQ-Comm-Envoy-EN-US.pdf https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/Data_sheet_QPEAK_L_G4_2_360.pdf https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/Data_sheet_QPEAK_L_G4_2_360.pdf https://www.gemenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Powerpack_Microgrid-System-Brochure.pdf https://www.gemenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Powerpack_Microgrid-System-Brochure.pdf https://www.gemenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Powerpack_Microgrid-System-Brochure.pdf

IEEE Electrification - December 2020

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