System Development Life-Cycle Assisted Digital Twin Development Model for Smart Micro-grids

Abstract

Digital Twin (DT) is an innovative technology that creates virtual representations of assets, processes, and systems, enabling real-time remote monitoring and control, risk assessment, and intelligent planning. Recently, DT has shown potential for application in various fields, including manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, 6G networks, transport systems, and smart cities. However, it faces challenges such as ensuring data integrity and quality, managing large volumes of big data, dealing with integration complexities, addressing security and privacy concerns, and mitigating high development costs. Moreover, the lack of standardized approaches for DT development further compounds these challenges. This paper presents a System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)-based DT model designed to address the lack of standardization and provide a structured framework for DT development. The proposed model is demonstrated through a case study on grid-connected micro-grids, where each component is deployed as a micro-service within a cloud environment. Furthermore, open-source forecasting tools and data analytics methods are integrated into the DT to predict future trends and analyze performance. By applying the proposed SDLC-assisted development model to DT development, efficiently utilizing cloud resources, and seamlessly managing micro-grid DT operations, key challenges related to cost, scalability, integration, regulatory compliance, and standardization are successfully addressed.