ZERO network-impact buildings and smart storage systems in micro-grids

The integration of intelligent storage systems in smart micro-grids (MGs) is necessary for the optimal management of the energy flows and to make the grids efficient and self-sustainable systems, further able to provide ancillary service to the main network. The present paper includes a new concept for integrating buildings equipped with intelligent storage systems in MG, making them zero grid-impact and so improving the efficiency of the MG including them. These aims are shown to be achievable with the use of an intelligent system managing the storage, based in a DC/AC converter connected to the point of coupling of the building with the main grid. The system is a prototype available at ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) labs in Rome. The authors describes it in details, including the control functions. A complete and versatile model in MatLab-Simulink is proposed and the results of simulations are shown.