This paper presents the building process of an interactive instrument called the Colombian Solar Atlas able to easily visualize meteorological data but also assess the current and future potentials of solar photovoltaic generation throughout the whole territory of Colombia, South America. This new tool is based on two different meteorological databases. The first one is done with historical data extracted from satellite imagery information, and the other one corresponds to data issues from regional-scale climate change projection models. The satellite database was validated with different in-situ measurements. The Colombian Solar Atlas uses basic and advanced photovoltaic generation models to estimate the generation of a custom solar installation. With this tool, a user selects a point on the map and can have directly pertinent information to search for an optimal location with a spatial resolution of 4 km². This tool is the first open interactive online tool particularly adapted to study the photovoltaic power potential in Colombia, considering the country’s needs and native language.

The loads that can be found in microgrids have been changing over the years and the problems they cause have grown in complexity. For example, some of the loads present in this type of networks behave like Constant Power Loads (CPL), among which are the tightly regulated electronic converters, which have a quick response and a low output fluctuation. The problem with this type of load is its negative incremental impedance characteristic, which may cause instabilities in the power network with multiple power electronic converters. This work presents a study about the influence of both a dynamic and a static CPL in an isolated microgrid. To achieve this, the DIgSILENT Power Factory software is used to simulate the Huatacondo microgrid located in northern Chile. The results show that, when the load is modeled as constant power, both the voltage and frequency response to disturbances is worsened with the use of constant-impedance type loads. We conclude that electronic type loads, which have CPL behavior, could bring stability issues in isolated microgrids.

This paper presents an interactive algorithm based on game theory for optimizing an energy management system (EMS) of a microgrid. As agents in game, load, storage and energy resources adopt an individual strategy and through a potential game, they are able to reach a Nash Equilibrium. Results show energy dispatch for four different agents conditions, including exclusion of one of the energy sources to emulate plug and play behavior. Availability and ease to change parameters for agents in proposed algorithm allows users tune it for several different conditions, achieving a useful tool for energy management in a microgrid.

In the context of climate change and increasing demand for food and energy, agricultural and energy sustainability faces economic, logistical, and environmental challenges. In traditional food and energy production, limited resources such as water and soil are contested, and factors to mitigate their environmental impact are not considered. In this context, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources is a crucial alternative in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Agrophotovoltaic technology (AgroPV) is positioned as an effective mediator between the energy and agricultural sectors, allowing the shared use of land for energy and food production. This innovation not only increases soil use efficiency and reduces water consumption but also strengthens crop resilience to climate change and offers a new source of income for farmers. Therefore, this article proposes a methodology for the design of AgroPV systems in agricultural areas of Colombia, addressing the selection of the study area, its technical and economic characterization, the identification of impacts, opportunities, and barriers, and its potential for massification. The results highlight that the designed AgroPV system can diversify agricultural income, contribute to carbon neutrality, increase crop resilience to climate change, improve food security, and optimize land use.

In order to compare and improve battery energy storage system (BESS) models, this work exhibits a comparative study of the Coppeti, the Coulomb counting, and the Thevenin based models of the State of Charge (SoC) for lead-acid batteries. Additionally, a multi-model estimator that merges and exploits the benefits of aforementioned models is proposed by using an extended Kalman filter (EKF). The performance of the different SoC models are evaluated by means of simulations in a economic dispatch problem of an isolated microgrid with an Energy Management System (EMS). The Comparative study of the SoC models is done using real operation data from the Huatacondo's microgrid with an EMS based on a rolling horizon strategy. As shown in the results, the operating costs of the microgrid are considerably reduced when the multi-model estimator is used, showing a direct impact in the economical costs of the system.