The integration of renewable energy sources (RESs) is a strategic goal in Saudi Arabia. The energy source diversification plan comprises the penetration of various technologies, including solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy. In this research, an optimal microgrid system design is proposed and analyzed at the Islamic University of Madinah. The research intends to facilitate the decision-making process in the incorporation of RESs in Saudi universities. A pilot project has been established at the Faculty of Engineering and the measured load profile has been incorporated. Three alternatives are investigated, and their technical and economic performance is determined (i.e., PV system, wind system, and hybrid system). To enhance the accuracy of the simulated models, on-the-ground weather data have been utilized to formulate a typical meteorological year profile. The results demonstrate that a PV system of 1.5 MW installed capacity can cover up to 3.03% of the university’s annual electrical consumption, with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of 0.051 USD/kWh. The PV alternative can generate annual energy of 2.68 GWh with a capacity factor of 20.2% and a simple payback period of 18.6 years. The wind energy system has a capacity factor of 1.1 MW and yields a higher ratio of energy production to installed capacity, owing to a higher capacity factor at 29.5%, and annual energy of 2.71 GWh. However, due to the higher initial cost and insufficiency of wind resources at the proposed location, this wind energy alternative results in higher LCOE at 0.064 USD/kWh and a simple payback period of 23.6 years. The hybrid alternative facilitates the integration of diverse RESs. It has a capacity factor of 1.37 MW, leading to an annual generation of 3.27 GWh and a renewable fraction of 3.7%. The LCOE of the hybrid option is determined to be 0.061 USD/kWh and the simple payback period at 20.7 years. All alternatives help in the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and nitric oxide (NO_x) between 0.11 million kg and 54.6 million kg annually. Each of the systems can provide opportunities at the technical, economic, and environmental levels. The implications of this research facilitate Saudi universities in supporting the integration of RESs, considering the strategic goals of Saudi Arabia.

In this paper, different types of synergetic controllers (SCs), such as simple SC, piecewise linear function form of SC, linear synergetic controller, improved synergetic controller with terminal SC, and fast terminal SC have been designed and applied to an islanded DC microgrid. To be able to make the design of the controllers independent from system component values, a generalized mathematical method has been derived for all power electronics-based subsystems of the microgrid system. A small-scale DC microgrid has been designed and implemented to verify experimentally the robustness of the control law from the different synergetic controllers. Moreover, a generalized synergetic controller design approach has been derived in this paper for the islanded DC microgrids. The obtained results from both simulation and experiment tests have been compared and included in this paper. It is concluded that definition of macro variables is affecting robustness and tracking performance of the designed controllers.

The main aim of the research work presented in this paper consists of proposing an effective control scheme for a grid-connected single-phase photovoltaic (PV) system to enhance not only the power quality at the point of common coupling (PCC) but also to operate with a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller. Moreover, an orthogonal signal generator (OSG) module for effective grid synchronization, a current reference generation controller, and a PWM generating block have also been designed and included in this paper. The proposed control strategy allows the MPPT controller to switch to faulty mode and maintains the voltage according to network requirements using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS)-based control whenever a fault occurs at the PCC. The performance of the analyzed control strategy, which is based on the static compensation of the DC-link voltage fluctuations in a grid-connected inverter powered by PV, is further explored through simulations in MATLAB, and the results are included in this paper. Moreover, the control scheme is implemented experimentally using a dSPACE DS 1104 control board and then assessed on a small laboratory-scale single-phase PV system that is subjected to some fault scenarios. The simulation and experimental results have shown improved power quality and robustness against grid fluctuations, resulting in better dynamic performance.

This paper presents an original direct torque fuzzy control (DTFC) of a voltage source PWM inverter fed induction motor drive. First a direct torque fuzzy control (DNFC) of a voltage source PWM inverter fed induction motor drive is presented and its performances are compared to those of a classical DTC control. Then a variable gain PI speed controller is introduced to improve these performances. The DTFC control scheme uses the stator flux amplitude and the electromagnetic torque errors through two fuzzy controllers to generate the amplitude and the angle of the reference voltage which is used by a space vector modulator to generate the inverter switching states. Simulation of the DTFC induction motor drive using VGPl for speed control shows promising results. The motor reaches the reference speed rapidly and without overshoot, load disturbances are rapidly rejected, torque and current ripples are greatly attenuated and variation of the stator resistance is fairly well dealt with