Although many droop schemes have been proposed for distributed generator (DG) control in a microgrid, they mainly focus on achieving proportional power sharing based on the DG kVA ratings. Other factors like generation costs, efficiencies, and emission penalties at different loads have not been considered even though they are different for different types of DGs. This letter thus proposes an alternative droop scheme, which can better distinguish the different operating characteristics and objectives of the DGs grouped together in a weighted droop expression. The power sharing arrived in the steady state will meet the intended objectives, as demonstrated in the experiment with a defined objective of minimizing the total microgrid operating cost.

Rapidly increasing uptake of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is expected to have a significant impact on electrical power distribution networks. Considerable work has been carried out to understand this impact and quantify the distribution networks hosting capacity, with and without network management solutions. However, the current body of knowledge does not have a comprehensive review of the research done to‐date on this topic which is vital to understand the scope of the existing studies, the data used in analysing the impact, and, most importantly, the findings. A comprehensive yet focused review of impact of EV charging on distribution networks is presented by delving into the main factors restricting EV hosting capacity and the strategies used to maximise EV hosting capacity by managing the aforementioned impacts. The authors comprehensively summarise the approaches used to quantify the impact, network and data types, and the proposed solutions to increase network hosting capacity. Moreover, the shortcomings in the existing work are identified and recommendations for future research are provided to help stakeholders understand the current state‐of‐the‐art, make informed decisions, and to be considered by future researchers.

This paper presents two cost-prioritized droop sche- mes for distributed generators (DGs) in a rural or islanded microgrid. Dispatch prioritization of the schemes allows autonomous identification of the appropriate DGs for generation, in accordance to the overall load conditions of the microgrid. The result is a lower total generation cost for the microgrid when compared to other droop schemes. An experimental system has been implemented and tested with results showing a higher saving achieved by the proposed schemes.

Microgrids are small grids formed by clustering modern generating sources, storage systems, and loads together. Being independent, the formed microgrids can, in principle, operate at their own preferred voltages and frequencies. Tying them to the mains grid or another microgrid would therefore require some interlinking power converters, whose control should preferably be autonomous without depending on fast communication links. Contributing to this theme of research, a distributed power management scheme has been proposed in this paper for interlinking two or more independent microgrids operating at different voltages and frequencies. The proposed scheme allows sources in the microgrids to concentrate more on active power harnessing, while the interlinking converters focus more on meeting the load reactive demand. If necessary, backup active power from an underloaded microgrid can also be transferred to an overloaded microgrid, allowing it to supply loads in excess of its rated capacity. The performance of the proposed scheme has already been tested in experiment.

Decentralized economic operation schemes have several advantages when compared with the traditional centralized management system for microgrids. Specifically, decentralized schemes are more flexible, less computationally intensive, and easier to implement without relying on communication infrastructure. Economic operation of existing decentralized schemes is also usually achieved by either tuning the droop characteristics of distributed generators (DGs) or prioritizing their dispatch order. For the latter, an earlier scheme has tried to prioritize the DG dispatch based on their no-load generation costs. Although the prioritization works well with some generation costs saved, its reliance on only the DG no-load generation costs does not allow it to operate well under certain conditions. This paper thus presents a more comprehensive economic dispatch scheme, which considers the DG generation costs, their power ratings, and other necessary constraints, before deciding the DG dispatch priorities and droop characteristics. The proposed scheme also allows online power reserve to be set and regulated within the microgrid. This, together with the generation cost saved, has been verified experimentally under different reserve, load, and DG conditions.

This paper presents two linear power sharing schemes for distributed generators (DGs). The purpose is to reduce the total generation cost (TGC) of the considered autonomous microgrid. The saving in cost is realized by tuning the DG droop gradients in accordance to their respective maximum or mean generation costs. Compared with the existing nonlinear cost-based schemes, the proposed schemes use linear droop functions, which are easier to tune and implement in practice for a greater reduction in TGC. The proposed schemes have been tested experimentally with an example microgrid powered first by dispatchable DGs only, and then by a combination of dispatchable and nondispatchable DGs. Experimental results obtained have demonstrated the anticipated outcomes under different operating conditions.