Nanogrids and Microgrids

NREL's facilities can emulate microgrids and nanogrids connected to marine energy and other renewable technologies and pair modeling tools and hardware (hardware-in-the-loop) to more accurately evaluate emerging technologies.

The tools offer a safer, cheaper, faster, lower-risk way to validate new grid systems and renewable energy technologies before they're deployed.

Capabilities

The laboratory has 2 50-kW grid emulators, one direct current and once alternating current, and will soon welcome a larger 400-kW grid emulator, too. All can emulate microgrids and nanogrids, but the new tool can simulate how multiple technologies, such as a wind turbine and wave energy converter, can pair together to create smaller-scale grids that support remote or island-based communities.

Success Story

To prepare C-Power's SeaRAY autonomous offshore power system for a 6-month ocean trial at the U.S. Navy Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii, NREL researchers simulated rolling ocean movements at the laboratory's Flatirons Campus in Colorado. With NREL's novel field data collection and control system, called Modular Ocean Data Acquisition (MODAQ) and NREL's grid emulation capabilities, the team was able to verify that the SeaRAY autonomous offshore power system operates as intended while rocking with ocean waves and can power a seafloor automated underwater vehicle charging station.

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