Skip to ContentSkip to Navigation
About us Latest news News

PhD ceremony Mr. G.A. Pagani: From the grid to the smart grid, topologically

When:Fr 14-03-2014 at 12:45
Where:Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

PhD ceremony: Mr. G.A. Pagani

Dissertation: From the grid to the smart grid, topologically

Promotor(s): prof. M. Aiello

Faculty: Mathematics and Natural Sciences

The next generation of energy systems will be extremely different. Distributed generation through solar panels, small-scale wind mills or even electric vehicles can enable a new paradigm of generation and consumption where every user can be a producer and a consumer of energy at the same time. This new paradigm can enable new scenarios where energy is exchanged or traded directly between the end users. To enable such scenarios part of the electrical system has to be updated. The changes will span from the infrastructure to new energy service business opportunities. The smart grid represents the vision of upgrading the current infrastructure into a more efficient, reliable and sustainable one being powered by renewable sources.

In this work, I looked at the current electrical grid that reaches the end user. I have analyzed the network infrastructure and proposed evolutions by keeping in mind the local production and distribution of electricity. The goal was to propose solutions that can significantly reduce the cost of electricity distribution at local scale keeping in mind the cost of evolving the infrastructure (i.e., cabling costs).

I also focused on the software application domain of the smart grid. I proposed software architectures for addressing the heterogeneity of smart grids, and realized a smart grid software simulator. The tool simulates the energy market with multiple small producers and consumers so that I could also evaluate strategies to optimize energy purchases.

View this page in: Nederlands