OCCAM: On-line cost-function based control algorithm for microgrids

This paper presents the active power dispatching of microsources, as an on-line minimization problem, including electrical and heat generation costs. The use of a new algorithm: on-line cost-function based control algorithm for microgrids (OCCAM), makes it possible to obtain similar or even better solutions than those obtained using other state of the art methods like MADS and SQP. Moreover, its execution time is about one hundred times lower than the time needed by other algorithms and it can run efficiently on-line. OCCAM is based on the same principle as the famous William Occam's razor: "the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one"; its simplicity is the reason for its low execution time. It uses costs functions of microsources and heat savings (obtained by recovering heat from microsources in cogeneration installations) to determine the optimal solution. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4712048]