A communication method for remote control of grid-tied converters

Lasagani, Kumbalatara Arachchige Terashmila (2018) A communication method for remote control of grid-tied converters. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis presents selection, design, development, and validation of a communica- tion method for remote control of a grid-tied inverter. There is a gap in the smart grid field for a secure and reliable communication method. To fulfill this gap three low-cost wireless such as LoRa, Radio Teletype, and UHF/ VHF based data communication technologies were tested, compared and presented in the thesis. Based on the test results, range, data transfer rate, and power consumption, LoRa based communica- tion are selected as the most suitable method to satisfy the problem. Security and reliability issues have been identified in the LoRa based communication. Therefore, an encryption algorithm is developed to improve the security of the LoRa communication and data have been logged into a local data storage to improve the reliability. To increase the reliability of the developed system further, Power Line Carrier (PLC) communication link has been combined in parallel to the LoRa communication link. To evaluate the reliability of the developed system fault tree and Monte-Carlo simula- tion based reliability model has been proposed. Based on available data and assumed data reliability of the system had been calculated. Results obtained by testing the developed system with an Inverter which is being designed at the University of New Brunswick, presented in the thesis verify the operation of the development. Therefore, this study substantially contributes to the field of SCADA systems by developing a low cost and reliable communication method.

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