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The building sector is one of the largest contributors to the world’s total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Advancements in building energy technologies have played a critical role in enhancing the energy sustainability of the built environment. Extensive research and new techniques in energy and environmental systems for buildings have recently emerged to address the global challenges. This study reviews existing articles in the literature, mostly since 2000, to explore technological advancement in building energy and environmental systems that can be applied to smart homes and buildings. This review study focuses on an overview of the design and implementation of energy-related smart building technologies, including energy management systems, renewable energy applications, and current advanced smart technologies for optimal function and energy-efficient performance. To review the advancement in building energy-related technologies, a systematic review process is adopted based on available published reviews and research types of articles. Review-type articles are first assessed to explore the current literature on the relevant keywords and to capture major research scopes. Research-type papers are then examined to investigate associated keywords and work scopes, including objectives, focuses, limitations, and future needs. Throughout the comprehensive literature review, this study identifies various techniques of smart home/building applications that have provided detailed solutions or guidelines in different applications to enhance the quality of people’s daily activities and the sustainability of the built environmental system. This paper shows trends in human activities and technology advancements in digital solutions with energy management systems and practical designs. Understanding the overall energy flow between a building and its environmentally connected systems is also important for future buildings and community levels. This paper assists in understanding the pathway toward future smart homes/buildings and their technologies for researchers in related research fields.

Over the last few years, the number of grid-connected photovoltaic systems (GCPVS) has expanded substantially. The increase in GCPVS integration may lead to operational issues for the grid. Thus, modern GCPVS control mechanisms should be used to improve grid efficiency, reliability, and stability. In terms of frequency stability, conventional generating units usually have a governor control that regulates the primary load frequency in cases of imbalance situations. This control should be activated immediately to avoid a significant frequency variation. Recently, renewable distribution generators such as PV power plants (PVPPs) are steadily replacing conventional generators. However, these generators do not contribute to system inertia or frequency stability. This paper proposes a control strategy for a GCPVS with active power control (APC) to support the grid and frequency stability. The APC enables the PVPP to withstand grid disturbances and maintain frequency within a normal range. As a result, PVPP is forced to behave similar to traditional power plants to achieve frequency steadiness stability. Frequency stability can be achieved by reducing the active power output fed into the grid as the frequency increases. Additionally, to maintain power balance on both sides of the inverter, the PV system will produce the maximum amount of active power achievable based on the frequency deviation and the grid inverter’s rating by working in two modes: normal and APC (disturbance). In this study, a large-scale PVPP linked to the utility grid at the MV level was modeled in MATLAB/Simulink with a nominal rated peak output of 2000 kW. Analyses of the suggested PVPP’s dynamic response under various frequency disturbances were performed. In this context, the developed control reduced active power by 4%, 24%, and 44% when the frequency climbed to 50.3 Hz, 50.8 Hz, and 51.3 Hz, respectively, and so stabilized the frequency in the normal range, according to grid-code requirements. However, if the frequency exceeds 51.5 Hz or falls below 47.5 Hz, the PVPP disconnects from the grid for safety reasons. Additionally, the APC forced the PVPP to feed the grid with its full capacity generated (2000 kW) at normal frequency. In sum, the large-scale PVPP is connected to the electrical grid provided with APC capability has been built. The system’s capability to safely ride through frequency deviations during grid disturbances and resume initial conditions was achieved and improved. The simulation results show that the given APC is effective, dependable, and suitable for deployment in GCPVS.

In this paper, a vehicle–grid integration (VGI) control strategy for radial power distribution networks is presented. The control schemes are designed at both microgrid level and distribution level. At the VGI microgrid level, the available power capacity for electric vehicle (EV) charging is optimally allocated for charging electric vehicles to meet charging requirements. At the distribution grid level, a distributed voltage compensation algorithm is designed to recover voltage violation when it happens at a distribution node. The voltage compensation is achieved through a negotiation between the grid-level agent and VGI microgrid agents using the alternating direction method of multipliers. In each negotiation round, individual agents pursue their own objectives. The computation can be carried out in parallel for each agent. The presented VGI control schemes are simulated and verified in a modified IEEE 37 bus distribution system. The simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the VGI control algorithms and the effect of algorithm parameters on the convergence of agent negotiation.

Grid integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and electric vehicles (EVs) has been increasing in recent years, mainly with two motivations: reducing energy cost, and reducing emission. Several research studies focuses on the individual impact of grid integration of PVs and EVs. However, it is worth noting that with the increasing penetration of PVs and EVs, the power grid will be experiencing the combined impact of PV–EV integration. To present a thorough understanding, this study first presents a detailed study on the impact of grid integration of PVs and EVs individually, followed by combined impact of PV and EV, on the aspects of grid stability, power quality and energy economics. It has been identified from the literature review that individually PVs and EVs can negatively affect the grid stability and power quality due to the intermittent nature of PV energy and uncertainty of EV load. However, several research works have reported that coordinated operation of the PVs and EVs can negate the issues arising due to individual integration of PVs and EVs. Furthermore, large‐scale penetration of PVs and EVs are expected in future energy market, and coordinated operation of them can potentially help lowering energy costs and carbon footprint.

Power system operators are in search of proven solutions to improve the penetration levels of distributed generators (DGs) in the grid while minimizing cost. This transition is driven, among others, by global climate concerns, the growing power demand, the need for greater flexibility, the ageing grid infrastructure and the need to diversify sources of energy production. Distributed renewables would not easily substitute the conventional electric grid system, perhaps because the latter is a well-established technology and it would not be prudent to abandon it, while the new distributed renewable energy technologies are generally not adequately developed to support the total load. Thus, it is becoming increasingly necessary to consider sustainable options such as integrating renewable energy sources into the existing power grid. This study is a review that is mainly hinged on distributed generation (DG) classification, the challenges of DG to grid integration, practical options used in DG integration, lessons learned from some countries with successful DG to grid integration, push factors in the growth of DGs and the merits of DG to grid integration. These standpoints of DG to grid interconnection are critical in conducting grid planning and operational studies, which should be conducted in strict observance of aspects such as optimal technology selection, optimal capacity and a suitable connection point of DGs in the network. Therefore, the perspectives highlighted regarding DG can assist power system engineers, developers of DG plants and policymakers in developing a power network that is stable, efficient and reliable.

The markedly increased integration of renewable energy in the power grid is of significance in the transition to a sustainable energy future. The grid integration of renewables will be continuously enhanced in the future. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), renewable technology is the main pathway to reach zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2060. Power electronics have played and will continue to play a significant role in this energy transition by providing efficient electrical energy conversion, distribution, transmission, and utilization. Consequently, the development of power electronics technologies, i.e., new semiconductor devices, flexible converters, and advanced control schemes, is promoted extensively across the globe. Among various renewables, wind energy and photovoltaic (PV) are the most widely used, and accordingly these are explored in this paper to demonstrate the role of power electronics. The development of renewable energies and the demands of power electronics are reviewed first. Then, the power conversion and control technologies as well as grid codes for wind and PV systems are discussed. Future trends in terms of power semiconductors, reliability, advanced control, grid-forming operation, and security issues for large- scale grid integration of renewables, and intelligent and full user engagement are presented at the end.

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) refers to efforts to bi-directionally link the electric power system and the transportation system in ways that can improve the sustainability and security of both. A transition to V2G could enable vehicles to simultaneously improve the efficiency (and profitability) of electricity grids, reduce greenhouse gas emissions for transport, accommodate low-carbon sources of energy, and reap cost savings for owners, drivers, and other users. To understand the recent state of this field of research, here we conduct a systematic review of 197 peer-reviewed articles published on V2G from 2015 to early 2017. We find that the majority of V2G studies in that time period focus on technical aspects of V2G, notably renewable energy storage, batteries, or load balancing to minimize electricity costs, in some cases including environmental goals as constraints. A much lower proportion of studies focus on the importance of assessing environmental and climate attributes of a V2G transition, or on the role of consumer acceptance and knowledge of V2G systems. Further, there is need for exploratory work on natural resource use and externalities, discourses and narratives as well as social justice, gender, and urban resilience considerations. These research gaps need to be addressed if V2G is to achieve the societal transition its advocates seek.

The transport sector generates a considerable amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide, especially road transport, which accounts for 95% of the total GHGs. It is commonly known that Electric vehicles (EVs) can significantly reduce GHG emissions. However, with a fossil-fuel-based power generation system, EVs can produce more GHGs and therefore cannot be regarded as purely environmentally friendly. As a result, renewable energy sources (RES) such as photovoltaic (PV) can be integrated into the EV charging infrastructure to improve the sustainability of the transportation system. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art literature on power electronics converter systems, which interface with the utility grid, PV systems, and EVs. Comparisons are made in terms of their topologies, isolation, power and voltage ranges, efficiency, and bi-directional power capability for V2G operation. Specific attention is devoted to bidirectional isolated and non-isolated EV-interfaced converters in non-integrated architectures. A brief description of EV charger types, their power levels, and standards is provided. It is anticipated that the studies and comparisons in this paper would be advantageous as an all-in-one source of information for researchers seeking information related to EV charging infrastructures.

Big data standards and capability maturity models (CMMs) help developers build applications with reduced coupling and increased breadth of deployment. In smart grids, stakeholders currently work with data management techniques that are unique and customised to their own goals, thereby posing challenges for grid‐wide integration and deployment. Although big data standards and CMMs exist for other domains, no work in the literature considers adapting them to smart grids, which will benefit from both. Further, existing smart grid standards and CMMs do not fully account for big data challenges. This study bridges the gap by analysing the role of big data in smart grids, and explores if and how big data standards and CMMs can be adapted specifically to ten distributed generation (DG) use‐cases that use big data. In doing so, this work provides a useful starting point for researchers and industry members developing standards and CMM assessments for smart grid DG.

Scholars are motivated to work in the field of renewable energy systems (RESs) especially on grid-connected wind generators because of the exciting and noticeable developments going on in this area. This progress is utilized to obtain the maximal, efficient, and stable electric power from the RESs and integrating it into existing systems to improve its efficiency, stability, reliability, and overall power quality. Recently, permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs) have become the main pillar of advanced wind systems thanks to their fascinating pluses over other types of wind generators. This paper presents the up-to-date trends in converter topologies, control approaches, maximal power production methods, and grid integration issues for PMSG-based wind systems. The performed statistical analyses assure the dominance of the two-level back-to-back converter among the studied power converter topologies, field-oriented control method for the machine side converter, voltage oriented control method for the grid side converter control, perturb and observe algorithm amongst the studied maximum power point techniques, and fault ride-through capability out of grid integration issues. Further, recent general trends in technological advancements for PMSG wind system components are illustrated as a pie chart in terms of percentage figures. It is expected that the researchers working in this field would benefit from this article in terms of the presented state-of-the-art statistical analyses and its related literature given in this study.