PHEVs Charging Stations, Communications, and Control Simulation in Real Time Luis Herrera, Robert Murawski, Feng Guo, Ernesto Inoa, Eylem Ekici, and Jin Wang Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering The Ohio State University 205 Dreese Labs; 2015 Neil Avenue Columbus, Ohio, 43210 E-mail: wang@ece.osu.edu Abstract- This paper introduces a platform for real time simulation and its contribution towards smart grid related research, with focus on Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) charging stations. The current system is able to simulate in real time key elements of a smart grid such as: high speed power electronics, distributed energy resources (DER), and communication networks. A description of the platform for real time simulation is presented along with the integration of communication emulation; achieved through OPNET’s System in the Loop (SITL) package. In addition, an introduction to Networked Control Systems (NCS) is presented and a case study of PHEV charging stations which displays the latest results accomplished with the current setup. I. INTRODUCTION The smart grid refers to the digitalization of the power grid in order to further improve it in terms of efficiency, reliability, and automation. Some of the main characteristics of this intelligent grid include two-way communication, self- monitoring, adaptive, and allowing customer choices. Although the necessary technology to achieve this modernization of the power grid exists, sufficient research and validation of the technologies and methods is necessary in order to speed up their adoption [1][2]. However, real environment tests are usually expensive and difficult to achieve in a laboratory setting, for this reason, real time hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation becomes a fundamental tool in order to test controllers, power electronics circuits, and communication methods to effectively incorporate them in the power grid. PHEVs are becoming dynamic elements not only requiring large amounts of power from the grid, but also supplying power in times when localized distribution faces overload capacity [3]. In addition, PHEVs can supply supplementary services to the grid such as frequency regulation by controlling the active power flow [4]. Communications thus play a key role in managing the distribution of energy. It is necessary for a charging station to know the state of the grid in terms of demand, pricing, and health in order to better estimate the times for charging [5]. In [6], an overview of different communication methods applicable to PHEV charging stations such as Power Line Carriers (PLC), IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee), ZWave, and cellular networks were summarized. Furthermore, a Zigbee based communication platform for testing optimization parameters in a PHEV charging station was proposed in [7]. The integration of communication in different applications of power systems and power electronics can be considered part of Networked Control Systems (NCS) [8]. A NCS is a type of closed loop control in which there is communication between the remote controller and the plant. NCS have found many applications ranging from: robotics, aircraft, automobiles, and now could be applied to power electronics and power systems. Nevertheless, there are several communication factors which affect the performance of NCS such as: latency, unreliable communications (packet losses), bandwidth and packet size constraints, and packet disordering. In terms of power electronics, in [9] different topologies for applications of interconnected converters, while generalizing types of control requirements and delays for each topology were studied. In [10], a wireless PWM control for parallel dc-dc buck converters was modeled using a state space representation, in which the characteristics of communication delays were considered. Lastly, a method for modeling wide area measuring systems (WAMS) in power grids have been proposed in [11] for a NCS. A co-simulation of real time HIL of continuous (power systems) and discrete (communication) models, provides a more tangible method for simulating real world NCS systems. Focusing on PHEV charging stations, some examples of real time HIL simulation for testing different characteristics of PHEVs have been proposed in [12], where a model of a PHEV was developed and run in real time to test a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU). When integrating both power and communication simulations, Nutaro et al. [13] developed a software simulation of a 17 bus power network with communication between the loads and generators; investigating the effects of factors such as bandwidth and latency on the overall system stability. This work provides an example of combining discrete and continuous models to study communication requirements and its influence to a power system. Although real time HIL simulation platforms have been developed, most focus on one aspect in modeling, either continuous (power electronics, power systems) or discrete (communication networks). A joint effort is proposed in this paper in order to effectively model these two types of 978-1-61284-247-9/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE