Grid sense multiple access

Abstract

Due to the distributed nature of future electrical power systems, decentralized control is essential for these grids. This paper shows that converters that have identical voltage thresholds switch off simultaneously even if some could have remained operational. Therefore, inadequate system and energy utilization can occur when decentralized demand or supply response is utilized. The Grid Sense Multiple Acces (GSMA) algorithm proposed in this paper ensures that, after a change occurs in the system, a subset of the converters remains connected to the grid, without the need of utilizing any form of communication. This is achieved by introducing an exponential backoff time between failed connection attempts. Furthermore, several simulations and experiments are conducted to illustrate and validate the behavior of the GSMA algorithm, showing that it can be applied to dc grids in order to improve system and energy utilization.