Use of Single Board Computers in Hardware-in-the-Loop Systems for Education in Renewable Energy Systems

Abstract:
Addressing the challenges associated with integrating renewable energy resources and smart grid solutions to advance the energy transition requires new and progressive tools and environments for developing and testing. This paper presents the possibilities of Single Board Computers integrated in a Hardware-in-the-Loop laboratory system, to decrease the costs for e.g. Rapid Control Prototyping environments and to open the floor in Hardware-in-the-Loop technologies for new possibilities such as Co-Simulation and Graphical User Interfaces. They were applied to the simulation of a Photovoltaic system in an electrical grid. The method based on three main possibilities is presented in detail. First, the Co-simulation on a single board computer is presented. Following this, the real-time simulation is controlled via a single board computer. Finally, the control of a DC/DC-converter is moved to an external device allowing control design and Rapid-Control-Prototyping. The different applications as well as the hardware and software components are presented to provide insight into the method.