Microgrid energy management — an analog, everyday perspective!
It is nearly two years ago that we connected Recycle Beirut’s 100 kWp microgrid in Ouzai, Beirut. (Recycle Beirut’s Microgrid). Without larger interruptions, the system provides a warehouse, two households and a mosque sufficiently 24/7/365 with electricity.
But it’s not only the 300 solar panels installed, neither the power control units nor the battery management system or the inverter that are doing the most important job everyday. It is Rabih, our operational manager and his team, that does the most important job: planning and coordinating the shared, finite amount of energy given to us every day!
Rabih reaches work at Recycle Beirut’s warehouse at 8.30 am and the first thing he does is checking the weather forecast and matching it with today’s work schedule.
“Four o’clock comes a truck load of glass that needs to be crushed instantly, otherwise the bottles will take too much valuable space of the warehouse.”
Then Rabih checks weather forecasts with a special eye on daily sun radiation: “Weather is sunny in the morning but gray and drizzly in the afternoon.”
Next thing to do is inquiring the status of the batteries. The battery management system displays that since dawn the 70 kWh battery bank has only been charged fifty percent.
Rabih starts calculating how much power he will need in the afternoon to have enough power to keep the glass crusher running for at least two hours. The glass crusher takes a huge amount of electricity, namely more than 15 kWp. Sun will not supply enough power in the afternoon so Rabih must make sure that the power produced in the morning will be stored in the batteries and only little is used by operations in the morning and early afternoon. Additionally, he needs to make sure that when the sun sets, batteries will still have enough charge to supply electricity to the two households connected, otherwise dinner will be cold, dark and sad tonight.
Now Rabih transforms his calculations into actions. Entering the warehouse, he talks to arriving warehouse manager Ahmad and machine operators Abo Abdo.
“Saba7alkher ya shbeeb, please keep the machines running low this morning — be thrifty — we have some glass coming this afternoon and not enough sun in the afternoon.”
With the workers prepared, actions are scheduled and operations are set for the day, it is time to observe what the weather brings and make sure the plan works out.
Rabih continues to follow tightly the power production of the solar panels. If sun is shining brightly and batteries are charged, operations can speed up their work load, still only that much that battery charge is not used extensively. This morning sunshine arrives properly and allows all energy to be supplied with precision, ensuring smooth operations and a regular day with enough energy for everyone.
Rabih, Ahmed and Abo Abdo are energy managers. The sensitivity created through knowledge and experience with the energy from the sun has enabled all together to be the most energy efficient and resilient they can be. A sort of regulation, forecasting and direct action is required when we aim to use a limited resource such as the sun as our energy provider. Rabih and his team have learned to absorb many information and plan the power supply and demand of a microgrid. This energy managment makes the companies micro grid a smart grid. Through his work he enables the system to be adaptive to changes and plans of the consumers and producers connected to the microgrid.
