Design and implementation of a hierarchical hybrid communication platform for multi-microgrid applications

This paper presents a hierarchical hybrid communication platform for Multi-Microgrid (MMG) optimization applications. The main purpose of the implemented platform is to attach multiple Microgrids (MGs) to each other by adding an Internet of Things (IoT) gateway to each MG. This enables bi-directional data exchange among the MGs through the IoT gateway for optimal operation of the MGs with respect to each other. Considering the scale of the data acquisition in MMG optimization problems, utilization of a cloud-based platform for extensive data sharing and post-processing of the aggregated data is vital. The proposed platform has adopted Modbus protocol for communications between the devices inside each MG, local controllers, and the MG Central Controller (MGCC). The Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol is used for data sharing among the MGCCs and HTTP requests for interactions with a cloud server in a hybrid platform. The cloud server has an interface to MATLAB and the hierarchical architecture is implemented in a co-simulation platform with Python and MATLAB. Results show the efficacy of the implemented platform for MMG optimization applications.