Secure and Robust Authentication for DC MicroGrids based on Power Talk Communication
This work addresses the security of authentication in DC MicroGrids for control system operators, but the results are preliminary and incremental.
The paper proposes a novel authentication framework for DC MicroGrids using power talk communication, enabling secure authentication of Distributed Energy Resources without dedicated hardware. PLECS simulations verify the scheme's viability.
We propose a novel framework for secure and reliable authentication of Distributed Energy Resources to the centralized secondary/tertiary control system of a DC MicroGrid (MG), networked using the IEEE 802.11 wireless interface. The key idea is to perform the authentication using power talk, which is a powerline communication technique executed by the primary control loops of the power electronic converters, without the use of a dedicated hardware for its modem. In addition, the scheme also promotes direct and active participation of the control system in the authentication process, a feature not commonly encountered in current networked control systems for MicroGrids. The PLECS-based simulations verifies the viability of our scheme.