Using Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop Experiments together with Co-simulation for the Holistic Validation of Cyber-Physical Energy Systems
For researchers and engineers validating smart grid systems, this work addresses the need for integrated testing of power and information system interactions.
The paper proposes combining co-simulation and Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop experiments to create a holistic validation environment for cyber-physical energy systems, identifying technical challenges and outlining solutions.
Composed of a large variety of technologies and applications with unprecedented complexity, the smart grid, as a cyber-physical energy system, needs careful investigation of the interactions between the various domains involved, especially the coupling between the power and information systems. In this paper, two modern ways of modeling and simulating complex cyber-physical energy systems are considered: Co-simulation and Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop experiments. An analysis of these two approaches shows that a complementary and joint setup with realistic behaviors of hardware equipment under a variety of complex environments, co-simulated by several simulators from different domains, create a complete and high performance environment to achieve a holistic approach for smart grid validation and roll out. In the scope of coupling these two techniques, major technical challenges are identified and advanced solutions are outlined.