Smart monitoring and hourly energy flows simulations for a new management of the PVZEN microgrid laboratory

Nowadays, in which the climate crisis is a real problem to deal with, it is essential to find solutions to go through the energy transition. In this context, microgrids can integrate renewable energy generation to provide reliable and affordable energy, being a promising solution for the contribution to build a greener future. In this thesis, it is provided a comprehensive understanding of the microgrid state of art, the solar photovoltaic technology, other than a description of the Photovoltaic Zero Energy Network (PVZEN) laboratory for microgrids and energy communities installed at Politecnico of Torino. It is based on solar photovoltaic power generation, and it is composed by three main units. After a review on energy flows logics within microgrids, the development of the key points of this thesis have been achieved, that are the smart monitoring and the performance of hourly energy flows simulations for a new management of the PVZEN laboratory. Within this context a monitoring and data sending system has been implemented, it allows to collect, control and manipulate the data even remotely, other than share them with the external, being extremely user friendly. Consequently, different energy flows logics have been used to perform several simulations that will be useful for the improvement of the PVZEN. Firstly, a simpler logic has been implemented, it is the starting point for this part and has the role of being the baseline for further comparisons and improvements. Then a new optimized logic, to enhance the management of energy flows within the microgrid, has been defined. Its aim is to minimize the absorption from the grid and so to maximize the self-sufficiency of the entire system by promoting interactions between the different units comprising the microgrid.