Microgrids for Radio Access Network Resilience

The power grid supply is always challenged by external factors that may significantly decrease its ability to be able to provide the amount of energy required, therefore making the system unreliable. Many infrastructure relies on the energy provided by the power grid supply and they may malfunction or stop functioning altogether if the energy provided is insufficient. Among these infrastructures, the ones that are most affected by this behavior are the communication infrastructures. The continuity of the communication services is therefore at risk and new ways to make the system more reliable must be found. A possible solution is to supply them through Renewable Energy Sources (RES), particularly Photovoltaic (PV) panels. Moreover, the new smart grid paradigm may allow the possibility to cluster Base Stations (BSs) in the same Radio Access Network (RAN) in a Micro Grid (MG) to be able to exchange the produced energy provided by the PV panels and maximize the continuity of the service when the power grid is not working, as it happens during Power Grid Outage (PGO). The main purpose of this Thesis is to analyze how different characteristics of this scenario and different strategies implemented to manage the energy produced by the PV panels may change the Quality of Service of the system.