Energy Management and Control for Islanded
Microgrid Using Multi-Agents
Frank Ibarra Hernndez, Carlos Alberto Canesin
Power Electronics Laboratory - LEP
So Paulo State University UNESP FE/IS
Ilha Solteira - SP, Brazil
Abstract This paper presents a multi-agent system for real-
time operation of simulated microgrid using the Smart-Grid
Test Bed at Washington State University. The multi-agent
system (MAS) was developed in JADE (Java Agent
DEvelopment Framework) which is a Foundation for Intelligent
Physical Agents (FIPA) compliant open source multi-agent
platform. The proposed operational strategy is mainly focused
on using an appropriate energy management and control
strategies to improve the operation of an islanded microgrid,
formed by photovoltaic (PV) solar energy, batteries and resistive
and rotating machines loads. The focus is on resource
management and to avoid impact on loads from abrupt
variations or interruption that changes the operating conditions.
The management and control of the PV system is performed in
JADE, while the microgrid model is simulated in RSCAD/RTDS
(Real-Time Digital Simulator). Finally, the outcome of
simulation studies demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed
multi-agent approach for real-time operation of a microgrid.
Index Terms Distributed energy resources, Microgrid, Multi-
agent system, Real-time digital simulator, Real-time operation,
Photovoltaic power systems.
I. INTRODUCTION
With the electric power system development toward the
smart grid to improve reliability, security and economic
operation [1], the integration of Distributed Energy Resources
(DERs) into the future Smart Distribution Network (SDN) has
challenging issues [2]:
The Smart Distribution Network (SDN) requires periodic
and fast estimations of network security as well as real-
time information from the network components.
The interconnection of the DER units increases the
complexity of Smart Distribution Management System
(SDMS).
These DER units may have a cooperative function to
improve the reliability and quality of the supplied electric
power. The DER units in the SDN have advantages in power
quality and reliability improvement and economic benefits [2].
The effective integration of DER units in distribution
networks demands powerful simulation and test methods in
order to determine both system and component behavior, and
Ramon Zamora, Fransiska Martina, Anurag K
Srivastava
Smart Grid Demonstration and Research Investigation Lab
Washington State University - WSU
Pullman - WA, USA
to understand their interaction [3]. According to the U.S.
Department of Energy, a Microgrid is defined as an integrated
energy system consisting of interconnected loads and
distributed energy resources which as integrated system can
operate in parallel with the grid or in an intentional islanded
mode [4]. In islanded mode:
The unavailability of grid requires specific management
of micro-sources and loads, since the micro-sources have
maximum capacity limits [5];
The microgrid is operated like an isolated island and
should meet the load-generation balance by adjusting load
and generation accordingly [6].
The above description means that intelligent control of
microgrid with distributed generation and energy storage is
important to keep the reliability, stability and security of
system as required. One of the intelligent control, Multi-Agent
System (MAS) is defined as a collection of autonomous
computational entities (agents), which makes decisions based
on goals within an environment that can be difficult to define
analytically. Often MAS agents work with a limited system-
wide perspective and focus on localized task achievement.
Although each agents ability to affect the system environment
is limited to the capabilities of their immediately controllable
system or component, agents can communicate information
about their goal achievement to other independent agents
inside the MAS. In this way, MAS development is a
compromise between agents acting in self-interest way and in
a cooperative manner [7]. In this paper, the interconnection
between MAS (in JADE) and electrical system (in RSCAD) is
in offline model. In this case, the outputs of JADE will be
used as new set points for electrical system and vice versa
until the best possible conditions are determined for the
operation of a specific microgrid, as is explained in detail in
section III. This offline approach is also commonly used in
other MAS application such as market operation [8].
Finally, considering that most of the power outages and
disturbances take place in the distribution network, therefore,
the first step towards the smart grid should start at the bottom
of the chain, in the distribution system [9].
 II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Smart grid (SG) represents a vision for the future power
distribution systems, which integrates advanced sensing
technologies, control methodologies and communication
technologies into current electricity grid. Microgrid is an
innovative control and management architecture at distribution
level, which makes SG implement techniques at distribution
level easier [9]. Since the past decade, the PV systems have
experienced tremendous growth in manufacturing scale and
technology advancement, and is expected to continue growing
rapidly [11], [12], [13]. Many research works have been
carried out on grid connected PV focusing on the development
of various technologies and control strategies. PV system has
two major problems: low conversion efficiency especially
under low irradiation and dependency of the electric power
generated by solar arrays on weather conditions [14]. It is very
important to use the Real-Time system studies to find the best
operating conditions to ensure the reliability of the system,
considering the interactions between PV an microgrid in
islanded mode. On the other hand, the feasibility of the
microgrid islanding mode concept was laboratory tested in a
prototype installed in the National Technical University of
Athens (NTUA), which comprises a photovoltaic (PV)
generator, battery energy storage, loads, and a controlled
interconnection to a low voltage grid [15]. According to Fig.
1, Multi Agent System in JADE and microgrid simulation in
RSCAD/RTDS can be used to coordinate the interactions of
Distributed Energy Resources in islanded mode. Taking into
account [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] and [14], this work is aimed to
improve the interactions among PV and islanded microgrid,
without any other generating technology included.
Fig. 1: Flowchart of the PV System Real-Time Simulation in
an Islanded Microgrid
According to Fig. 1, the interaction between the PV
management and control in JADE and the microgrid
simulation in RSCAD/RTDS is theoretically a continuous
cyclic process, until the best electrical conditions are met. The
MAS management and control in JADE is responsible to
provide initial electrical information (PV module
specifications and load conditions) for RSCAD/RTDS
simulation.
Taking into account the above, this paper contributes to the
current state of the art in the fact that, using multi-agent
system, was found an electrically reliable approach to model
and simulate a real-time system formed only by photovoltaic
sources in an islanded microgrid, which serves as a basis for
studying electrical abnormalities in islanded photovoltaic
systems such as: faults, voltage fluctuations, power outages,
among others.
III. MICROGRID ARCHITECTURE
The microgrid architecture presented in this paper is based
on the CERTS Microgrid Concept and IEEE standard
P1547.4, Guide for Design, Operation, and Integration of
Distributed Resource Island Systems with Electric Power
Systems. The CERTS microgrid has no master controller.
Each source is connected in a peer-to-peer fashion with a
localized control scheme implemented for each component.
Each micro-source can seamlessly balance the loads when the
microgrid islands using a power vs. frequency droop
controller [16]. An islanded mode with excess generation will
experience an increase in frequency which autonomously
reduces the output of generation, moves storage to a charging
mode and smoothly supports the PV output as necessary [17].
A. Microgrid based on CERTS Concept (Case Study)
According to Fig. 2, our case study consists of three
photovoltaic systems (3 micro sources of 60 kW each) and a
group of four radial feeders, in which three of them (Feeders
A, B, and C) contains sensitive loads [18]. These sensitive
loads require local generation. Each of the four bank loads can
be controlled from 0-90 kW. The micro sources control the
microgrid operation using only local voltage and current
measurements. Feeder D does not have a sensitive load and
therefore, no local generation is required for this feeder. When
the microgrid is grid-connected, power from the local
generation can be directed to the non-sensitive loads of Feeder
D [19]. The power conditioning system is shown in Fig. 3
[16].
Fig. 2: Microgrid based on CERTS Concept
Fig. 3: Power conditioning system
 Each micro-source has a number of PV modules
(connected in series and parallel), and according to [14], the
considered photovoltaic module is a Shell SQ160PC module
with a capacity of 160W as given in the datasheet (Number of
cells: 72). The main specifications of each module are:
Open Circuit Voltage Voc: 43.5 V
Vmpp: 35 V
Impp: 4.58 A
Short Circuit Current Isc: 4.90 A
Panel Efficiency: 12.1%.
Maximum System Voltage Vmax: 120 V
Dimensions: 1622.0 814.0 40.0mm (32.0 63.9 definitions of autonomous behavior and the need for agents to
1.6 inch).
Weight: 17.2Kg (37.9 lbs).
IV. MULTI-AGENT MODELING AND
IMPLEMENTATION
An agent is merely a software (or hardware) entity that is
situated in some environment and is able to react
autonomously in response to environmental changes, therefore
it is able to schedule action based on environmental
observations. The environment is simply everything external
to the agent. An agent can operate usefully in any environment
which supports the tasks the agent intends to perform. An
intelligent agent is an agent with a flexible autonomy, instead
of only autonomy. An intelligent agent has the following three
characteristics: reactivity (react to changes in its environment
in a timely fashion), pro-activeness (goal-directed behavior)
and social ability (ability to negotiate and interact in a
cooperative manner). MAS is a system containing two or more
autonomous entities that can detect and react to its
environment and communicate with each other to optimize its
local goal, and therefore systems global goal is obtained. The
role of implementing MAS is to break down a complicated
problem into several small simple problems, and each simple
problem will be handled by an agent. Agents have a certain
degree of autonomy to make decisions based on the
information it acquires from environment without a central
controller [20]. MAS development is a compromise between
agents acting in a self-interested way and in a cooperative
manner. At each instant, the MAS agents must evaluate their
local situation, determine a local best solution to the problem
dictated by the agents goals, and if necessary, communicate
their intended action to the MAS, participate in MAS
prioritization, and adjust its action based on collective group
decision [7]. To implement a MAS, there are a number of
open-source agent platforms available in the literature that aid
developers to build a complex agent system in a simplified
fashion. These open-source agent platforms include: Aglets
software development kit, Voyager, Zeus, JADE, Tracy,
SPRINGS and Skeleton Agent. [4].
In this work, the MAS will be developed in JADE which is
a Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) compliant
open source multi-agent platform. Also, JADE is an agent
software framework fully implemented in Java language. It
simplifies the application of the agent systems through a
middleware that comply with the FIPA specifications [21].
JADE facilitates the development of multi-agent peer-to-peer
applications. It supports an asynchronous agent programming
model, communication between agents either on the same or
different platforms, mobility, security, and other utilities [22].
JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment framework) was selected for
calculating the operation parameters of the microgrid which
aims for: a) optimal use of local distributed resources; b)
feeding of local loads; c) operation simplicity. JADE allows
the development of unique software agents that can perform a
myriad of tasks, control functions, and supports decentralized
control architectures. The JADE-based agent platform directly
supports plug-and-play connectivity, as agents come on/off-
line asynchronously. Distributed multi-agent systems can be
difficult to develop because of tradeoffs between strict
interact [23]. According to Fig. 4, the Concept of Operations
for Simulated Scenario uses three kinds of agents: a) Producer
Agent, responsible for calculating each photovoltaic system
and communicate the value of the nominal battery capacity to
the Storage Agent (PVM1, PVM2 and PVM3); b) Storage
Agent, monitors the storage capacity of each photovoltaic
system (Storage1, Storage2, and Storage3); c) Observer
Agent, monitors all the Simulated Scenario (Sniffer Agent).
Fig. 4: Concept of Operations for Simulated Scenario
The most important work is done by the Producer Agent,
because, according to Fig. 5, it uses four PV Module
Specifications (Open Circuit Voltage [V], Voltage mpp of
Module [V], Current mpp of Module [A], Short Circuit
Current of a Module [A]) and four Load Specifications (Total
Power of AC Resistive loads [W], Total Power of AC
Rotating machines loads [W], Operating hours per day of
Resistive loads [hours], Operating hours per day of Rotating
machines loads [hours]) for calculating each photovoltaic
system [24], that is to say, for calculating ten variables:
Average Consumption [Wh/Day], Total Number of Modules
(panels) per branch required, Total Number of branches in
Parallel Required, Total Number of Modules Required, Instant
Power of Load [W], Instant Power of Photovoltaic System
[W], Calculated Regulator Output Current [A], Calculated
Inverter Power [W], Maximum Power that Can Receive the
Battery to be Charged [W] and Power Discharge Battery [W].
The foregoing calculations are performed taking into account
the following two assumptions: a) All simulations were done
with the lowest solar irradiation, which occurs in December,
with a value of: 3320 (Wh/m2/day) and b) The photovoltaic
module NOT always works in the maximum power point
tracking (MPPT).
proposed operational strategy is mainly focused on using an
appropriate energy management and control to improve the
operation of an islanded microgrid. This Microgrid is formed
only by photovoltaic (PV) solar systems, batteries and
resistive and rotating machines loads. The cyclic procedure to
measure the interactions among three photovoltaic systems is
illustrated in Fig. 7.

Fig. 5: Flowchart of Calculation of a Photovoltaic System

The JADE runtime in turn executes within a Java Virtual

Machine [25]. The main reason for adopting JADE is because
JADE is an Operating System (OS) independent platform
which means that the coded algorithm can be implemented on
any computer as long as the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is
installed [26]. For optimal operation of an islanded microgrid,
the system under the study consists of a MAS and electrical Fig. 7: Flowchart of the Real-Time Operation of a Microgrid
network of the microgrid. The electrical network of the
microgrid is modeled in RSCAD. Using the best operating conditions met after several cyclic
processes in the Fig. 7, the simulation of the electrical system
The Sniffer Diagram for the Multi-Agent Modeling and in RSCAD/RTDS could be performed with the results as
Implementation can be seen in Fig. 6. This tool is used for shown in Fig. 8. It is industrial load which changes fast as
documenting conversations between agents. Our work shows shown in the next figures (from Fig. 8 to Fig. 9).
that the Producer Agents (PVM1, PVM2 and PVM3) send one
specific message to the Storage Agents (Storage1, Storage2 Ppv3 Pmon3
and Storage3); this communication is the maximum power 0.12
that can receive the battery to be charged. We can also see that 0.1
the Agent Management System (AMS) agent that is 0.08
responsible for managing the operation of an Agent Platform
0.06
is in constant communication with the Sniffer agent, which is
responsible to monitor all the agents requirements of the 0.04

JADE platform. 0.02

Ppv4 Pmon4
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
Ppv5 Pmon5
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0 0.03333 0.06667 0.1 0.13333 0.16667 0.2
Fig. 6: Sniffer Diagram for the Multi-Agent Modeling and Implementation

V. SIMULATION AND RESULTS Fig. 8: Power of each Micro-source (blue) [kW] and
Sensitive Load (black) [kW]
Using MAS in an islanded microgrid, with the help of a
Smart Grid Test Bed of Washington State University [1], the
 SOCp3 S1) VP3
74.39 0.5
74.385 0.4
74.38

kV
%

0.3
74.375
74.37 0.2

74.365 0.1
SOCp4 S1) VP4
74.39 0.5
74.385

Battery Voltage (kV)

0.4
74.38

kV
%

0.3
74.375
74.37 0.2

74.365 0.1
SOCp5 S1) VP5
74.39 0.5
74.385
0.4
74.38
0.3

kV
%

74.375
74.37 0.2

74.365 0.1
0 0.03333 0.06667 0.1 0.13333 0.16667 0.2 0 0.03333 0.06667 0.1 0.13333 0.16667 0.2

(a) Battery State of Charge (SOC) (b) Battery Voltage

Idcp3
0.08
0.06
0.04
kA

0.02
0
-0.02
Idcp4
0.08
0.06
0.04
kA

0.02
0
-0.02
Idcp5
0.08
0.06
0.04
kA

0.02
0

-0.02
0 0.03333 0.06667 0.1 0.13333 0.16667 0.2

(c) Battery Current

Fig. 9: Battery Charging/Discharging Parameter

The simulation result in Fig. 8 shows that energy
management and control is able to regulate the micro-
sources to reach their maximum capacities. This figure also
shows fluctuated loads, which is more than the PV
capacities at certain times and less than PV capacities at the
other times. This extra or shortage power is balanced by the
battery storage system. Fig. 9 (a) shows that the battery is
discharging with various rate to accommodate this
fluctuated load. Also, this SOC is clearly shown in Fig. 9
(b) and (c). When the rate of discharging is high, the battery
voltage decreases, while the current increases.
 VI. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
This paper presents a multi-agent system for real time
simulation of interactions between three photovoltaic
sources and power systems in an islanded microgrid, using
RTDS [26]. The multi-agent system was developed in
JADE [27], an open source IEEE FIPA compliant platform.
The outcome of the simulation studies demonstrates the
effectiveness of the proposed control and technical
calculation, and shows the possibility of autonomous built-
in operation of a microgrid with a multi-agent system. The
simulation results show that the micro-sources, loads, and
batteries are well coordinated, where exceeding power from
micro-sources is stored in batteries. These results have
reflected the scenario in multi-agent system.
This research is a preliminary work to show the
feasibility and utility of MAS applications in energy
management and control of islanded microgrid with high
penetration of PV systems. In the future, authors will
extend this work to include the following aspects: different
scenarios of load-generation balance, electrical fault and
contingency analysis of microgrid, and online interfacing
between MAS and RTDS in order to better realize the real-
time operation of a microgrid.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the So Paulo
Research Foundation FAPESP for financial support to carry
out an internship at WSU to condut this research. Thanks to
Fullbright fellowship and Washington State University also
for supporting some of the work reported in this paper.
REFERENCES
[1] S. S. Biswas, K. Jeong Hun, and A. K. Srivastava, "Development of a
smart grid test bed and applications in PMU and PDC testing," in North
American Power Symposium (NAPS), 2012, 2012, pp. 1-6.
[2] I. K. Song, W. W. Jung, J. Y. Kim, S. Y. Yun, J. H. Choi, and S. J.
Ahn, "Operation Schemes of Smart Distribution Networks With
Distributed Energy Resources for Loss Reduction and Service
Restoration," Smart Grid, IEEE Transactions on, vol. PP, pp. 1-8, 2013.
[3] P. Crolla, A. J. Roscoe, A. Dysko, and G. M. Burt, "Methodology for
testing loss of mains detection algorithms for microgrids and
distributed generation using real-time power hardware-in-the-loop
based technique," in Power Electronics and ECCE Asia (ICPE &
ECCE), 2011 IEEE 8th International Conference on, 2011, pp. 833-
838.
[4] M. Pipattanasomporn, H. Feroze, and S. Rahman, "Multi-agent systems
in a distributed smart grid: Design and implementation," in Power
Systems Conference and Exposition, 2009. PSCE '09. IEEE/PES, 2009,
pp. 1-8.
[5] J. Mitra, C. Niannian, C. Mo-Yuen, S. Kamalasadan, L. Wenxin, Q.
Wei, et al., "Intelligent methods for smart microgrids," in Power and
Energy Society General Meeting, 2011 IEEE, 2011, pp. 1-8.
[6] J. Jin-Hong, K. Jong-Yul, K. Hak-Man, K. Seul-Ki, C. Changhee, K.
Jang-Mok, et al., "Development of Hardware In-the-Loop Simulation
System for Testing Operation and Control Functions of Microgrid,"
Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 25, pp. 2919-2929,
2010.
[7] C. M. Colson and M. H. Nehrir, "Comprehensive Real-Time Microgrid
Power Management and Control With Distributed Agents," Smart Grid,
IEEE Transactions on, vol. 4, pp. 617-627, 2013.
[8] ACE Research Area: Agent-Based Electricity Market Research
[Online]. Available: http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/aelect.htm
[9] H. Jiefeng, Z. Jianguo, and G. Platt, "Smart grid — The next
generation electricity grid with power flow optimization and high
power quality," in Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), 2011
International Conference on, 2011, pp. 1-6.
[10] T. Logenthiran, D. Srinivasan, A. M. Khambadkone, and A. Htay Nwe,
"Multiagent System for Real-Time Operation of a Microgrid in Real-
Time Digital Simulator," Smart Grid, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 3, pp.
925-933, 2012.
[11] X. Niu, M. Wang, X. Zhu, C. Yu, G. Li, B. Cheng, et al., "Progress in
research and mass production of large-scale thin film Si solar cells," in
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2012 38th IEEE, 2012,
pp. 001501-001506.
[12] S. R. Williams, T. R. Betts, R. Gottschalg, D. G. Infield, H. de Moor,
N. van der Borg, et al., "Accuracy of Energy Prediction
Methodologies," in Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Conference
Record of the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on, 2006, pp. 2206-
2209.
[13] M. Meinhardt and G. Cramer, "Past, present and future of grid
connected photovoltaic- and hybrid-power-systems," in Power
Engineering Society Summer Meeting, 2000. IEEE, 2000, pp. 1283-
1288 vol. 2.
[14] A. A. Salam, I. Adam, F. Z. Hamidon, and A. M. A. Haidar,
"Behaviour of grid connected photovoltaic systems," in Industrial
Electronics and Applications (ISIEA), 2011 IEEE Symposium on,
2011, pp. 481-485.
[15] J. A. P. Lopes, C. L. Moreira, and A. G. Madureira, "Defining control
strategies for MicroGrids islanded operation," Power Systems, IEEE
Transactions on, vol. 21, pp. 916-924, 2006.
[16] R. H. Lasseter, J. H. Eto, B. Schenkman, J. Stevens, H. Vollkommer,
D. Klapp, et al., "CERTS Microgrid Laboratory Test Bed," Power
Delivery, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 26, pp. 325-332, 2011.
[17] R. H. Lasseter, "Smart Distribution: Coupled Microgrids," Proceedings
of the IEEE, vol. 99, pp. 1074-1082, 2011.
[18] D. K. Nichols, J. Stevens, R. H. Lasseter, J. H. Eto, and H. T.
Vollkommer, "Validation of the CERTS microgrid concept the
CEC/CERTS microgrid testbed," in Power Engineering Society
General Meeting, 2006. IEEE, 2006, p. 3 pp.
[19] H. Nikkhajoei and R. H. Lasseter, "Distributed Generation Interface to
the CERTS Microgrid," Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on, vol.
24, pp. 1598-1608, 2009.
[20] C. Niannian, X. Xufeng, and J. Mitra, "A hierarchical multi-agent
control scheme for a black start-capable microgrid," in Power and
Energy Society General Meeting, 2011 IEEE, 2011, pp. 1-7.
[21] FIPA, the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents standards
[Online]. Available: http://www.fipa.org
[22] H. N. Aung, A. M. Khambadkone, D. Srinivasan, and T. Logenthiran,
"Agent-based intelligent control for real-time operation of a microgrid,"
in Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES) & 2010
Power India, 2010 Joint International Conference on, 2010, pp. 1-6.
[23] C. M. Colson, M. H. Nehrir, and R. W. Gunderson, "Distributed multi-
agent microgrids: a decentralized approach to resilient power system
self-healing," in Resilient Control Systems (ISRCS), 2011 4th
International Symposium on, 2011, pp. 83-88.
[24] SunFields Europe, Handbook for autonomous photovoltaic systems
[Online]. Available: http://www.sfe-solar.com/
[25] T. Logenthiran, D. Srinivasan, and D. Wong, "Multi-agent coordination
for DER in MicroGrid," in Sustainable Energy Technologies, 2008.
ICSET 2008. IEEE International Conference on, 2008, pp. 77-82.
[26] F. Y. S. Eddy and H. B. Gooi, "Multi-agent system for optimization of
microgrids," in Power Electronics and ECCE Asia (ICPE & ECCE),
2011 IEEE 8th International Conference on, 2011, pp. 2374-2381.
[27] JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment Framework) [Online]. Available:
http://jade.tilab.com/