How stochastic network calculus concepts help green the power grid

Abstract—The renewable energy generation such as solar and wind will constitute an important part of the next generation grid. As the variations of renewable sources may not match the time distribution of load, energy storage is essential for grid stability. Supplemented with energy storage, we investigate the feasibility of integrating solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind turbines into the grid. To deal with the fluctuation in both the power generation and demand, we borrow the ideas from stochastic network calculus and build a stochastic model for the power supply reliability with different renewable energy configurations. To illustrate the validity of the model, we conduct a case study for the integration of renewable energy sources into the power system of an island off the coast of Southern California. Performance of the hybrid system under study is assessed by employing the stochastic model, e.g., with a set of system configurations, the long-term expected Fraction of Time that energy Not-Served (FTNS) of a given period can be obtained. I