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Economic Dispatch for a Microgrid Considering Renewable Energy Cost Functions

Noel Augustine, Student Member, IEEE, Sindhu Suresh, Member, IEEE, Prajakta Moghe and Kashif Sheikh

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Index Terms--Economic Dispatch, Microgrid, Reduced gradient method, Cost function, Renewable energy, Solar renewable energy credits (SREC)

Conventional Generator G1

Conventional Generator G2

Solar

wind

Fig 1: Isolated Microgrid Configuration

I. INTRODUCTION icrogrid is an aggregation of loads and microsources operating as a single controlled unit providing both power and heat locally, which also improves the reliability and security of the system. The majority of the microsources are power electronic based devices including renewable energy sources. Because of the diversity of generations with varying production cost, it is essential to perform an economic dispatch in the system. Economic dispatch is the short-term determination of the optimal output of a number of electricity generation facilities, to meet the system load, at the lowest possible cost, while serving power in a robust and reliable manner. The main objective of this paper is the economic dispatch study of a microgrid comprising of two intermittent sources of energy i.e. solar energy and wind energy, a CHP (Combined Heat and Power) and two conventional generators. It also covers a cost comparison study and best suggestions for different combinations of generation sources which can be used in microgrid for maximum profit. Renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar are highly dependent on the weather conditions and geographic locations. Due to this intermittent nature, power generated by
Noel Augustine, Prajakta Moghe, Kashif Sheikh are with Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (e-mail: noelcem@gmail.com) Sindhu Suresh is with Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, NJ

these sources are highly variable in nature and cannot be considered as dispatchable. In an Economic Dispatch(ED) formulation these sources are considered as negative loads with a certain range of accuracy in prediction [1]. In other words wind and solar energy are consumed whenever it is available and the remaining load demand is met by the other generators in the system. ( + ( = )1) The economic dispatch of cogeneration is divided into two categories; the power dispatch and the heat dispatch. In this paper the power dispatch of cogeneration is only considered because thermal load and generation are considered as constant. = (2) Spinning reserves are considered for the reliability of the system. The total spinning reserve requirement is the sum of the regulation component (1% of hourly load), plus 50% of 1.5 x SLH (single largest hazard), plus an additional regulating reserve that is set aside specifically to be used if wind generation is less than that was forecasted in the previous hour [20].The non-spinning portion of reserves is a function of a contingency portion and a portion needed to cover the error associated with over predicting wind generation in the hour ahead. Like the spinning equivalent, the non-spinning contingency component equals 50% of 1.5 x SLH. The

978-1-4577-2159-5/12/$31.00 2011 IEEE

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Abstract--Microgrids are operated by a customer or a group of customers for having a reliable, clean and economic mode of power supply to meet their demand. Understanding the economics of system is a prime factor which really depends on the cost/kWh of electricity supplied. This paper presents an easy and simple method for analyzing the dispatch rate of power. An isolated microgrid with solar and wind is considered in this paper. Generation cost functions are modeled with the inclusion of investment cost and maintenance cost of resources. Economic dispatch problem is solved using the reduced gradient method. The effects on total generation cost, with the inclusion of wind energy and solar energy into a microgrid is studied and found the most profitable solution by considering different practical scenarios. The paper gives a detailed correlation between the cost function, investment cost, lifetime and the fluctuant energy forecasting of wind and solar resources. It also discusses the advantages of including the renewable energy credits for the solar panel.

CHP

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Electrical Thermal Control and communication Signal Local Controller

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additional reserve component for forecast error equals 2 x (regulation reserve needed for next hour wind forecast error). )( = + () (3) The economic dispatch of the three generators (CHP & conventional generators) with the new load demand, without any transmission constraints is performed using the Reduced Gradient Search Method. The Reduced Gradient search method is a modified form of the Gradient search method [17]. In this method, one of the generations is always dependent on others and is thus removed from the iterations making it faster. Thus the numbers of variables used are reduced causing less number of iterations for the final solution. II. TECHNICAL WORK PREPARATION A microgrid consisting of two conventional generators (synchronous generators), one combined heat and power (CHP), wind generator, solar generator, electric load and thermal load is considered. The micro grid is assumed in the islanded mode and thus there is no selling or buying of electric power from the utility to this system. The 24 hours load demand profile which includes the industrial and residential loads is assumed as shown in the Table 1. The total generation of the micro grid is assumed to be higher than the peak demand and includes enough spinning reserve for reliability. One of the fastest economic dispatch algorithms reduced gradient method is chosen to obtain the minimized generation cost of the whole system. The cost function for the CHP and two conventional generators is assumed as a second order polynomial function as shown in (4) and given the assumed cost coefficients in Table 2. (4) ( ) = + + According to the renewable energy law [2], the wind and solar power generation must be always adopted when it is generating, since there is no generation cost for them compared to the fossil fuel cost and thus it is ignored in the optimization process. But their cost functions are used while computing the total generation cost. Also they are considered as non-dispatchable DGs and they are intermittent sources too. The program computes the economic dispatching among the CHP and the two conventional generators only. The economic dispatch of thermal generation is not required since it is assumed to be equal to thermal load. The economic dispatching is performed using the Matlab program and the total generation costs for the four scenarios mentioned below for the microgrid are compared. Four scenarios considered are: 1. All five generators are included in the system 2. All generators except solar & wind energy 3. All generators except solar energy 4. All generators considering renewable energy credits for solar energy This is to find the best combination of generations with least or moderate cost that can be incorporated in a microgrid. We can also compute the profit or loss of the entire topology while integrating renewable sources into the system.

TABLE 1 LOAD DEMAND FOR 24 HOURS

Time (Hours) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Load (MW) 140 150 155 160 165 170 175 180 210 230 240 250

Time (Hours) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Load (MW) 240 220 200 180 170 185 200 240 225 190 160 145

TABLE 2 COST COEFFICIENTS IN THE COST FUNCTION

($/h) ($/h) ($/h)

CHP 0.024 21 1530

Unit 1 0.029 20.16 992

Unit 2 0.021 20.4 600

A. Wind generation forecast and cost function: The wind data required for carrying out the study was obtained from the software known as HOMER The Micro power Optimization Model as shown in Fig.2. It gives the variation of the wind speed for 24hours of a day in the east coast of USA, and it changes with location.

Fig 2. The scaled data of wind speed against time for one day from HOMER.

The power generated by the wind turbines was calculated using (5) (5) P = ( 3) Where, is the air density which is assumed to be 1 kg/m3, A is the windswept area, u is the velocity of the wind. The power generation for 24 hours duration of a day is as shown in Fig.3

The solar data obtained is then converted to power generation of the PV panels [9] using (7) with logical assumptions and plotted against the time as shown in Fig.5. Et 3.24*MPV(1 0.0041* (Tt 8)) * St (7) Where, Et is the power output, MPV is the capacity of each PV panel times the number of PV panels, Tt is the temperature, St is the radiation data at time i.

Fig 3. The power generation of wind turbines calculated using the equation.

The cost function of wind generation is as in (6) [7] and it considers the investment cost of the equipments and also the operation & maintenance (O&M) costs of the generated energy, but it does not consider the capital cost of land since it is a community based microgrid where land is owned by them.

( ) = + = [()]

(6)

Where, = Wind generation (kW) a = annuitization coefficient (dimensionless) r = interest rate (taken as 0.09 for base case) = Investment lifetime (taken as N = 20 years) = Investment costs, per unit installed power ($/kW) = O & M costs, per unit generated energy ($/kW) Equation (6) can be used to calculate the total generating cost of the wind energy considering the depreciation of all the equipments for generation. In this system, it is assumed that the investment costs per unit installed power ( ) and O & M costs per unit generated energy ( ) is approximately equal to $1400 and 1.6cents per kW respectively [7]. B. Solar generation forecast and cost function: The solar data required for carrying out the study was also obtained from the software HOMER The Micro power Optimization Model. The solar data of locations in the U.S.A. which the HOMER software utilizes is obtained from a particular data set called TMY2 and takes clearness index and other factors into consideration. In this case we have considered the solar data of a location in the east coast of USA, as shown in Fig.4.

Fig 5. The power generation of PV panels calculated using the equation.

The cost function of solar generation is as in (8)[7]and it considers the investment cost of the equipments and also the operation & maintenance (O&M) costs of the generated energy, but it does not consider the capital cost of land since it is a community based microgrid where land is owned by them. (8) ( ) = + =
[() ]

Where, = Solar generation (kW) a = annuitization coefficient (dimensionless) r = interest rate (taken as 0.09 for base case) = Investment lifetime (taken as N = 20 years) = Investment costs, per unit installed power ($/kW) = O & M costs, per unit generated energy ($/kW) Equation (8) can be used to calculate the total generating cost of the solar energy considering the depreciation of all the equipments for generation. In this system, it is assumed that the investment costs per unit installed power ( ) and O & M costs per unit generated energy ( ) is approximately equal to $5000 and 1.6cents per kW respectively [19]. The solar is very expensive when compared to wind energy, but can be included in a system with the aid of solar renewable energy credits considered later in this paper. After conducting the economic dispatch among the three dispatchable generations, the generation cost is obtained from the cost functions corresponding to its generated values. The wind and solar power generation cost is also found using their respective cost functions in (6) and (8), based on the generation. Thus the total cost of generation is calculated. C. Program flowchart: A detailed flowchart showing the flow of operation of the

Fig 4.The scaled data of radiation against time for one day from HOMER.

entire system is shown in the Fig.8. The program is formulated in Matlab with the help of optimization tool box. This procedure is a global solution and depending upon the location and capacity, the results will vary. D. Reduced Gradient Method Algorithm: 1. A system of three generators is considered for the economic dispatch problem. 2. Assume the initial power generated by the three generators as P1, P2 and P3. 3. One of the generator, P3 in our case, is always dependent and expressed as P3=PLOAD-P1-P2 Where PLOAD is the load demand 4. The total cost to be minimized is COST = F1(P1) + F2(P2) + F3(PLOAD-P1-P2) Where F1,F2 and F3 are the cost functions of the three generators respectively.
()

5.

Find COST = ()

6. X1 = X0- COST* Where X1 is the power generated after each iteration and is P1 given by X1= P2 X0 is the initial generated power (assumed) and given by P1_initial X0 = P2_initial is the experimental value of the acceleration factor. 7. When the incremental cost at generator 3 is equal to that at generator 1 and 2, the above gradient becomes zero i.e. the iterations are completed. 8. If the gradient is not equal to zero, repeat step 6. 9. End III. RESULTS AND INFERENCES The simulated system contains a CHP, two conventional generators, wind and solar generations. The output of the Matlab program with different combinations of generations is shown in the tables given in the appendix. Case 1: All five generators are included in the system This scenario shows that the total generation cost is higher than the other three cases discussed below, since the investment cost for solar is higher. But with the inclusion of some renewable energy credits, solar cost can be reduced and thus it can be incorporated into the system without loss. In this case, no renewable energy credits for solar are included which makes it non-profitable and the investment cost is assumed to be approximately $5000/kW. Case 2: All generators except solar & wind energy In this case, we are not using any intermittent sources, instead using conventional generators and CHP. This does not give any profit or loss for the micro grid. However, it makes the system highly reliable because of the absence of wind and solar, but more expensive than the system with wind energy included (Case 3). Case 3: All generators except solar energy Since solar generation is exempted and wind energy is included, the total generation cost is reduced. This is because,

with the incorporation of wind energy which has a moderate investment cost (no fuel cost), makes the system better than the two cases discussed above. Thus it is found that incorporation of wind generation into the system is better than a system with only conventional generators. Case 4: All generators considering renewable energy credits for solar energy In this scenario, we consider renewable energy credits which include the state tax rebate and federal tax subsidy on the solar panels, which reduces the investment cost making solar profitable. Thus if we consider these credits, then incorporation of solar will make the system profitable. The investment for the solar panels can be calculated as: (9) = ( ) (( 1 ) ) Where Ip = New reduced investment cost ($/kW) Ip = Original investment cost ($/kW) St = State tax rebate (%) Ft = Federal tax subsidy (%) For a Californian to buy the solar panels, they would receive a state tax rebate of 20% of the cost, and a federal tax subsidy of 40% of the remainder. For our present micro grid system, by comparing total cost with the case-2, we found that the solar can be made profitable, if and only if the value of St = 35% & Ft = 50%, and thus making it the critical point at which solar becomes profitable. Considering these values of St & Ft, we obtain $1630/kW as the new reduced investment cost for solar panels instead of the original cost of $5000/kW. Thus the total generation cost can be reduced even if solar is included in the system and the generation cost comparisons are clearly shown in the Fig.6 & Fig.7. A more detailed comparison results from Matlab program for the four different scenarios of a day is shown in Appendix and the profitability is summarized in Table 3.
TABLE 3 SUMMARY TABLE SHOWING PROFITABILITY

Scenarios All Gens without credits for solar All Gens except solar & wind All Gens except solar All Gens with credits for solar

Profitability 4 2 1.5 1

Scale from 1 to 5, where 1-best and 5-low score

Fig.6. Cost comparison for the first half of the day

Fig.7 Cost comparison for the second half of the day

IV. CONCLUSION This paper presents an overview of solving the economic dispatch problem in a microgrid consisting of renewable energy. From the system study, it can be concluded that the incorporation of solar energy with renewable energy credits and also the wind energy into the microgrid will reduce the total generation cost of the system. Thus if the federal and state government provide enough credits and rebates for the installation of solar panels, then a microgrid with both solar and wind is profitable when compared with the system without renewable sources. The paper also generalizes the dependence of cost function of wind and solar energy with all the affected factors considering its intermittency. This relation aids to compute the total generation cost of the microgrid. The future scope includes the stability analysis of the microgrid under different scenarios.

Fig.8. Program flowchart

V. APPENDIX
Table A. Economic Dispatch with wind & solar generation Total Solar Wind Gen Time CHP Gen 1 Gen 2 Gen Gen cost (Hrs) (MW) (MW) (MW) (MW) (MW) ($/hr) 1 5.38 9.54 123.39 0.00 1.70 6297.09 2 8.06 12.22 121.22 0.00 8.50 6473.77 3 11.61 15.77 118.35 0.00 9.27 6564.89 4 9.61 13.77 119.97 0.00 16.66 6650.21 5 21.73 25.89 110.15 0.00 7.22 6759.40 6 27.85 32.01 105.20 0.03 4.91 6866.64 7 18.62 22.78 112.67 6.27 14.66 7209.32 8 3.83 7.99 124.65 16.98 26.56 7761.62 9 27.85 32.01 105.20 24.05 20.88 8648.51 10 34.34 38.50 99.95 39.37 17.85 9712.91 11 73.82 77.98 67.99 7.41 12.80 8721.92 12 80.47 84.63 62.60 3.65 18.65 8793.72 13 62.08 68.27 63.37 31.94 14.35 9653.81 14 42.78 46.94 93.11 26.81 10.35 9013.44 15 41.79 45.95 93.91 10.08 8.26 7904.86 16 24.43 28.59 107.97 5.30 13.71 7268.33 17 21.07 25.23 110.69 9.57 3.44 7276.08 18 41.09 45.25 94.48 2.31 1.87 7288.47 19 59.10 64.41 75.74 0.00 0.75 7543.59 20 90.66 94.82 54.36 0.00 0.17 8567.35 21 78.07 82.23 64.54 0.00 0.15 8167.21 22 48.54 52.70 88.45 0.00 0.31 7314.42 23 22.70 26.86 109.36 0.00 1.07 6674.43 24 10.51 14.67 119.23 0.00 0.58 6388.52 Table C. Economic Dispatch with wind & without solar generation Total Solar Wind Gen Time CHP Gen 1 Gen 2 Gen Gen cost (Hrs) (MW) (MW) (MW) (MW) (MW) ($/hr) 1 5.38 9.54 123.39 0 6297.09 1.70 2 8.06 12.22 121.22 0 6473.77 8.50 3 11.61 15.77 118.35 0 6564.89 9.27 4 9.61 13.77 119.97 0 6650.21 16.66 5 21.73 25.89 110.15 0 7.22 6759.40 6 27.88 32.04 105.18 0 6865.37 4.91 7 23.89 28.05 108.41 0 14.66 6940.38 8 18.09 22.25 113.10 0 7013.48 26.56 9 48.06 52.22 88.84 0 20.88 7661.65 10 52.17 55.39 104.59 0 8163.81 17.85 11 80.05 84.21 62.94 0 12.80 8450.02 12 83.54 87.70 60.12 0 8662.05 18.65 13 78.75 82.91 64.00 0 8436.67 14.35 14 53.51 57.14 99.00 0 7967.03 10.35 15 63.14 69.66 58.94 0 7507.66 8.26 16 28.89 33.05 104.36 0 13.71 7043.97 17 29.11 33.27 104.18 0 6869.66 3.44 18 43.03 47.19 92.91 0 1.87 7194.93 19 59.10 64.41 75.74 0 7543.59 0.75 20 90.66 94.82 54.36 0 0.17 8567.35 21 78.07 82.23 64.54 0 8167.21 0.15 22 48.54 52.70 88.45 0 0.31 7314.42 23 22.70 26.86 109.36 0 6674.43 1.07 24 10.51 14.67 119.23 0 6388.52 0.58

Table B. Economic Dispatch without wind & solar generation Total Solar Wind Time CHP Gen 1 Gen 2 Gen Gen Gen (Hrs) (MW) (MW) (MW) cost (MW) (MW) ($/hr) 1 6.80 10.96 122.24 0 0 6297.81 2 0 0 15.20 19.36 115.44 6482.67 3 19.40 23.56 112.04 0 0 6578.62 4 0 0 23.60 27.76 108.64 6676.91 5 27.80 31.96 105.24 0 0 6777.56 6 0 0 32.00 36.16 101.84 6880.55 7 36.20 40.36 98.44 0 0 6985.90 8 0 0 40.40 44.56 95.04 7093.59 9 0 0 53.32 56.89 99.78 7794.89 10 0 0 82.40 86.56 61.04 8299.65 11 0 0 90.80 94.96 54.24 8569.04 12 99.20 103.36 47.44 0 0 8847.83 13 0 0 90.80 94.96 54.24 8569.04 14 74.00 78.16 67.84 0 0 8039.65 15 0 0 58.70 63.88 77.42 7547.98 16 40.40 44.56 95.04 0 0 7093.59 17 0 0 32.00 36.16 101.84 6880.55 18 44.60 48.76 91.64 0 0 7203.63 19 0 0 58.70 63.88 77.42 7547.98 20 0 0 90.80 94.96 54.24 8569.04 21 0 0 78.20 82.36 64.44 8168.48 22 0 0 48.80 52.96 88.24 7316.01 23 23.60 27.76 108.64 0 0 6676.91 24 0 0 11.00 15.16 118.84 6389.07

Table D. Economic Dispatch with wind & solar generation considering renewable energy credits Total Solar Wind Time CHP Gen 1 Gen 2 Gen Gen Gen (Hrs) (MW) (MW) (MW) cost (MW) (MW) ($/hr) 1 5.38 9.54 123.39 0.00 1.70 6297.09 2 8.06 12.22 121.22 0.00 8.50 6473.77 3 11.61 15.77 118.35 0.00 9.27 6564.89 4 9.61 13.77 119.97 0.00 16.66 6650.21 5 21.73 25.89 110.15 0.00 7.22 6759.40 6 27.85 32.01 105.20 0.03 4.91 6865.37 7 18.62 22.78 112.67 6.27 14.66 6945.10 8 3.83 7.99 124.65 16.98 26.56 7045.83 9 27.85 32.01 105.20 24.05 20.88 7634.84 10 34.34 38.50 99.95 39.37 17.85 8053.95 11 73.82 77.98 67.99 7.41 12.80 8409.44 12 80.47 84.63 62.60 3.65 18.65 8640.02 13 62.08 68.27 63.37 31.94 14.35 8307.97 14 42.78 46.94 93.11 26.81 10.35 7883.54 15 41.79 45.95 93.91 10.08 8.26 7479.96 16 24.43 28.59 107.97 5.30 13.71 7044.76 17 21.07 25.23 110.69 9.57 3.44 6872.77 18 41.09 45.25 94.48 2.31 1.87 7191.30 19 59.10 64.41 75.74 0.00 0.75 7543.59 20 90.66 94.82 54.36 0.00 0.17 8567.35 21 78.07 82.23 64.54 0.00 0.15 8167.21 22 48.54 52.70 88.45 0.00 0.31 7314.42 23 22.70 26.86 109.36 0.00 1.07 6674.43 24 10.51 14.67 119.23 0.00 0.58 6388.52

VI. REFERENCES [1] Seon-JuAhn, Seung-Il Moon, Economic Scheduling of Distributed Generators in a Microgrid Considering Various Constraints. [2] Liu Yong, Shang Tao, Economic Dispatch of Power System Incorporating Wind Power Plant. [3] Mao Meiqin, JiMeihong,Dong Wei, Liuchen Chang, Multi-objective Economic Dispatch Model for AMicrogrid Considering Reliability,2010 2nd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems. [4] N.W.A. Lidula, A.D. Rajapakse, Microgrids research: A review of experimental microgrids and test systems, ELSEVIER, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15 (2011) 186202. [5] Chun-Lung Chen, Sheng-Chuan Hsieh, Tsung-Ying Lee, Chia-Liang Lu, Optimal integration of wind farms to isolated wind-Diesel energy system, ELSEVIER, Science Direct. [6] S.P.Agrawal, K.B.Porate, Economic Dispatch of Thermal Units with the Impact of Wind Power plant, Third International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Technology, IEEE Computer Science. [7] Norberto Fueyo, YosuneSanz, Marcos Rodrigues, Carlos Montanes, Cesar Dopazo, The use of cost-generation curves for the analysis of wind electricity costs in Spain, ELSEVIER, Applied Energy. [8] Peter Fuglsang, Kenneth Thomsen, Cost Optimization of Wind Turbines forLarge-scale Off-shore Wind Farms, Ris National Laboratory, Roskilde February 1998. [9] H.Asano, S.Bando, Load Fluctuation Analysis of Commercial and Residential Customers for Operation Planning of a Hybrid Photovoltaic and Cogeneration System. [10] Clayton Handleman, Heliotronics, Inc., An Experience Curve Based Model for the Projection of PV Module Costs and Its Policy Implications. [11] Ruben Lobel, Georgia Perakis, Consumer Choice Model For Forecasting Demand And Designing Incentives For Solar Technology. [12] M. A. Gonzalez Chapa, and J. R. Vega Galaz, An Economic Dispatch Algorithm For Cogeneration Systems. [13] Tao Guo, Mark I. Henwood, Marieke van Ooijen, An algorithm for combined heat and power economic dispatch, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 11, No. 4, November 1996. [14] Nadia Mazi, Marc Bordier, Optimal operational loads for distributed cogeneration power plants, PAMM Proc. Appl. Math. Mech.7, 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. [15] S.G. Tichi, M.M.Ardehali, M.E.Nazari, Examination of energy price policies in Iran for optimal configuration of CHP and CCHP systems based on particle swarm optimization algorithm, 2010, ELSEVIER, Energy Policy. [16] Marc Bordier, Nadia Mazi, Marginal costs and optimality for cogeneration systems, Centre for Applied Mathematics, MINES ParisTech , July 7, 2009,EURO XXIII, Bonn.

[17] Alen J. Wood & Bruce F. Woolenberg, Power Generation Operation and Control Second Edition [18] Website of company shine solar http://www.shinesolar.net/index.php/News/Disp/nid/149 [19] Report of US Energy Information Administration (EIA) http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/beck_plantcosts/pdf/updated plantcosts.pdf [20] Report for The National Renewable Energy Laboratory A national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy http://www.nrel.gov/wind/systemsintegration/pdfs/2010/e wits_final_report.pdf

VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Noel Augustine received his B.Tech degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Cochin University of Science & Technology, Kerala, India, in 2009. Currently he is pursuing M.S. degree from Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Brooklyn, USA and working as a student intern at ISO-New England, Holyoke, MA. His fields of interest include power economics, transmission planning and design of toroidal distribution transformers. Sindhu Suresh received her B.Tech degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Kerala University and M.Tech degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and the PhD degree from Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Brooklyn, USA. Currently she is with Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, NJ. Her research interest includes smart grid applications, power converter for distributed generation, North American electricity market analysis and Mathematical formulation of power problems. Prajakta Moghe received her B.E degree in Electronics Engineering from Mumbai University, Maharashtra, India, in 2010. Currently she is pursuing M.S. degree from Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Brooklyn, USA. Her fields of interest include power system economics, designing and testing of cables. Kashif Sheikh received his B.Tech degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2009. Currently he is pursuing M.S. degree from Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Brooklyn, USA. His fields of interest include power system economics, impulse testing of transformers.