Solar Microgrid Emergency Power Management in New Mexico

New Mexico has strong solar-energy potential, but severe weather, grid outages, and sudden changes in  solar production can create challenges in maintaining reliable electricity. During an emergency, available  power may become limited, making it important to manage solar generation, battery storage, and  electricity demand efficiently. 

Our project will develop a NetLogo simulation of a solar-battery microgrid that represents solar panels,  battery storage, residential areas, and critical facilities such as hospitals, police, and emergency services.  The model will simulate changing sunlight, approaching storms, battery charging and discharging,  electricity demand, and temporary loss of the main power grid. 

The simulation will investigate how stored and generated solar energy can be managed before and during  an emergency. For example, the model will examine whether batteries should be charged to higher levels  before a predicted storm and how limited stored energy should be distributed when the main grid becomes  unavailable. 

Different emergency power-management strategies will be tested and compared using measures such as  battery state of charge, solar-energy use, unmet electricity demand, and the ability to maintain power to  critical services. 

The goal is to identify strategies that improve the reliability and resilience of solar microgrids during  emergency conditions in New Mexico.