COSMGrid

COSMGrid was developed within the scope of Energy Futures. COSMGrid applies good practices from Computer Science to design a cost effective and flexible microgrid.

It is based on off-the-shelf power electronic components (including inverters) that are controlled and monitored by an open source infrastructure based on AVR microcontrollers (Arduino). By de-coupling the control and monitoring part from the power electronics hardware and creating a layer on top, COSMGrid is significantly cheaper than using special purpose power electronics hardware. Additionally a high flexibility is achieved by having a programmable system, allowing sharing policies and prioritization between different production units. COSMGrid can rely on different kinds of power sources, e.g., solar and wind power. We presented COSMGrid at IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference 2013 (GHTC). We are currently looking into having COSMGrid deployed with an African partner and we are continuing the developed ideas at a larger scale, using a solar powered installation at the IT University of Copenhagen.