Prof. Victor M. Becerra, University of Portsmouth, England

Victor Becerra (IEEE Senior Member, IET Fellow) is currently a Professor of power systems engineering at the School of Energy and Electronic Engineering, University of Portsmouth, U.K. His current research interests consider a range of issues related to electrical power systems, as well as the methods and applications of automatic control. These interests include: Control and optimisation of power systems, Control and energy management of microgrids, Optimal control of battery charging, Battery management systems, Condition monitoring, fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control, Solar photovoltaic power and grid integration, Optimal location and sizing of distributed generation, Computational optimal control, Nonlinear control and state estimation.

During his career, he has received research funding worth several million pounds from the EPSRC, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the European Space Agency, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, Innovate UK, UKRI, UK industry, and the EU. 

He is the author of PSOPT, an open-source software package for computational optimal control, which is in use in various Universities and other institutions worldwide. He has also published over 170 referred scholarly works. A complete list of publications can be found in his publications page: Victor Becerra – Research outputs — University of Portsmouth. In addition, He is an Associate Editor and a member of the Editorial Board for the following journals: Energies, Electronics, Electricity, IMA Journal of Mathematical Control and Information, and Solar Engery.

IEEE Xplore: Victor M. Becerra - IEEE Xplore Author Profile

Google Scholar: ‪Victor Becerra‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬

Title of the speech:  Smart Grids and Solar Energy

Abstract

This keynote speech discusses how smart grid technologies can facilitate the integration of solar photovoltaic energy into the power grid. The presentation starts by briefly introducing key smart grid concepts. Next, the talk describes the main types of solar photovoltaic plants and the inverter architectures commonly used for integration into AC power networks. Moreover, the critical problem of supply and demand balancing in a power grid is explored, along with the requirements, challenges and criteria for grid integration. Further, the talk examines various flexible options for connecting photovoltaic plants to the power grid, including Active Network Management. The presentation also describes how energy storage and microgrids can facilitate grid integration. Finally, the speech reviews how smart grid technologies enable owners of solar plants to sell solar electricity for profit and open opportunities to participate in modern energy markets.