This paper proposes a novel embedded communication strategy for in-home energy routers (IHER). It is based on power/signal dual modulation principle, and applied in the small scaled community energy local area network (E-LAN). The proposed communication strategy multiplexes power converters as data transmitters, and thus highly cooperation and synchronization between power flow and information flow are achieved. Besides, system reliability is enhanced since communication module has practically the same reliability as the power module. A typical IHER's structure and operation principles are presented, based on which detailed design of embedded communication is proposed. For distributed power management of community E-LAN, both intra-IHER communication and inter-IHERs communication are involved, and their channels are modelled mathematically. IHER interconnection interface converters play a significant role in power exchange between IHERs, and their operation modes are analyzed in detail. Finally, an experimental prototype is built to validate the feasibility of the proposed method. Index Terms -Power/signal dual modulation (PSDM), Embedded communication, In-home energy router (IHER), Energy Local Area Network (E-LAN)
I.INTRODUCTIONThe need to diversify away from fossil fuel generation due to concerns over energy security, fuel price volatility, and the climate challenge is driving the deployment of nonconventional renewable energy (wind, small hydro, solar, tidal, geothermal and in some cases waste) [1]. Because of their distributed, intermittent and fluctuated characteristics, energy management is considered as a key paradigm for the realization of complex energy systems [2]-[4], and distributed power management and flexible bidirectional power flow control are required. Energy Internet (EI) concept has been proposed [5]-[7] as a feasible solution, which deeply integrates energy technology and information technology, presenting a green vision of evolution [8]-[10].Currently, EI has received extensive attention and several structures have been proposed [11]. Generally, there are three mainstream structures, which are bus structure, tree structure and mesh structure [12]. Bus structure has great advantages of extension, but the common bus encounters congestion challenges in condition of large scaled power and information interaction. Tree structure can efficiently isolate fault, however, it faces the bottleneck of efficient power control and management in promotion. Mesh structure does not need central controller and gives more autonomy to energy entities, achieving better robustness and fault tolerance [13]. It requires high cooperation and synchronization between power module and communication module to guarantee distributed, reliable and flexible power management, and it is usually applied in small scale energy local area network (E-LAN), such as a residential community energy network.In a community E-LAN, the IHER plays a significant role as the key element, interconnection equipment and power management units ...