Isolated communities worldwide face persistent electricity access challenges, with approximately 760 million people lacking reliable grid connectivity. A new hierarchical energy management framework offers a practical solution by enabling collaborative energy sharing among community-owned microgrids through intelligent coordination and incentive mechanisms.
The proposed system operates across two integrated layers. At the local microgrid level, centralized fuzzy logic controllers optimize energy management for individual systems, balancing generation, storage, and consumption in real time. At the network level, three autonomous agents—a microgrid agent, collaborative microgrid agent, and market agent—coordinate energy transfers between neighboring microgrids while maintaining system stability and fairness.
A criticality-weighted incentive mechanism drives the coordination framework. Rather than static pricing, the system dynamically adjusts compensation based on network stress conditions. During normal operations, energy contributions are rewarded at baseline rates. When the network faces capacity constraints or battery depletion risks, rewards increase proportionally, motivating households to share available resources precisely when needed most. This dynamic approach aligns individual economic interests with collective network resilience.
The framework underwent rigorous real-time validation using FPGA-based hardware simulators, testing three distinct 48-hour operational scenarios reflecting actual community load and generation patterns. Results demonstrated robust performance: all microgrids maintained battery charge within safe 20–80% operating bounds; intermicrogrid power transfers achieved 92% redistribution efficiency under surplus conditions; and the priority-based criticality protocol successfully managed energy deficits without service interruptions to essential loads.
Crucially, the system runs on low-cost embedded hardware communicable over standard industrial protocols, eliminating expensive proprietary infrastructure. The framework also integrates naturally with community cooperative governance models, enabling local stakeholder control over energy management policy.
This work bridges the gap between advanced control theory and practical rural electrification, offering isolated communities a scalable, affordable pathway toward reliable, self-managed electricity systems without dependence on distant grid infrastructure.
