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Digital Twin for Self-Security of Smart Inverters

Conference · · 2021 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE)

Smart inverters connected to a communication network are susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks. In this paper, a self-security approach is implemented using the digital twin concept for smart inverters. The digital twin is formed using the inverter’s normal operating region and the inverter’s dynamic model. Then, the incoming setpoints are autonomously examined using the digital twin, and only the safe setpoints are engaged to the inverter’s local controller. This paper demonstrates how the inverter’s normal operating region and dynamic model are formed. In particular, the normal operation region is experimentally verified by changing the P and Q setpoints engaged to the local controller, using a laboratory setup including a three-phase 3-kVA SiC-MOSFET inverter and a 12-kW NHR 9410 regenerative power grid emulator. The results demonstrate that the self-security technique can potentially protect inverters from man-in-the-middle attacks by examining the incoming commands (new setpoints) using the inverter’s digital twin before engaging the setpoints to the local controller.

Research Organization:
Kansas State University
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
DOE Contract Number:
EE0008767
OSTI ID:
1905747
Report Number(s):
DOE-KSU-8767
Journal Information:
2021 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Journal Name: 2021 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (18)

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Self-Secure Inverters Against Malicious Setpoints conference November 2020
Ancillary Services via VSIs in Microgrids With Maximum DC-Bus Voltage Utilization journal January 2019
On Grid-Interactive Smart Inverters: Features and Advancements journal January 2020
Machine Learning Methods for Attack Detection in the Smart Grid journal August 2016
Brief Survey on Attack Detection Methods for Cyber-Physical Systems journal December 2020
Smart Inverter Stability Enhancement in Weak Grids Using Adaptive Virtual-Inductance journal January 2021
On Self-Security of Grid-Interactive Smart Inverters conference April 2021
Analysis of Smart Loads in Nanogrids journal January 2019
Cyber Security in Control of Grid-Tied Power Electronic Converters—Challenges and Vulnerabilities journal October 2021

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