  We propose a novel framework for secure and reliable authentication of
Distributed Energy Resources to the centralized secondary/tertiary control
system of a DC MicroGrid (MG), networked using the IEEE 802.11 wireless
interface. The key idea is to perform the authentication using power talk,
which is a powerline communication technique executed by the primary control
loops of the power electronic converters, without the use of a dedicated
hardware for its modem. In addition, the scheme also promotes direct and active
participation of the control system in the authentication process, a feature
not commonly encountered in current networked control systems for MicroGrids.
The PLECS-based simulations verifies the viability of our scheme.
