  This paper proposes a novel consensus-based distributed control algorithm for
solving the economic dispatch problem of distributed generators. A legacy
central controller can be eliminated in order to avoid a single point of
failure, relieve computational burden, maintain data privacy, and support
plug-and-play functionalities. The optimal economic dispatch is achieved by
allowing the iterative coordination of local agents (consumers and distributed
generators). As coordination information, the local estimation of power
mismatch is shared among distributed generators through communication networks
and does not contain any private information, ultimately contributing to a fair
electricity market. Additionally, the proposed distributed algorithm is
particularly designed for easy implementation and configuration of a large
number of agents in which the distributed decision making can be implemented in
a simple proportional-integral (PI) or integral (I) controller. In
MATLAB/Simulink simulation, the accuracy of the proposed distributed algorithm
is demonstrated in a 29-node system in comparison with the centralized
algorithm. Scalability and a fast convergence rate are also demonstrated in a
1400-node case study. Further, the experimental test demonstrates the practical
performance of the proposed distributed algorithm using the VOLTTRON platform
and a cluster of low-cost credit-card-size single-board PCs.
