  In this paper, a novel intelligent method based on a multi-agent system (MAS)
is applied to the problem of optimal sizing in a stand-alone office complex
microgrid such that the electricity demand of the office building and the
charging demand of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) charging station
are met. The proposed MAS-based architecture consists of five different agents,
namely generation agent (GA), electrical load agent (LA), PHEV charging station
agent (SA), control agent (CA), and design agent (DA) which are organized in
three levels. In the proposed MAS, control agent coordinates the interactions
between the generation agent and electrical load and charging station agents
and following a request from design agent, sends the information on the
operation of the microgrid with determined sizes to the design agent. According
to the received information, design agent finds the optimal sizes of the
system's components such that the electricity and charging demands are met
considering two reliability indices to investment decisions. This study is
performed for Kish Island in south Iran.
