Research Projects

The deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) like solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines, and energy storage systems has been increasing due to the decreasing cost of renewable energy technologies and the growing demand for clean energy. DERs can transform traditional centralized power systems into a more decentralized and resilient grid, increasing reliability, security, and efficiency. However, the integration of communication-enabled DERs into the power grid increases the attack surface and introduces new vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity threats associated with DERs include unauthorized access, data tampering, denial-of-service attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, ransomware attacks, and physical damage to devices. Communication protocols used by DERs are often insecure and lack standardization, exacerbated by insecure communication protocols. This research aims to identify potential cyber security threats to DERs and develop a comprehensive framework for their mitigation. The research will involve developing a cyber-physical hardware setup, detecting DoS/DDoS, MITM, and ransomware attacks on the DER inverter controller, and developing a security framework that supports secure DER integration. The research will use KaliLinux tools to conduct various attack scenarios and perform impact analysis at power system scale. The developed DER cyber security framework will be effective, flexible, scalable, vendor-neutral, and incorporate both preventive and reactive measures. The framework will be validated through a proof-of-concept implementation and evaluation in a real-world DERs environment, encouraging the deployment of more DERs to achieve net-zero carbon.