Coalitional model predictive control of parabolic-trough solar collector fields with population-dynamics assistance

Parabolic-trough solar collector fields are large-scale systems, so the application of centralized optimization-based control methods to these systems is often not suitable for real-time control. As such, this paper formulates a novel coalitional approach as an appropriate alternative scheme. The key idea split overall field into smaller subsystems, each them governed by local controller. Then, controllers clustered coalitions solve problem related corresponding subset that approximate solution original can be obtained in decentralized fashion. However, operational constraints couple optimization problems multiple coalitions, thus limiting ability fully manner. To overcome issue, population-dynamics-assisted resource allocation strategy proposed mechanism decouple coalitions. methodology allows subproblems parallel, hence reducing computational burden, while guaranteeing satisfaction and without significantly compromising performance. effectiveness shown through numerical simulations 10- 100-loop version ACUREX Plataforma Solar de Almería, Spain.