Power electronics for smart grids

The paradigm shift toward green energy has accelerated the transition from conventional power systems to decentralized microgrids. Although microgrids offer advantages such as higher reliability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, their control, operation, and coordination can be cumbersome. Therefore, the concept of smart grids is used to successfully operate and control individual and interconnected microgrids with a bottom-up control structure. Notably, power electronic converters are the backbone of smart grids, where they are used for a wide range of applications to process electrical power. Therefore, this article, first, studies the importance and application of Power Electronics in smart grids for power generation and distribution. Subsequently, the challenges of using power converters in modern smart grids are discussed from the reliability, stability, and power quality perspectives.