What will the power grid of the future look like? It is decentralized and flexible, controlled by intelligent algorithms, and powered by renewable energy sources. However, before such grids become reality, individual systems, decentralized grid structures, and intelligent control algorithms must be developed and validated under controlled conditions. This is precisely where the microgrid laboratory at Paderborn University comes in, offering a research environment in which central components of future energy systems can be investigated realistically – using SCALEXIO from dSPACE as the central tool.
What is a microgrid and why is it so important?
A microgrid is more than just a small electricity grid. Through intelligent operation and decentralized energy storage, it enables local energy requirements to be covered by local generation. It can be operated both independently and connected to the public grid.
As a key technology in the energy transition, microgrids enable a flexible, robust, and sustainable energy supply. They help to efficiently manage increasing energy demand, balance load peaks, and increase the security of supply, for example, in the event of grid failures. By intelligently linking local producers and consumers, they reduce the need to expand the distribution grid and enable renewable energies to be used in line with demand.
This not only increases energy efficiency and reduces CO₂ emissions, but also offers economic benefits: Intelligent control can minimize grid consumption and costs, especially in energy-intensive areas such as industrial parks. At the same time, a microgrid increases the security of supply for critical infrastructures that must continue to operate even in the event of a grid failure.
How can microgrids be tested realistically in a laboratory environment?
With the microgrid laboratory, Paderborn University has created a modern research environment in which new technologies for local electricity grids can be developed. In the laboratory, energy sources, storage systems, and loads are networked and emulated in real time in order to investigate their interaction under realistic conditions.
In contrast to a pure simulation, in which the physical variables are calculated, the energy grid is emulated in the microgrid laboratory. Models of grid components, such as a wind turbine, are calculated in real time. This model is then used to control an inverter so that it feeds the electricity into the grid that the wind turbine would output. At the same time, this takes place in a controlled environment, so that neither real systems nor the distribution grid are at risk, and thus also offers the opportunity to test innovative approaches in a hardware setup.
To make this possible, the technical infrastructure comprises 16 inverter nodes, each with a rated output of 250 kVA, which can realistically map the behavior of a wide variety of energy sources, storage systems, or loads. This provides a total installed capacity of 4 MVA, which can be divided into 2 MVA for sources and 2 MVA for loads, for example. This allows components to be emulated under safe laboratory conditions and grids to be tested with real power flows that correspond to real grid components with only small scaling factors, thus enabling practical research.
In combination with a powerful control layer and detailed models, this creates a modular platform for researching key issues relating to the microgrid, from the integration of renewable energies to intelligent load management.
What role does SCALEXIO play in the microgrid laboratory?
SCALEXIO from dSPACE is used in the microgrid laboratory as a central real-time system for control applications and for emulating energy grid components. The SCALEXIO platform executes models of complex grid components in real time and ensures that an inverter feeds the power into the microgrid that corresponds to the emulated component. For example, an inverter node in the laboratory can behave like a wind turbine and feed in corresponding power.
Thanks to its high computing power and flexible configuration options, SCALEXIO can be precisely adapted to different research tasks. In this way, both individual components and the behavior of the overall system can be investigated under realistic conditions, and innovative regulation and control approaches can be tested.
This versatility is made possible by the modular design of the system, which consists of a total of ten SCALEXIO real-time systems: Two SCALEXIO Processing Units perform the central computations for the higher-level network controls, while eight SCALEXIO LabBoxes control the hardware and perform real-time control at component level. This allows the behavior of individual inverters to be mapped in just as much detail as the interaction of the entire microgrid.
With the SCALEXIO systems, the microgrid laboratory at Paderborn University can emulate a wide variety of microgrid configurations and test them under realistic conditions.
"SCALEXIO offers the necessary real-time infrastructure to deterministically calculate and emulate complex control models. The high computing power and low system latency enable fully synchronized processes and reliable, reproducible results."
What is Paderborn University currently working on in microgrid research?
Microgrid research is currently focusing on one particularly central aspect: the development and validation of innovative control methods for individual inverters and their interaction. This is crucial for the operation of decentralized energy systems, as they regulate the flow of energy between generators, storage systems, and loads, among other things.
The experts in the microgrid laboratory at Paderborn University are currently focusing on two promising approaches for controlling inverters:
- Reinforcement learning relies on artificial intelligence, which learns by trial and error to control inverters optimally. Successful behavior in terms of system stability or efficiency is rewarded, whereby this data-driven approach opens up new possibilities for adaptive control strategies. In addition, controller design can be automated, which is an important advantage in view of the shortage of skilled workers.
- Model predictive control follows a mathematical approach. Based on a dynamical model, the system predicts future conditions and makes optimized decisions accordingly. This method enables significantly faster response times than conventional control methods and therefore optimum utilization of energy resources.
"With SCALEXIO, we can test our control processes directly on the target hardware at an early stage. Short signal paths, precise time synchronization, and high-resolution measurement data help us significantly shorten development cycles and make well-founded decisions on stability, robustness, and performance."
What significance does the microgrid laboratory have for the energy supply of tomorrow?
The microgrid laboratory at Paderborn University shows how research into future energy systems can succeed under realistic conditions. The infrastructure with its powerful inverter nodes makes it possible to simulate the dynamics of renewable energies, storage systems, and loads and to safely investigate key issues relating to grid stability, load management, and isolated operation. This means that technologies and concepts can already be evaluated in the laboratory, which makes an important contribution to accelerating the transformation towards decentralized, resilient energy systems.
SCALEXIO provides a real-time platform that seamlessly combines control and test applications: It executes models in real time, emulates electrical components, and simultaneously enables the development and testing of modern control methods such as AI-based and model-predictive approaches as well as the validation of components, interfaces, and complete microgrid scenarios under real conditions. On this basis, solutions are not only designed, but also made measurably robust, efficient, and reliable – right through to interaction in the overall system.
Courtesy of Paderborn University
dSPACE MAGAZINE, PUBLISHED April 2026
Watch the Video for More Insights
The experts explain the microgrid lab’s central role in research and development.
The article was created in close cooperation with the following persons:
Dominik Schmies
Research Associate, Power Electronics and Electrical Drives, Paderborn University
Daniel Weber
Research Associate, Power Electronics and Electrical Drives, Paderborn University
