Introduction

This chapter gives a bird’s eye view of the premises on which this study on smart microgrids is built. The stress of the energy crisis and the unpleasant prognosis of climate change have forced the electric power system to change; hence the chapter opens with a review of energy and the environment. It introduces the reader next to the global experience of microgrids. The roles of power electronics and communication networks are then examined. Investigations on operation and management of microgrids and the current research directions are introduced as a subsection. The need for smart distribution grid and its description can be found as the last section of this chapter.