Enhancing SCADA System Availability: A Case Study of Microgrid Universidad de Cuenca

Abstract

Ensuring the uninterrupted operation of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems is critical for industrial environments that rely on continuous monitoring and control of equipment. However, in the Microgrid Laboratory at the University of Cuenca, routine maintenance procedures have revealed a significant vulnerability: the SCADA system temporarily loses communication and control capabilities when some of the devices are powered down, resulting in forced system downtime. This paper investigates practical strategies to enhance SCADA system availability by addressing this critical limitation. Three hypotheses were explored: first, an issue in network redundancy management; second, with disconnecting  of a device from the fiber-optic ring network; and third, programming errors within the LabVIEW-developed SCADA application. Experimental results demonstrated that these approaches, particularly the software-level improvements in LabVIEW, successfully maintained system control and communication during maintenance. The proposed solutions offer a scalable and cost-effective pathway to increase the resilience of SCADA systems in microgrid environments.