Communication protocols and channel characteristics (e.g. latency) are important aspects of real-world energy information and automation systems. These often impose additional constraints on distributed supervisory control and data acquisition systems and must therefore also be considered in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments. Besides system models from a supervisory control perspective, also component-oriented modeling and HIL simulations are addressed, for example, for individual battery cells, battery management systems, and operating procedures and fault diagnosis for fuel cells. (exemplary topic list, because the specific project goals shall be defined by the students themselves within the first project phase)