Due to the abundance of power electronic appliances, harmonic distortion has become one of the growing power quality concerns in recent years. Harmonic distortion is also caused by the nonlinearity of other power equipment such as transformers and rotating machines. Power systems, rich in harmonics, offer poor power factor and hence low efficiency operation. Due to the large concentration of nonlinear loads such as motor drives, investigation of harmonic distortion in industrial systems is getting special attention. Widespread integration of solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems into distribution systems brings additional challenges to the existing power quality scenario. Inclusion of solar PV systems in an industrial microgrid equipped with a large share of motor drives results in a significant increase in existing Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). To better understand the above issues, a methodology is proposed in this paper to identify the most suitable PV placement topology between the two schemes (namely, centralized and distributed) in terms of THD performance. Also, a technique is developed to estimate the maximum PV penetration level by maintaining the THD within the given acceptable limit. The proposed methodologies are applied to an industrial distribution system under various operating conditions.

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Microgrids are considered a reliable option for its ability to work autonomously during the event of faults. With widespread blackout, microgrid itself may experience blackout and hence, fails to support the customers. For system operators, the selection of an appropriate black start unit and procedure is of utmost importance. A fast and reliable black start unit will reduce vulnerability in grid operation. This paper proposes a novel black start methodology for a microgrid where the appropriate Distributed Energy Resource (DER) is utilized as black start unit for the recovery at the planning phase. In order to validate the findings, the proposed methodology is implemented on an industrial microgrid. Results show that bottom-up restoration with solar photovoltaic systems having Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) can offer fast and faithful restoration in comparison to other DER units.

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