Investigation of harmonic distortions in photovoltaic integrated industrial microgrid

Abstract

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.

Genetic Algorithm Methodology for the Estimation of Generated Power and Harmonic Content in Photovoltaic Generation

“…Consequently, Figure 5b presents a higher THD value than Figure 5e, confirming the fact that variations in the operation conditions have an impact on the resulting THD. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that even slight variations in the operating conditions of the PV system may affect the harmonic distortion in the network [7]. This situation can be verified by performing a comparison between Figures 4 and 5; for instance, Figure 4b presents a day with variations in the irradiance conditions, whereas Figure 4e presents another day without sudden variations.…”

“…Additionally, it has been reported that the inclusion of PV generation is associated with harmonic contamination [5,6], because it is necessary to use power inverters for converting the DC signals delivered by the PV panels into AC signals, which can be used by the final users. It is necessary to note that even small variations in the background conditions may lead to a severe harmonic contamination, making the constant detection of these variations essential [7]. From the smart grid point of view, these are major issues, as the variability makes the generation process unreliable, and the harmonic content compromises the quality of the power supply.…”

Shapley Value-Based Techno-Economic Framework for Harmonic and Loss Mitigation

“…Despite the fact that the presence of PV on the network is sometimes considered as one of the harmonic distortion resources [6], in this paper, we try to utilize PV as a solution to reduce THD level. On the other hand, the main role of power electronic devices, which are utilized as interfaces for RES such as PVs, is providing the power with the required level of power quality.…”

“…Accordingly, for any harmonic distortions, the extra cost called expected value of economic losses due to harmonics, could be calculated according to (5), and the harmonic distortion cost in each duration is determined in the form of On the other hand, to calculate the second objective, the cost of loss at the power frequency, according to the energy price in the network (π c ), is obtained from Eq. (6).…”

Improvement of Power Converters Performance by an Efficient Use of Dead Time Compensation Technique

“…These problems primarily stem from the non-ideal characteristics of power electronic equipment. The power providers are warranted to ensure stable, smooth, and safe power supply conforming to a pure sinusoidal voltage signal to the end-user [2]. At present-day, with the worldwide energy crisis becoming increasingly conspicuous and environmental pollution becoming increasingly serious, worldwide renewable generation technologies have been developed rapidly [3][4][5].…”