Optimum Configuration of Solar PV Topologies for DC Microgrid Connected to the Longhouse Communities in Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

In the past few years, the prime focus of supplying electricity to the longhouse communities in the rural areas of Sarawak has been initiated based on the utilization of a single-source microgrid configuration. The existing AC power supply-based solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in these areas pose many problems, mainly owing to the stages of conversion, energy losses, and the quality of power transfer. As the solar PV system is a DC source and most of the appliances in longhouse communities could be operated using DC source, an opportunity to design a microgrid with high reliability and efficiency would be achieved by the implementation of an optimal DC microgrid configuration. With this aim, the paper proposes a multiple-source DC microgrid configuration for the longhouse communities in Sarawak. Initially, a framework has been developed to design simulation models for both microgrid configurations (single and multiple sources) using MATLAB Simulink. The configuration of each system consists of a solar PV and energy storage to form a standalone microgrid. Due to the change in system configuration of DC microgrid, in the modeling approach, the standard power flow equations are modified to include solely the DC parameters. To validate the proposed configuration with the associated modeling approach in terms of the power flow reliability, system efficiency, and power-voltage curve, an experimental setup representing the Simulink model has been designed for each standalone microgrid configuration. The configurations have been assessed in the same location with different daily weather conditions. The obtained simulation and experimental results confirm that the proposed configuration of multiple sources is more reliable and efficient than the existing single-source configuration.

Evaluation of Mathematical Model to Characterize the Performance of Conventional and Hybrid PV Array Topologies under Static and Dynamic Shading Patterns

“…The authors of [47] presented two types of PV array configurations, such as TCT and non-symmetrical, and tested on various shaded patterns to check the effectiveness of the array configurations, and proved that non-symmetrical configurations perform better than the TCT configuration. The authors of [48][49][50][51] discussed PV array topologies such as SP, BL, TCT and all authors claimed that TCT configuration performs better than the other configurations. The authors of [52][53][54][55][56] discussed a detailed procedure for modeling the PV array of any configuration, which is operating under uniform or PSCs.…”

“…The expression for ∆P L in a percentage is given in Equation (48). The theoretical power generation was calculated as per Equation (49).…”

Distribution Voltage in DC Micro-grid System based Solar PV Topologies Configuration in Sarawak, Malaysia

“…Therefore, this paper continue to previous work [14] in order to investigate the reliability of the ring DC microgrid system with renewable energy sources at different bus. Previous focusing on the study two configurations of DC microgrid based on solar PV systems namely, single sources and multiple sources.…”

A Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming Model for Optimal Reconfiguration of DC Distribution Feeders

“…The DC networks can be designed and operated using multiple renewable energy resources, such as photovoltaic panels [10], energy storage devices (batteries, supercapacitors or superconductors) [11], home appliances [12] and computer servers [13], among others. Observe that in the case of applications where AC energy is required (i.e., motors), this energy can be provided by interfacing the DC distribution network with voltage source inverters that generate sinusoidal voltages and the required reactive power at the load point [4].…”