Automatic voltage regulation application for PV inverters in low-voltage distribution grids – A digital twin approach

Yonghao Gui; Karthikeyan Nainar; Catalin Iosif Ciontea; Jan D. Bendtsen; Florin Iov; Kamal Shahid; Jakob Stoustrup

doi:10.1016/j.ijepes.2023.109022

Automatic voltage regulation application for PV inverters in low-voltage distribution grids – A digital twin approach

Yonghao Gui, Karthikeyan Nainar, Catalin Iosif Ciontea, Jan D. Bendtsen, Florin Iov, Kamal Shahid, Jakob Stoustrup

Grid Systems Modeling and Controls

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper proposes a hierarchical coordinated control strategy for PV inverters to keep voltages in low-voltage (LV) distribution grids within specified limits. The top layer of the proposed architecture consists of the designed automatic voltage regulation (AVR) application, which has access to voltage measurements and grid parameters from the LV distribution grid, both current and historical. The AVR application solves a constrained optimization problem, which provides a set of local control set-points that bring the voltage across the grid within bounds. The middle layer consists of a local Volt/VAR controller, which is adjusted by the AVR app, while the bottom layer is the inner-loop controller of the PV inverter. The proposed method not only improves the voltage quality in the grid but also manages the reactive power outputs of PV inverters efficiently. A digital twin of the cyber-physical system has also been employed that interacts with the control system to ensure its appropriate operation. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated on a representative low-voltage feeder located in Denmark.

Original language	English
Article number	109022
Journal	International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
Volume	149
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2023.109022
State	Published - Jul 2023

Funding

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 774145 for the Net2DG Project (www.net2dg.eu). Part of the work is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Solar Energy Technologies Office Program under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 774145 for the Net2DG Project (www.net2dg.eu). Part of the work is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Solar Energy Technologies Office Program under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

Keywords

Coordinated control
Digital twin
Distribution grid
PV inverter
Volt/VAR controller
Voltage quality

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10.1016/j.ijepes.2023.109022

Cite this

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title = "Automatic voltage regulation application for PV inverters in low-voltage distribution grids – A digital twin approach",

abstract = "This paper proposes a hierarchical coordinated control strategy for PV inverters to keep voltages in low-voltage (LV) distribution grids within specified limits. The top layer of the proposed architecture consists of the designed automatic voltage regulation (AVR) application, which has access to voltage measurements and grid parameters from the LV distribution grid, both current and historical. The AVR application solves a constrained optimization problem, which provides a set of local control set-points that bring the voltage across the grid within bounds. The middle layer consists of a local Volt/VAR controller, which is adjusted by the AVR app, while the bottom layer is the inner-loop controller of the PV inverter. The proposed method not only improves the voltage quality in the grid but also manages the reactive power outputs of PV inverters efficiently. A digital twin of the cyber-physical system has also been employed that interacts with the control system to ensure its appropriate operation. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated on a representative low-voltage feeder located in Denmark.",

keywords = "Coordinated control, Digital twin, Distribution grid, PV inverter, Volt/VAR controller, Voltage quality",

author = "Yonghao Gui and Karthikeyan Nainar and Ciontea, {Catalin Iosif} and Bendtsen, {Jan D.} and Florin Iov and Kamal Shahid and Jakob Stoustrup",

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AU - Bendtsen, Jan D.

AU - Iov, Florin

AU - Shahid, Kamal

AU - Stoustrup, Jakob

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N2 - This paper proposes a hierarchical coordinated control strategy for PV inverters to keep voltages in low-voltage (LV) distribution grids within specified limits. The top layer of the proposed architecture consists of the designed automatic voltage regulation (AVR) application, which has access to voltage measurements and grid parameters from the LV distribution grid, both current and historical. The AVR application solves a constrained optimization problem, which provides a set of local control set-points that bring the voltage across the grid within bounds. The middle layer consists of a local Volt/VAR controller, which is adjusted by the AVR app, while the bottom layer is the inner-loop controller of the PV inverter. The proposed method not only improves the voltage quality in the grid but also manages the reactive power outputs of PV inverters efficiently. A digital twin of the cyber-physical system has also been employed that interacts with the control system to ensure its appropriate operation. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated on a representative low-voltage feeder located in Denmark.

AB - This paper proposes a hierarchical coordinated control strategy for PV inverters to keep voltages in low-voltage (LV) distribution grids within specified limits. The top layer of the proposed architecture consists of the designed automatic voltage regulation (AVR) application, which has access to voltage measurements and grid parameters from the LV distribution grid, both current and historical. The AVR application solves a constrained optimization problem, which provides a set of local control set-points that bring the voltage across the grid within bounds. The middle layer consists of a local Volt/VAR controller, which is adjusted by the AVR app, while the bottom layer is the inner-loop controller of the PV inverter. The proposed method not only improves the voltage quality in the grid but also manages the reactive power outputs of PV inverters efficiently. A digital twin of the cyber-physical system has also been employed that interacts with the control system to ensure its appropriate operation. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated on a representative low-voltage feeder located in Denmark.

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Automatic voltage regulation application for PV inverters in low-voltage distribution grids – A digital twin approach

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Keywords

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