Performance Assessment of Series Power Electronic Compensator in a Real LV Network

Due to the requirement of higher Power Quality (PQ) levels in modern distribution systems and the higher load demand in the grids, certain topologies of Power Electronic Compensators (PECs) can be added to LV networks by the Distributer System Operator (DSO) to satisfy the request of the customers. Among the available solutions introduced in the previous studies, the Series PEC (SPEC) can provide the voltage improvement more effectively. In this paper, the performance of the SPEC is investigated in voltage profile improvement of a real LV network with real measured data. Accordingly, the whole-year collected data of meters in a city in the north of Italy is used in the assessment of the voltage of the LV distribution feeder. By a preliminary analysis to the grid, the severity and duration of voltage variations are determined during the year. Then the SPEC is added to the grid to stabilize the supply voltage of the substation bus using only reactive power. Accordingly, the grid assessment is repeated for the whole year in the presence of the device. Moreover, the assessment is accomplished with respect to different set points of the SPEC and the device performance is investigated. By an analysis of the results of the simulations, the capability of the device in reducing the voltage variations is studied with respect to the SPEC limits.