D-STATCOM For Harmonic Mitigation In Low Voltage Distribution Network With High Penetration of Nonlinear Loads

Abstract In the past two decades, the electrical distributions systems have been subjected to increased use of non-linear loads. Non-linear loads draw non-sinusoidal currents which tend to have a deleterious impact on the power quality of the modern AC distribution systems. With a distorted system voltage, brought upon by the interaction of non-sinusoidal currents with the grid impedance, the operational behaviour of several devices connected to the grid is also adversely affected. The integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) with the distribution power grid further exacerbates the harmonic power issues. The traditional methods of non-local compensation have proven to be inadequate, and hence it is necessary to develop means to provide local reactive and harmonic compensation at the source. To that purpose, this article investigates the use of a capacitor-less distribution static synchronous compensator (D-STATCOM) for power quality compensation in modern distribution systems. The proposed topology is based on a matrix converter (MC), controlled by finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) which makes possible the use of inductive energy storage rather than electrolytic capacitors, which have been proven to be the most failure-prone components in a power electronic circuit. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the approach.