1

Fundamental Characteristics of
DC Microgrid for Residential Houses with
Cogeneration System in Each House
H. Kakigano, Y. Miura and T. Ise, Member, IEEE, T. Momose and H. Hayakawa, Non-member

Abstract-- DC microgrid is a novel power system using dc

distribution in order to provide a super high quality power. This
system is suitable for dc output type distributed generations and
energy storages. The dc power can be converted to the proper ac
or dc voltages for the consumers by converters placed near loads,
and these converters do not require transformers. This
distributed scheme of load side converters also contributes to
provide the high quality power supplying. In this research, we
assumed a dc microgrid applied for residential houses. All houses
have a cogeneration system such as gas engine or fuel cell. The
outputs of those distributed generations are connected to the dc
distribution line, and the power from the generations can be
shared among the houses. The hot water from distributed
generations are used in each house. We constructed a small scale
experimental in our laboratory, and examined the fundamental
characteristics of the dc microgrid by the experimental system
when it was connected to the bulk power system. Experimental
results demonstrated that the system could supply high quality
power to the loads stably against sudden load variations, voltage
sags of the bulk power system and short circuits of the load.
Index Terms-- microgrid, distributed generation, high quality
power, dc distribution, gas engine cogeneration

I. INTRODUCTION

N RECENT YEARS, a large number of distributed

generations such as photovoltaic cells, fuel cells, wind
turbines and gas engine cogenerations has been installed into
the bulk power system under the background of
environmental problems, etc. However, it could cause
problems such as voltage rises and protection problems when
many distributed generations are connected to the
conventional power distribution systems. One of the solutions
This research was partially supported by a grant for the Global COE
Program, Center for Electronic Devices Innovation, from the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
H. Kakigano is with the Division of Electrical, Electronic, and Information
Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan (phone: +81-6-6879-7730; fax:
+81-6-6879-7730; e-mail: kakigano@eei.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp).
Y. Miura is with the Division of Electrical, Electronic, and Information
Engineering, Osaka University, Japan (miura@ eei.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp).
T. Ise is with the Division of Electrical, Electronic, and Information
Engineering, Osaka University, Japan (ise@ eei.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp).
T. Momose is with the Energy Technology Laboratories, Osaka Gas CO.,
LTD., Japan (toshinari-momose@osakagas.co.jp).
H. Hayakawa is with the Energy Technology Laboratories, Osaka Gas CO.,
LTD., Japan (hayakawa@osakagas.co.jp).

2008 IEEE.

is to construct a new electric power system [1]-[3]. Especially,

microgrids are being researched all over the world. Most
microgrids adopt ac system as a main distribution [4]. In this
case, dc output type distributed generations (photovoltaic cells,
fuel cells) and energy storages (Li-ion secondary battery,
supercapacitor) have to need inverters. In addition, some gas
engine cogenerations and wind power generators also need
inverters because the output voltages and frequencies of those
generators are different from the bulk power systems one.
Therefore, in the case of ac microgrid, if a blackout or voltage
sag occurs in the bulk power system, most inverters might be
tripped. So, it is difficult for ac microgrids to keep a super
high quality power supplying continuously in islanding
operation.
On the other hand, there is a variety of customers' needs
for electric power quality. High quality power is required for a
dependable society. The security of the electric power is
becoming more important for our daily life.
We have proposed dc microgrid which is a novel power
system using dc distribution in order to provide a super high
quality power [5], [6]. This dc system is suitable for dc output
type distributed generations and energy storages such as
secondary batteries and supercapacitors. The dc power is
converted to required ac or dc voltages by load side
converters, and these converters do not require transformers
by choosing proper dc distribution voltage. The distributed
scheme of load side converters also contributes to provide
supplying high quality power. For instance, even if a short
circuit occurs at one load side, it does not affect other loads.
Moreover, it is easier than ac microgrid to disconnect it from
the bulk power system and change into an intentional
islanding mode without any problems.
In this research, we propose one type of dc microgrids for
residential houses (apartment house or housing complex). In
this system, each house has cogeneration system such as gas
engine or fuel cells, and those generations are connected to a
dc power line. The electricity from the generations can be
shared among the houses. The hot water from a distributed
generation is used in each house. An experimental system
based on this concept was constructed in our laboratory, and
the fundamental characteristics have been studied. In this
paper, the experimental results when the system is connected
to the bulk power system are shown. Those results

Rectifier

DC/DC
Converters

Single Phase Inverter

DC Circuit
Breaker
Fig. 1. The concept of the proposal dc microgrid.
Control Boards

Line Impedance

Fig. 3. Experimental setup dc microgrid.

Hot Water Tank

Fig. 2. Configuration of the experimental system.

demonstrate that the system is able to supply a high quality

power against disturbances.
II. DC MICROGRID
Figure 1 shows a concept of the system. In the dc
microgrid, there are around 50-100 houses, and the every
house has a gas engine or a fuel cell cogeneration. The
outputs of all distributed generations are connected to the dc
distribution line, and the electrical power is shared among
other houses through the dc line. Therefore, it can be
expected that the operation chances of cogeneration become
increased, and it leads to higher utilization of the cogeneration
[7]. To keep the high efficiency, those distributed generations
should not be operated by a partial load condition, but
operated by a start/stop control. The hot water is used in each
house, but it is also possible to share with the houses. The
system is connected to the bulk power system through a
rectifier at one point, and various forms of electrical power
like single phase 100 V, 3-phase 200 V, DC 100 V, etc. can be
obtained by converters placed near loads. These converters do
not need transformers, therefore it contributes to the
downsizing and high efficiency.
Secondary batteries and supercapacitors can be connected
to the dc distribution line through dc/dc converters. If a
blackout occurs in the bulk power system, the dc microgrid is
able to disconnect it rapidly, and the power supply will be
continued without any voltage sags at the load, resulting in the
intentional islanding mode. There are some energy control
operations at the intentional islanding. We adopted a

Gas Engine Unit

Fig. 4. Configuration of the 1 kW cogeneration system.

following method that a supervisor computer controls the

number of distributed generations in the system, and the
excess or deficiency power is compensated by an electric
double layer capacitor (EDLC). This operation might cause
that an energy storage in the system need a huge capacity,
because most commercial distributed generations take a few
minutes (or a few hours) for enabling and disabling power. In
this research, though, we assumed that the enabling and
disabling times of distributed generations are short in the
system (a few second). Then, it is possible that the surplus or
shortage power is compensated by only EDLC storage system.
In this paper, to examine the basic characteristic when the
system is connected to the bulk power system, all experiments
were verified without an EDLC storage.
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
A. Configuration of the Experiment System
The configuration of the experimental system is shown in
Figure 2. The experimental setup and the gas engine
cogeneration system are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4. By
using the experimental system, we verified the fundamental

Fig. 5. Circuit of the experimental system.

characteristics: the electric power sharing by the dc power line

among the houses, the behavior at the accident in the bulk
power system or the dc microgrid, and the power quality to
the loads. The 3-phase AC 200 V of the bulk power system is
converted to DC 170 V by the rectifier, and the power is
supplied to each house through the dc distribution line. This
system applied the bi-pole 3-wire system (two 170 V lines
and one neutral line) to the dc distribution. It contributes that
the one side of the output of the single phase 100 V can be a
grounded neutral line as well as a Japanese standard power
system, and the dc voltages from the ground become lower
level. It is assumed that there are three households in the
experimental system, and each house has a gas engine
cogeneration. In this research, one of them is a real gas engine
cogeneration, and other two houses use dc power supplies as
gas engine cogenerations. It was confirmed by the experiment
that the dc power supply could imitate as the gas engine
cogeneration. The dc/dc converters (buck chopper) are
connected between distributed generations and dc lines. At
the load side, the dc power is converted into the single phase
100V with the inverter at one house, and other two houses are
supplied the dc power directly. A variable resistor and an
electric load device are used as a load of each house. To
check the influence by the distance of the dc distribution line,
the distance from the rectifier to two houses was assumed to
be 100 m, and the resisters 0.5 and the reactors 30 H were
installed in the dc distribution line as a line impedance (VV-F
cable, 5.5 mm2, it calculated used the data of [8]). It is also
assumed to be about 100 m between two houses and one
house, resisters 1 and reactors 30 H were installed (VV-F
cable, 2 mm2). Moreover, a dc circuit breaker is connected to
each house (the rated voltage: DC 600 V, and the rated
current: 15 A).

TABLE I
MAIN PARAMETERS
Rectifier
Ls
Crec

2 [mH]
1500 [

F]

F]
F]

Cs

10 [

C1

4700 [

switching frequency

10 [kHz]

Single phase inverter

Linv
C2

2 [mH]
12200 [

F]

Cinv

switching frequency

18.3 [

9 [kHz]

DC/DC converter
Lcon
C3

5 [mH]
440[

F]

switching frequency

F]

Ccon

220 [

F]

10 [kHz]

Fig. 6. Image of the dc power output.

B. Element Devices
The circuit of the system is shown in Figure 5, and the
main parameters are shown in Table 1. Outlines of the devices
which composed the system are described below.
As a gas engine cogeneration system, we chose a
commercial one (the rated capacity 1 kW). The ac output of
the generator is converted into DC 390-400 V by the
rectifier. Nomaly, the dc power is converted to a single
phase 200 V and connected to the bulk power system, but

TABLE II
CONDITION OF THE SYSTEMS
House 1
No.

Title

4 1

Load step variation

4-2

Voltage sag

4 3

Short Circuit

House 3

DG Output

Load

DG Output

Load

DG Output

[kW]

Power [kW]

[kW]

Power [kW]

[kW]

Power [kW]

ON
1.2

1.2

House 2

Load

Short Circuit

we modified it to be able to take out the power from the dc

line directly as shown in Figure 6. The voltages of the dc
power supplies to simulate the gas engine cogenerations
were set to be 400V.
The rectifier connected to the bulk power system is
controlled to keep the dc voltage become 340 V (= 170 V +
170 V) constant. In details, the current control based on a
dq decoupling control is adopted. The current reference is
calculated from the dc voltage reference and the feedback
value. The control time constant for dc voltage control was
set to be 15 ms.
The inverter which supplies a single phase 100 V is
composed of one leg. The one side of the output lines is a
neutral line. The control is a voltage feedback control with a
current minor loop.
The buck choppers control the output powers of gas engine
cogenerations. The circuit was designed to become
symmetry against the neutral line. When they are turned on
or turned off, the output power is changed gradually from 0
to 1 kW or from 1 to 0 kW, and it takes 1 second to avoid
the damage to the generator.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Various experiments were carried out by using the

experiment system. In this paper, the experimental results of
the step change of the load and the voltage sag of the bulk
power system were shown. Table 2 shows the condition of
each house in each experiment.

The rms value of the single phase inverter output voltage

changed slightly when the load was changed, but it was
satisfied the voltage was within the range of Japanese allowed
voltage 1016 V. The load current increasing gradually was
the characteristic of the electrical heater. It was confirmed
power supply was steady against the sudden load variation,
and it did not cause any big disturbances.
B. Voltage Sag of the Bulk Power System
The experimental results of the voltage sag at the bulk
power system are shown in Figure 8. The voltage sag was
imitated by using a multipurpose power supply, and the
voltage was set to decrease 20 % for 0.5 s. All distributed
generations are turned off. When the voltage sag occurs, the
dc voltage is controlled constant by the rectifier, and the
current on the ac side of the rectifier was increased to keep
the power from the bulk power system constant. As a result, it
was confirmed that the voltage change of the dc power line
was almost negligible, and there was no influence in the
power supply to the load. Although a periodic change was
seen in the rms value of the single phase inverter output
voltage, but this is a control characteristics of the inverter.
From these results, it was confirmed that the power supply to
the dc microgrid was steady even if the voltage sag was
occurred.

C. Short Circuit at the load

This experiment was carried out to confirm that a short
circuit at a load did not affect other loads. To make a short
circuit situation, a small resistance (2 ) was connected in
A. Step Change of the load
parallel at the ac load terminal of the house 1. When the
The experiments of a sudden load variation were examined
instantaneous output current of the inverter became 50 A, an
to confirm the stability of the system. Figure 7 shows the
over current protection was worked. Figure 9 shows the
experimental results of the load step change in House 1.
experimental results. At around -0.5 s, the short circuit was
Before the load change, the distributed generation of House 1
occurred, and the inverter output was stopped by the over
supplied 1 kW, and the power was transported to other houses.
current protection. It shows that the dc distribution line
An electrical heater was used as the load of House 1 (rated
voltage was stable, and the other loads were not affected by
power consumption 1.2 kW). The graphs on the upper left are
the short circuit. After the inverter was stopped, the output
the ac side voltage and current of the rectifier. The upper right
power flow of the gas engine cogeneration at House 1 was
graphs are the dc distribution voltage, the rms value of the ac
transmitted to other houses. It was shown that this changing
output voltage and ac output current of House 1. The lower
of the power flow was done smoothly, and the power sharing
left is a dc voltage and currents of House 2. The dc voltage
by the dc distribution line was stable against the accident.
and the current of House 3 are shown in lower right. The
voltage between the +170 V and neutral line is named the
positive side dc voltage side, and the voltage between a
neutral line and -170 V is named the negative side dc voltage.

Fig. 7. Experimental results of a step variation of load power consumption.

Fig. 8. Experimental results of a voltage sag of the bulk power system.

Fig. 9. Experimental results of a short circuit of load in House 1.

V. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we proposed the concept of the dc microgrid
for residential houses where each house has a cogeneration
system such as a gas engine, and shares the power among the
houses by the dc distribution line. To examine the
fundamental characteristics of the system, a laboratory scale
dc microgrid was constructed. The experimental results by a
small scale model demonstrated that the system was able to
supply a high quality power to the loads against a sudden load
variation. When a voltage sag occurred in the bulk power
system, it was confirmed that the high quality power supply
was continued to the load without any influences. It was also
confirmed that a short circuit accident at one load did not
affect the power supplying to the other loads.
We are now setting up an EDLC (18 F, rated voltage 160
V) and a boost chopper as an energy storage device for the
system. After installing the EDLC, we will examine the
fundamental characteristics at the intentional islanding.

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Hiroaki Kakigano (M06) was born in 1976. He received the B.S. and M.S.
degree in nuclear engineering from Nagoya University, Japan in 1999 and 2001,
respectively. In 2001, he joined Nissin Inc., where he had worked in an electrical
technology. Currently he is an assistant professor in the Division of Electrical,
Electronic and Information Engineering, Osaka University, Japan. His research
interests include the power electronics and the new power distribution system.
Yushi Miura (M06) received doctorate in Electrical and Electronic
Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1995. From 1995 to 2004, he
joined Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute as a researcher and developed
power supplies and superconducting coils for nuclear fusion reactors. Since
2004, he has been an associate professor of the Division of Electrical, Electronic
and Information Engineering of Osaka University. His areas of research involve
applications of power electronics and superconducting technology. Currently he
is interested in control of distributed generations and energy storages in the
power systems.
Toshifumi Ise (M87) was born in 1957. He received the Bachelor, Master, and
Dr. of Engineering degrees in electrical engineering from Osaka University,
Osaka, Japan, in 1980, 1982, and 1986, respectively.
Currently, he is a Professor with the Division of Electrical, Electronic and
Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Osaka University, where he
has been since 1990. From 1986 to 1990, he was with the Nara National College
of Technology, Nara, Japan. His research interests are in the areas of power
electronics and applied superconductivity including superconducting magnetic
energy storages (SMES) and new distribution systems.
Dr. Ise is a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and the
Japan Society for Power Electronics.
Toshinari Momose (Non-member) was born in 1969. He received the B.E. and
M.E. degree in from Osaka University, Osaka, Japan in 1992 and 1994
respectively. From 1994 to 2003, he joined at the Gas Appliance Development
Department of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. and From 2003 he joined at the Energy
Technology Laboratories of it. He received a Dr. degree in from Osaka
University in 2005.
Hideki Hayakawa (Non-member) received the B.E. and M.E from Osaka
University in 1985 and 1987, respectively, then joined the Research Center,
Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. From 1990 to 1993, he was a researcher at ATR Auditory
and Visual Perception Research Laboratories. He obtained a Ph.D. from Osaka
University in 1994. He is now research supervisor at the Energy Technology
Laboratories, Osaka Gas. Co., Ltd.