DRPT2008 6-9 April 2008 Nanjing China

Impact and Improvement of Distributed

Generation on Voltage Quality in Micro-grid
Wei Deng, Wei Pei, Zhiping Qi

Abstract--This paper illuminates some voltage quality II. MICRO-GRID STRUCTURE

problems caused by Distributed Generation (DG) in Micro-grid, The concept of Micro-grid is first proposed by the
including voltage fluctuation, voltage sag and voltage swell,
voltage uplifted and harmonic resonance due to large capacity Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions
capacitor switching and so on. It studies the characteristic of (CERTS) in America, it is a new type of distributed generation
these kinds of voltage quality problem and their impact on network structure with wide development prospects, and it
Micro-grid. According to these characteristics, this paper consists of distributed power unit (typically micro-turbines,
presents a method which depends on the type and structure of PV panels, fuel cells and wind turbine generator), energy
DG in Micro-Grid to improve the voltage quality. The studies storage devices (flywheel, capacitors, batteries, etc.) and load
show that the penetration of DG in Micro-grid has beneficial
improvement of system response to voltage disturbances. in low-voltage system, its structure is shown in Fig. 1 below
Rotating type DG can mitigate voltage fluctuation caused by [2].
rapidly changing loads due to its short circuit strength. Inverter
type DG also has beneficial impact on voltage fluctuation if it has
voltage regulation function. Simulation and analysis on a system
model show that the proposed approach is effective and
promising.

Index Terms--Distributed generation, Micro-grid, power

quality, voltage regulation.

I. INTRODUCTION

W ith the growing consumption of energy, environmental

protection and the increasing demand of premium
power quality have attracted wider attention, distributed
generation (DG) has received more and more application, its
hardware becomes more reliable and economically feasible.
DG provides a wide range of quality service for electricity
users [1], such as improving electricity reliability, increasing
utilization of renewable energy and feedback power to grid.
As an important distributed generation network structure,
Micro-grid plays a positive role in improving the security of
power supply, how to improve the quality of power supply is
an important research direction in Micro-grid. This paper
studies the voltage fluctuation, voltage sag and swell, bus
voltage uplifted and harmonic resonance due to large capacity
capacitor switching, and harmonics, it studies the effect on
voltage improvement of rotating type DG and inverter type
DG response to system voltage disturbances through system
simulation to provide the basis for improving power quality in
Micro-grid.
This work was supported in part by the Hi-Tech Research and
Development Program of China (863) (No.2006AA05Z246).
Wei Deng, Wei Pei and Zhiping Qi are with Institute of Electrical
Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100080, China. (E-mail of
Wei Deng is: dengwei@mail.iee.ac.cn)
Wei Deng and Wei Pei are with Graduate School of Chinese Academy
Science, Beijing100086, China.
Fig. 1. Typical structure of Micro-grid
As shown in Fig. 1, Micro-grid connects with distribution
system through separation devices (a static switch usually),
when there are problems on the distribution system Micro-grid
can island by using the separation device to ensure that
important loads such as control system, computers and other
equipment work normally in Micro- grid.
III. IMPACT OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION ON VOLTAGE
QUALITY IN MICRO-GRID
Generally, Impact of distributed generation on power
quality depends on the following factors [3]:
1. Types of distributed generation.
2. Grid-connected types of distributed generation.
3. Capacity of distributed generation and its output power
fluctuation.
4. The total capacity of distributed generation in Micro-
grid.

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 DRPT2008 6-9 April 2008 Nanjing China

A. Voltage fluctuation The curve describing the change in output current of PV

Voltage fluctuation is definite as a series of voltage
amplitude fluctuation which changes between 0.9 p.u and 1.1
p.u, the fundamental reason of voltage fluctuation and flicker
in Micro-grid caused by distributed generation is the variation
of its output power. Fig. 2 shows the equivalent circuit when
DG connects with grid.
system compared to reference current value and the
corresponding change in grid-connected voltage compared to
reference voltage value is shown in Fig. 4. If PV system is
affected by the changes in sunlight intensity, its amplitude of
grid-connected voltage change is proportional to its output
current change.

The margin between grid-connected voltage and reference voltage value（V）

Fig. 2. DG connects with grid equivalent circuit

Based on Fig. 2, it should satisfy

P − jQ
I = (1 )
Ug
Where I is the line current, U g is the export voltage of Fig. 4. Distribution of fluctuation in output current and grid-connected
voltage
DG, P is the active power output of DG, Q is the reactive
The wind is unstable in nature and that will lead to output
power output of DG. The margin between grid voltage and
power fluctuation of wind turbine, when large wind turbines
DG voltage should satisfy
P − jQ RP + XQ PX − QR
act in wind farm at the same time, it may make a serious
∆U = U grid −U g = IZ = (R + jX ) * ( )= +j (2) impact on the system. Fig.5 shows the output voltage
Ug Ug Ug
fluctuation of doubly-fed induction generator in wind power
Where U grid is the grid voltage, R is the line resistance, X is simulation system caused by the wind speed change (assuming
the line reactance. that wind speed maintains constant value during a relatively
From (2) know clearly, the reactive power fluctuation and short period of time). The first diagram stands for wind speed
active power fluctuation of DG will lead to voltage fluctuation simulation curve and another stands for voltage curve, as
and flicker, especially for the unstable DG, PV panels and shown in Fig.5, the voltage fluctuates between 0.98 p.u and
wind power are important unstable DG in Micro-grid, and 1.02 p.u in the same direction with wind speed when it
their output power fluctuation will lead to voltage fluctuation changes between 5 m/s and 14.5 m/s.
in Micro-grid. The output power of PV system tracks the
change in intensity of solar radiation, and it will randomly
change the tide of power flow of system. Use solar radiation
measurement data as an example, the relationship between
output current of PV system and the change in sunlight is
shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5. Distribution of fluctuation in wind speed and output voltage

When Micro-grid has heavy load, small voltage drop may

Fig. 3. Relationship between output current and sunlight intensity
lead to partial voltage instability. To suppress voltage
fluctuation, some DG system whose output power can be
controlled (such as fuel cells, turbine) and energy storage
devices can be used to compensate the output power of DG
system whose output power is affected by natural conditions
(such as wind turbine, PV system).

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B. Voltage sag and voltage swell V s = V bus + jX S I (3 )

Heavy load removal may cause system voltage swell, Where I is the line current, X S is the system equivalent
voltage swell is definite as the voltage amplitude increase
to1.1 p.u ~1.8 p.u and its duration is about half a cycle to one impedance, Vs is the DG output voltage, Vbus is the bus
minute. voltage. After capacitor is connected to system:
When wind turbine connects with grid it will produce '
V s = V ' busn + jX S ( I + I C ) (4 )
short-term high current to cause voltage sag. When wind
'
turbine has installed capacitor compensation device, the Where Vs is the DG output voltage, V
'
busn is the bus
reactive power compensation value is proportional to the
square of output voltage value. If grid voltage is low, it will voltage, I C is the current of capacitor circuit which satisfies
aggravate the voltage sag level. V '

Light intensity change in PV system will cause the output IC = j

busn
(5 )
X C
voltage change. Fig. 6 shows the output voltage of PV system
and inverter output voltage during light intensity change in PV Where X C is the capacitor equivalent impedance, Assuming
simulation system. When light intensity reduces to a certain the DG output voltage is unchanged, ∆VBUS -the margin
extent suddenly the output voltage of PV system (input side of '
inverter) will dip, resulting in voltage sag in AC side of between Vbus and V busn should satisfy
inverter. Character of voltage sag is that voltage amplitude X
reduced to 0.1 p.u~0.9 p.u and the duration is about half a
∆ V BUS = − jX S IC = S
V '
busn (6 )
X C
cycle to one minute. Under voltage sag condition, some Through further simplification, (6) can approximate the
sensitive equipment in Micro-grid such as computers and equivalent:
communication terminals may work abnormally. ∆ V BUS X
' = S
= ( 2 π ) 2 f 02 L S C (7 )
V busn X C

Where f 0 is the system fundamental frequency, LS is the

Fig. 6. Voltage sag in PV system
C. Bus voltage uplifted and harmonic resonance due to large
capacity capacitor switching
With large number of wind turbines which equipped with
reactive power compensation capacitor connect with grid,
capacitors access to system may have some influence on grid-
connected voltage. Single-phase Thevenin equivalent circuit
including capacitor switching is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. Capacitor switching equivalent circuit
When the capacitor is disconnected with system, it should
satisfy
circuit inductance value (overlook resistance), C is the
capacitance values. The system resonant frequency f r can be
expressed as:
1 f0
f r = = (8 )
2π L sC ∆ V BUS
V ' busn
As known from (8), if the capacitor switching causes
voltage to increase by 0.04 p.u, it will bring the 5th harmonic
resonance. Harmonic resonance will enlarge harmonic, bring
dangerous over-voltage or over-current, and it also produces a
harmonic loss to reduce the efficiency of power generation
and electrical equipment in Micro-grid.
D. Harmonic
When PV system, fuel cells, micro-turbines connect with
grid or supply power for AC load, they need inverter device to
realize the DC-AC conversion. If constant speed constant
frequency asynchronous wind generator connects to grid
directly, its soft start-up phase needs power electronic devices
such as thyristor, and variable speed constant frequency wind
generator system also needs rectifier and inverter device to
connect with grid. The inverter device usually have current
and voltage control method, they both rely on high-speed
switch operation of semiconductor device, and therefore inject
high harmonics component into Micro-grid unavoidably.
Harmonic can increase rotary motor loss to shorten its life,
produce electromagnetic interference on communication
system to affect its normal work performance. When DG
connects with grid, the IEEE 519 standards stipulate that a
single harmonic content is less than 3% and the Total
Harmonic Distortion is no more than 5%.

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 DRPT2008 6-9 April 2008 Nanjing China
IV. IMPROVEMENT OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION ON VOLTAGE
QUALITY IN MICRO-GRID
A. Distributed generation control strategy
Distributed generation includes inverter type DG and
rotating type DG, for inverter type DG, its normal requirement
is able to control active power output and reactive power
output. For three-phase system, it should satisfy
 3 VE
 P = 2 X sin δ
 (9 )
 Q = 3 V ( V − E cos δ )
 2 X
Where V is the primary voltage of transformer, E is the
secondary voltage of transformer, δ is the phase angle
margin between V and E , X is the transformer equivalent
impedance, P , Q is the active and reactive power output
value of DG inverter respectively [4].
Through inverter control, the power injected by DG can be
regulated to ensure that if local loads in Micro-grid have
changed the inverter can adjust and maintain the voltage
amplitude of feeder lines to meet the load demand. For
harmonic compensation, DG inverter can use the
sine/triangular wave comparison or hysteresis comparison
method to trigger PWM signal and realizes APF function.
B. Example simulation analysis
IEEE 13 nodes test system [5] is taken as an example,
simulation analysis uses the power simulation software Power
Factory 13.2 of DIgSILENT Company. Fig. 8 shows the test
system.
650
646 645 632 633 634
611 684 671 692 675
DG
652 680
Fig. 8. IEEE 13 nodes test feeder with DG
Rotating type DG and inverter type DG are connected to
system in the 675 node respectively, the former uses
synchronous machine, its rated power is 2 MVA and rated
power factor is 0.9, its short-circuit impedance is 1.5 p.u, the
latter connects to grid through step-up transformer, its rated
power is 2 MVA and the rated power factor is 1, the
transformer has the rated capacity of 3.5 MVA.
System sets load whose active power fluctuates cyclically
at the 680 node during simulation to simulate the grid voltage
flicker. Voltage simulation curve of the 680 node is shown in
Fig. 9. It includes three kinds of circumstances: no DG access,
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synchronous rotating type DG access and inverter type DG
access.
rotating type
0.980
DG access
inverter type
0.976 DG access
U /p.u
0.972 No DG access
0.968
0.964
0 10 20 30 40 t/s
Fig. 9. Simulation results for reduced voltage flicker
The simulation results show the grid voltage has fluctuated
by 0.36% with no DG access to the 675 node. The addition of
inverter type DG in the system has a slightly beneficial
improvement on the flicker, with the amplitude of voltage
deviation decreased to 0.3%. The addition of rotating type DG
has an obvious improvement on the flicker, the amplitude of
voltage deviation is reduced to about 0.11% by roughly 70%
improvement because rotating type DG can increase system
short-circuit strength. For inverter type DG, its short-circuit
current is smaller than synchronous machine’s, so its ability of
improving voltage fluctuation is weaker than rotating type DG.
Inverter type DG can compensate harmonic through
appropriate control algorithm. Fig.10 shows the harmonic
voltage and its waveforms compensated by inverter type DG
using triangular wave comparison control algorithm.
Fig. 10. Comparison of waveforms before and after harmonic compensation
The second diagram in Fig.10 shows the waveforms after
compensation, the control algorithm takes effect after system
has detected harmonic voltage, simulation results show that its
harmonic compensation is effective.
 DRPT2008 6-9 April 2008 Nanjing China

V. CONCLUSION
The article studies some voltage quality problems in micro-
grid including voltage fluctuation, voltage sag and voltage
swell, bus voltage uplifted due to large capacity capacitor
switching and harmonic, and brings forward a new method
depended on rotating type DG and inverter type DG in Micro-
grid to mitigate voltage fluctuation and improve harmonic
voltage. Through simulation and analysis, the main
conclusions are as follows:
1) Rotating type DG can increase system short circuit
strength and improve fluctuation performance. Additional
control on rotating equipment is relatively ineffective at
further mitigating voltage fluctuation.
2) Most inverter type DG is based on constant current
control mode, its effect on mitigating voltage fluctuation is not
quite obvious. Inverter type DG has significant beneficial
impact on fluctuation if they have voltage regulation function.
3) Through appropriate control, the inverter type DG can
improve harmonic voltage performance.

VI. REFERENCES
[1] U. Patel, "DG Power Quality, Protection and Reliability Case Studies
Report," GE Corporate Research and Development, September 2001.
[2] R.H.Lasseter, "MicroGrids," in 2002 IEEE Power Engineering Society
Winter Meeting, pp.305-308.
[3] I. El-Samahy, El-Saadany, "The Effect of DG on Power Quality in a
Deregulated Environment," in 2005 IEEE Power Engineering Society
General Meeting, pp.2969-2976.
[4] B. Lasseter. (2002, Apr.). Integration of Distributed Energy Resources:
The CERTS MicroGrid Concept. Consortium for Electric Reliability
Technology Solutions. [Online]. Available: http://certs.lbl.gov/CERTS
_P_DER.html.
[5] W.H.Kersting, "Radial distribution test feeders," IEEE Trans. Power
Systems, vol. 6, pp. 975-985, Aug. 1991.

VII. BIOGRAPHIES

Wei Deng was born in Hunan province in the China, in 1983. He graduated
from the North China Electric Power University in 2004 and is studying at the
Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for
doctor degree. His special fields of interest included power quality and
distribute generation.

Wei Pei was born in Jiangxi province in the China, in 1982. He is studying at
the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for
doctor degree. His major fields of interest included the power system analysis
and Micro-grid EMS.

Zhiping Qi graduated from Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese

Academy of Sciences in 1988. She is a director researcher and her major
fields of research included new power energy storage technology and
mechatronics control technology.

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