Technical Application Papers
1.1 Sensitive electronic loads 1.3 Cables and maximum transmissible power
1 Advantages of Low Voltage DC distribution systems
Commercial buildings, such as office buildings, often
have a large amount of nonlinear electronic loads, such
as lighting, computers, monitors, and adjustable-speed
drives for air conditioning.
Special office buildings, such as banks and data centers,
have critical computer systems which must be operating
“24-7” and must not be affected by transients and out-
ages on the utility power grid.
A common way to protect these loads is to install on-
line uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) and standby
diesel-generator sets. The UPSs are used to protect the
loads from transients and short interruptions with dura-
tion up to approximately 0.5 h.
The losses of a UPS are in the range 5–10%.
The installed UPSs must also be able to handle distorted
currents from nonlinear loads, and they must therefore
be overrated.
If, instead, DC distribution is used, a single converter is
utilized to supply the loads, and additional losses can be
reduced. Since loads are supplied with DC, the rectifiers
inside the loads can be removed and the losses can be
lowered.
1.2 Distributed generation
The number of alternative generation sources connected
to the distribution system increases. Some of them, such
as photovoltaic and fuel cells, produce DC, and they can
easily be connected to a DC distribution system directly,
or through a DC/DC converter. Microturbines generating
high-frequency AC are also easier to connect to a DC
system than to an AC system, where generating a syn-
chronized sinusoidal AC current is required. The electric
power output of a wind turbine can be kept at a maximum
if the speed of the turbine is allowed to vary. If the shaft
is connected to the generator through a gearbox, the
ability to vary the speed is limited. To increase the speed
range, an AC/DC/AC converter can be used, which is an
expensive solution. A cheaper and simpler solution is to
connect an AC/DC converter to a DC grid. Other types of
generators operating with varying speed are small hydro
and tidal generators.
Using a DC distribution system makes it easier to incor-
porate more local energy storage and sources, either
standby power generation, which is used only when there
is a fault on the utility grid, or distributed generation (DG)
(small-scale energy sources) which are operated more
or less continuously.
To connect an energy source to a DC system only the
voltage has to be controlled.
6 Faults in LVDC microgrids with front-end converters
A grounded three-phase AC system requires five wires—
three phase conductors, one neutral, and one ground. A
DC system requires three wires—two phase conductors
and one ground. An existing five-wire AC cable in a retrofit
DC system can be used in two different configurations.
The first is to use two wires for each pole and one for
ground.
The other alternative is to use one for each pole, two
for neutral and one for ground, with the load connected
between one pole and neutral.
Considering the maximum transmissible power, the DC
distribution solutions (distribution with 2 or 3 conductors)
may be compared with the traditional AC distribution, that
in Italy is usually made by three-phase cable lines with
4 conductors (3 phase conductors and the neutral with
a smaller cross section), with a nominal voltage of 400V.
The transmissible power for the various systems can be
expressed as follows:
– traditional AC - =
– DC with 3 conductors - 3 = 2∙ 3∙ 3
– DC with 2 conductors - 2 = 2∙ 2
where VDC3 is the voltage between the positive or nega-
tive pole and neutral conductor, while VDC2 is the voltage
between the two poles. Assuming VAC = 400 V; VDC3 =
400 V; VDC2 = 800 V, for the comparison between the AC
and DC distribution, the following hypotheses are made:
– the cables, with the same section in all the examined
cases, are loaded up to their thermal limit current, so
that IAC = IDC3 = IDC2;
– the whole load is connected at the end of the line and
the possible presence of DG is neglected;
– the power factor of the AC loads is 0.9.
The comparison between the two systems, AC and DC
with 3 conductors, shows that in DC a power 1.28 times
larger than that in AC can be transported.
The same result is obtained in case of 2-wire DC distri-
bution system.
The relationships between the AC and DC transmissible
powers are the following:
3 2∙ 3 2 2
= = [1.1]
3∙ ∙ 3∙ ∙
By increasing the length of the line, the DC solutions can
transport an amount of electric power up to 2.2÷3.9 times
the one in AC. It can be concluded that with the same
extension of the distribution network, the DC solutions
can supply a larger load, while with the same load, the
DC distribution systems can have a greater extension
than the AC one.