Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

1. INTRODUCTION

Microgrid is a miniaturized version of self-sustained energy model which can be used to generate,
distribute and control the bi-directional flow of power within its boundary of operation in a
coordinated control, intelligent and efficient way with a focus on integration of green energy
sources. A part of distribution system which is capable of supplying its own load in-spite of having
disconnection from its supporting grid or utility is known as Microgrid. It includes large amount of
conventional and non-conventional distributed generators that are interconnected physically through
different interfacing devices[1].The concept of powering and grounding sensitive electronic
equipment in a manner suitable for the equipment is known as Power Quality. It is a set of electrical
boundaries that allows a piece of equipment to function in its intended manner without significant
loss of performance or life expectancy.

During the operation of microgrid, presence of switching devices, sensitive and non- linear loads
can influence the power quality and also on the other hand due to the presence of intermittent
distributed generation (DG) like solar energy and wind power may affect the power quality of a
microgrid as they are connected to the system either directly or through power electronics interface
[5]. Due to ever growing application of switching devices using power semiconductor devices, the
power quality is bound to get deteriorated and at the same time such devices are also prone to
malfunction due to poor power quality. These power quality issues may affect end users, equipment
& system manufacturer, designers of plants & installations, electricity distributors, public
authorities and general public. They create disturbances and malfunctioning in the system. Poor
power quality will also result into poor on-grid electricity pricing especially in a future power
quality sensitive market.

The power disturbances occur on all electrical systems, the sensitivity of today's sophisticated
electronic devices make them more susceptible to the quality of power supply. For some sensitive
devices, a momentary disturbance can cause scrambled data, interrupted communications, system
crashes and equipment failure etc. Power quality problems encompass a wide range of disturbances
such as voltage sags, swells, flickers, harmonic distortion, impulse transients, and interruptions.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 1

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Saranjeet Kaur ,Et Al [5],Explains about the importance of the Power Quality in a Microgrid
System.The role of controllers in power quality improvement. The part of devices in the
enhancement of power quality in a microgrid. Different harmonic mitigation techniques are
discussed. The contribution of optimization techniques in the enhancement of power quality.

2.2 Kavitha V Et Al [2], Explains about definition and importance of power quality. The various
problems in a power quality system various problems like voltage sag, voltage swell, Voltage
Transient, Voltage Interruption, Harmonics are discussed. The solutions to power quality issues,
filters like noise and harmonic and various types of power enhancement devices like transient
voltage surge suppressor (TVSS), dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) .

2.3 Prajakta B. Borase Et Al [1], Energy management of different types consumers is illustrated
such as microgrid for local controllers. EMS for MG consisting of PV, storage battery and fuel cells
is designed and analyzed. Simulation results verify EMS feasibility. Simple model of DC microgrid
with simple EMS control strategy in MATLAB presented. DC microgrid consists of photovoltaic,
PMDC generator as wind turbine generating system, grid, battery system for storage and energy
management controller. Economic and reliability issues of MG have been discussed along with
solutions for problems by considering constraints. Results are verified for grid connected mode and
islanding mode of microgrid. The power electronics conditioning devices gives effective solution to
improve power quality in power system. Unified Power Quality Controller (UPQC) is used to
mitigate voltage and current related problems simultaneously.

2.4 Ami Shah, Et Al [6], Explains about Definition Of Power quality and their problems. The
various problems in a power quality system various problem like voltage sag, voltage swell,
Voltage Transient, Voltage Interruption, Harmonics are discussed. Various MATLAB programs
and their results with respect to the power quality issues.

2.5 Ankita P. Bagde,Et Al [4], Explain about the works on power quality issues.Series active
power filter is proposed to mitigate voltage harmonics. Modeling and control scheme of series
active power filter. The series APF is developed for harmonic and voltage distortion compensation
of the non linear load. The control technique is based on the elimination of both the negative and
Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 2
Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

zero sequence components from the supply voltage followed by the regulation of the remaining
component.

3. POWER QUALITY ISSUES

Electrical and electronic equipment is rated for operation at a specific voltage. Voltage dips, swells
and transients can cause trouble with industrial controls as well as equipment such as computers.
Surges are generally more damaging to equipment than dips, but both can harm industrial
equipment and cause outages, failures and other power quality problems.

3.1 VOLTAGE DIPS:

Voltage dips (also known as “sags”) are a reduction of voltage of 10% or more below normal or
recommended usage, such as a 120-voltage outlet dropping to 90 volts. Voltage dips can have a
ripple effect across multiple pieces of equipment, such as a hair dryer used in one room causing the
lights in another room to dim. They can result from large motors being turned ON, to temporary
short circuits in utility power lines. Under voltage is a dip that lasts longer than a minute and can be
caused by overloaded transformers or undersized conductors.

Fig3.1: Voltage sag waveform

3.1.1 General causes of voltage sags:

 Due to faults
 Due to motor starting
 Due to transformer energizing

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 3

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

3.1.2 Effects of voltage sags:

 Commercial Installations
 Chiller System: Causing the trip
 Lighting Circuits: Flickering of the lights (HID)
 Escalators: Control contactors and PLC of the escalator may drop off
 General Circuits: Tripping of MCB and RCD

3.2 VOLTAGE SWELL:

Voltage Swell is defined as the increase in the RMS voltage level to 110% - 180% of
nominal, at the power frequency for durations of ½ cycle to one (1) minute. Voltage swell is
basically the opposite of voltage sag or dip.

Fig 3.2: Voltage swell waveform

Swells are subdivided into three categories:

Table.1:Voltage Swell Categories

Voltage swells are characterized by their RMS magnitude and duration. The gravity of the
PQ problem during a fault condition is a function of the system impedance (i.e. relation of the zero-
sequence impedance to the positive-sequence impedance of the system) location of the fault and
the circuit grounding configuration. As an example, on an ungrounded system, the line-to-ground
voltages on the unfaulted phases can go as high as 1.73 pu during a SLG fault. On the contrary, on a

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 4

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

grounded system close to the substation, there will be no voltage rise on the unfaulted phases
because the substation transformer is usually connected delta-wye, providing a low impedance zero-
sequence path for the fault current.

Voltage swells are usually associated with system fault conditions - just like voltage sags but
are much less common. This is particularly true for ungrounded or floating delta systems, where the
sudden change in ground reference result in a voltage rise on the ungrounded phases. In the case of
a voltage swell due to a single line-to-ground (SLG) fault on the system, the result is a temporary
voltage rise on the unfaulted phases, which last for the duration of the fault.

3.2.1 Causes :

 Voltage swells can also be caused by the deenergization of a very large load. The abrupt
interruption of current can generate a large voltage, per the formula: V = L di/dt, where L is
the inductance of the line and di/dt is the change in current flow.
 Moreover, the energization of a large capacitor bank can also cause a voltage swell, though
it more often causes an oscillatory transient.

3.2.2 Effects:

 It may cause breakdown of components on the power supplies of the equipment, though the
effect may be a gradual, accumulative effect.
 It can cause control problems and hardware failure in the equipment, due to overheating that
could eventually result to shutdown.
 Also, electronics and other sensitive equipment are prone to damage due to voltage swell.

3.3 VOLTAGE TRANSIENT:

A transient voltage is a temporary unwanted voltage in an electrical circuit that range from a few
volts to several thousand volts and last micro seconds up to a few milliseconds. Transient voltages
are caused by the sudden release of stored energy due to incidents such as lightning strikes,
unfiltered electrical equipment, contact bounce, arcing, capacitor bank or generators being switched
ON and OFF. Transient voltages differ from swells by being larger in magnitude and shorter in
duration. Faulty contactors and lightning are the most common source of transients.
Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 5
Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

Fig 3.3: Transient Voltage Waveform

3.4 VOLTAGE INTERRUPTIONS:

Interruption occurs when the supply voltage (or load current) decreases to less than 0.1 pu for less
than 1 minute. Some causes of interruption are equipment failures, control malfunction, and blown
fuse or breaker opening.
Based on the standard IEEE-1250 [25]:
• An instantaneous interruption is between 0.5 and 30 cycles;
• A momentary interruption is between 30 cycles and 2 seconds;
• A temporary interruption is between 2 seconds and 2 minutes; and
• A sustained interruption is longer than 2 minutes.
Interruptions are classified into either a short-duration or long-duration variation.

3.4.1 Short-duration Interruption:

Interruption is defined as the decrease in the voltage supply level to less than 10% of nominal for up
to one (1) minute duration. They are further subdivided into: Instantaneous (1/2 to 30 cycles),
Momentary (30 cycles to 3 seconds) and Temporary (3 seconds to 1 minute).
Interruptions mostly result from reclosing circuit breakers attempting to clear non-permanent faults,
first opening and then reclosing after a short time delay. The devices are usually on the distribution
system, but at some locations, momentary interruptions also occur for faults on the sub transmission
system. The extent of interruption will depend on the reclosing capability of the protective device.
Aside from system faults, interruptions can also be due to control malfunctions and equipment
failures.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 6

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

Consequences of short interruptions are similar to the effects of voltage sags. Interruptions may
cause the following:

 Stoppage of sensitive equipment (i.e. computers, PLC, ASD)

 Unnecessary tripping of protective devices
 Loss of data
 Malfunction of data processing equipment.

3.4.2 Sustained Interruption:

Sustained Interruption is defined as the decrease in the voltage supply level to zero for more
than one (1) minute. It is classified as a long duration voltage variation phenomena. Sustained
interruptions are often permanent in nature and require manual intervention for restoration. In
addition, they are specific power system phenomena and have no relation to the usage of the term
outage. Outage does not refer to a specific phenomenon, but rather to the state of a system
component that has failed to function. Furthermore, in the context of power quality monitoring,
interruption has no relation to reliability or other continuity of service statistics.

Fig3.4(a): Sustained Interruption:

Sustained interruptions are usually caused by permanent faults due to storms, trees striking
lines or poles, utility or customer equipment failure in the power system or miscoordination of
protection devices. Consequently, such disturbances would result to a complete shutdown of the
customer facility.
Interruptions and Voltage Sag: Some interruptions may be preceded by voltage sag,
particularly when these PQ problems are due to faults on the source system. The voltage sag occurs
between the time a fault initiates and the protective device operates. On the faulted feeder, loads
will experience voltage sag followed immediately by an interruption. The figure below illustrates a
momentary interruption during which voltage on one phase sags to about 20 percent for about 3
cycles, which subsequently drops to zero for about 1.8 s until the breaker closes back in.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 7

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

Fig3.4 (b): Interruption after a Voltage Sag

Also, as mentioned, the effects of voltage sags are almost similar to interruptions. Yet, interruptions
affect the majority of end-users, while voltage sags only impact the more sensitive end-users. In
other words, if other customers on the same circuit are also affected, then, the probability is high
that the disturbance is due to interruption and not voltage sag.

3.5 FLICKER:

Flicker is defined as 'Impression of unsteadiness of visual sensation induced by a light

stimulus whose luminance or spectral distribution fluctuates with time'. From a more practical point
of view one can say that voltage fluctuations on the supply network cause change of the luminance
of lamps, which in turn can create the visual phenomenon called flicker.[6]

Fig 3.5: Flicker

3.6 HARMONICS:

Harmonics are described as sinusoidal voltages or currents having frequencies that are
integer multiples of the fundamental frequency at which the power system is designed to operate.
This means that for a 50-Hz system, the harmonic frequencies are 100 Hz (2nd harmonic),150Hz

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 8

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

(3rd harmonic) and so on. Harmonics combine with the fundamental voltage or current producing a
non-sinusoidal shape, thus, a waveform distortion power causes quality problem. The non-
sinusoidal shape corresponds to the sum of different sine waves with different magnitudes and
phase angles, having frequencies that are multiples of the system frequency.

Fig 3.6: Harmonic Waveform Distortion

Harmonic distortion levels can be characterized by the complete harmonic spectrum with
magnitudes and phase angles of each individual harmonic component. It is also common to use the
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), as a measure of the effective value of harmonic distortion. It has
become an increasing concern for many end-users and for the overall power system because of the
growing application of power electronics equipment

3.6.1 Causes:

 Harmonics exists due to the nonlinear characteristics loads and devices on the electrical
power system. These devices can be modeled as current sources that inject harmonic
currents into the electrical system. Consequently, voltage distortion is created as these
currents produce nonlinear voltage drops across the system impedance.
 Prior to the proliferation of power electronic equipment, harmonics are commonly caused by
electric machines working above the knee of the magnetization curve (magnetic saturation),
arc furnaces, welding machines, rectifiers, and DC brush motors.
 All non-linear loads, such as power electronics equipment including Switched Mode Power
Supplies (SMPS), Adjustable Speed Drives (ASD), high efficiency lighting and data
processing equipment cause harmonic distortion.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 9

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

3.6.2 Effects:

 Equipment failure and equipment heating.

 Create a electromagnetic interference between the communication circuits.
 Protection from high levels of harmonics includes isolation or modification of the source,
phase multiplication, pulse width modulator (PWM) and application of passive or active
harmonic filters.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 10

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

4. MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

4.1 Isolation Transformers

Isolation Transformer is a special type of transformer, wherein the primary and secondary windings
are physically separated through so-called double insulation. Also, an isolation transformer with
electrostatic shields is commonly employed as power supplies for sensitive devices like computers,
laboratory measurement instruments, and medical equipment.

The leakage inductance of isolation transformers is the primary feature that electrically
isolates people and equipment from the hazards of power quality problems such as transients and
high-frequency noise. Subsequently, they have a lower leakage current than those that use a shield.
In addition, isolation transformers can prevent the transfer of DC signals from one circuit to the
other, as well as block interference due to ground loops. However, they permit AC power or signals
to pass.

Fig 4.1: Isolation Transformer

4.1.1 Applications and Benefits:

Some of the applications are mentioned below.

 Medical Transformers
 Electronics
 Ships
 Separately Derived System

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 11

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

Furthermore, other benefits and uses of isolation transformers are the following:

 Capacitor-switching and lightning transients can be attenuated, thus preventing nuisance

tripping of adjustable-speed drives and other equipment.
 Improve power quality by reducing high-frequency noise currents.
 Combined with surge protective devices, it offers continuous filtering of power line noise in
all modes.
 Active transformer filtering provides common-mode noise rejection with no wearable parts,
exceptionally reducing surges in the worst of power environments to harmless levels.
 Limit voltage notching due to power electronic switching.
 Eliminate neutral-to-ground voltage and noise, which cause reliability problems for
microprocessor-based electronics.

4.1.2 Construction and Design:

Isolation transformers are normally designed with consideration to capacitive coupling

between the transformer windings. This is because excessive capacitance could couple AC current
from the primary to the secondary. Therefore, double isolation is required to solve such a problem.

Fig 4.1(a): Isolation Transformer Diagram

The electricity simply flows to the ground if the isolation breaks, providing the required
safety. The shield will attenuate transients and will reduce the coupling of common-mode noise by
decreasing the capacitive coupling.

4.2 Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor (TVSS)

Surge and Transient Voltage Surge are a temporary rise in voltage and current on an electrical
circuit. Their voltage ranges are greater than 2000 volt and current ranges are greater than 100
amperes. Typical rise time is in the 1 to 10-microsecond range. Transient or surge is the most
common power problems and its compacts are caused significant damages such as electrical or
electronic equipment failure, frequent downtime, lost data, lost time and business downtime, etc.

The major of electronics damage from the surge is lightning strikes. The most damages are not
caused by direct lightning strikes but are the result of transient voltage and current surges induced
on power, telecommunications or RF transmission lines by the strong electromagnetic fields created
by during a lightning strike.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 12

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

The surge protector also known as Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor (TVSS), Surge Protection
Devices (SPD) or Surge Suppression Equipment (SSE) is the equipment designed to protect
electrical and electronic equipments from power surges and voltage spikes. Surge protector diverts
the excess voltage and current from transient or surge into a grounding wire.

Surge protector diverts the excess voltage and current from transient or surge into grounding wire
and prevents it from flowing through the electrical and electronic equipments while at the same
time allowing the normal voltage to continue along its path

4.3 Noise Filters

Noise filters can be used as to remove the unwanted voltage signals and current signals in the
sensitive equipment. It can be carried out by using the combinations of capacitors and inductors it
will be creates a low impedance path to the fundamental frequency and also a high impedance path
of the higher frequencies. It is also called as low pass filter used as when noise along with
frequency in the range of KHZ.

4.4 Harmonic Filters

We know that harmonics filters can be used to reduce the unwanted or undesirable harmonics. This
has to be split into the two types of groups one is a passive filters another one is a active filters
.passive filters is defined as the combinations of the resistors, inductors, capacitors it also be
carried out low impedance path to the fundamental of frequencies even it is reduced unused
harmonic components. A lot of passive filters connected in parallel this to be reduced several
harmonic components. Passive filters can be acts as a Ineffective situation when the vary the
passive components or system is varied. Then active filter is used to identify the current consume
by the load along with it will reduce the harmonics currents generated by the loads. In the past few
years it will not be a effective but ii will be becoming cost effective to reduce changing and
unknown harmonics.

4.5 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS), also known as a battery backup, provides backup power
when your regular power source fails or voltage drops to an unacceptable level. A UPS allows for
the safe, orderly shutdown of a computer and connected equipment. The size and design of a UPS
determine how long it will supply power.

4.5.1 UPS Topologies:

Different UPS topologies provide specific levels of power protection.

Standby is the most basic UPS topology. A standby UPS resorts to battery backup power in the
event of common power problems such as a blackout, voltage sag, or voltage surge. When incoming
utility power drops below or surges above safe voltage levels, the UPS switches to DC battery
power and then inverts it to AC power to run connected equipment. These models are designed for
consumer electronics, entry-level computers, security systems, and other basic electronic
equipment.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 13

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

A line-interactive UPS incorporates technology which allows it to correct minor power fluctuations
(under-voltage and over voltages) without switching to battery. This type of UPS has an
autotransformer that regulates low voltages (e.g., brownouts) and over voltages (e.g., swells)
without having to switch to battery. Line-interactive UPS models are typically used for consumer
electronics, PCs, gaming systems, home theater electronics, network equipment, and entry-to-mid-
range servers. They provide power during such events as a blackout, voltage sag, voltage surge, or
over-voltage.

A double-conversion (online) UPS provides consistent, clean, and near-perfect power regardless of
the condition of incoming power. This UPS converts incoming AC power to DC, and then back to
AC. UPS systems with this technology operate on isolated DC power 100 percent of the time and
have a zero-transfer time because they never need to switch to DC power. Double-conversion UPS
systems are designed to protect mission-critical IT equipment, data center installations, high-end
servers, large telecom installations and storage applications, and advanced network equipment from
damage caused by a power blackout, voltage sag, voltage surge, over-voltage, voltage spike,
frequency noise, frequency variation, or harmonic distortion.

Fig 4.5 : UPS block Diagram

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 14

Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

5. CONCLUSIONS:

Here this explored about various power quality issues in a microgrid. In the field of renewable
energy, as the research and development all over the world is mainly focusing in the real-time
implementation of smart grid, the study of microgrid, its control strategies and the challenges aims
to generate and feed quality and reliable power to the customers is very well needed. These PQ
issues that occur in steady state, namely voltage drop, harmonic distortion, and voltage unbalance,
by acting on the demand level of certain types of electrical devices in the microgrid. Every type of
load has its own physical and economical properties.
The mentioned mitigation techniques in this paper are most commonly used and their
working principles are explained. Although different mitigating techniques have been developed to
improve the power quality in a microgrid system, new techniques are being developed.

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 15

 Power quality issues in microgrid and their mitigation techniques

6. REFERENCES:

[1] P. B. Borase and S. M. Akolkar, "Energy management system for microgrid with power
quality improvement," International conference on Microelectronic Devices, Circuits and
Systems (ICMDCS), Vellore, 2017

[2] V. Kavitha and K. Subramanian, "Investigation of power quality issues and its solution for
distributed power system," International Conference on Circuit , Power and Computing
Technologies (ICCPCT), Kollam, 2017

[3] S. S. Rao, P. S. R. Krishna and S. Babu, "Mitigation of voltage sag, swell and THD using
Dynamic Voltage Restorer with photovoltaic system," International Conference on Algorithms,
Methodology, Models and Applications in Emerging Technologies (ICAMMAET), Chennai, 2017

[4] Ankita P. Bagde, Rupali B. Ambatkar, Rupali G. Bhure, Prof. Bhushan S. Rakhonde
‘‘Power quality improvement by series active power filter- A Review’’
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
Volume: 04 Issue: 01 | Jan -2017 www.irjet.net

[5] S. Kaur and B. Dwivedi, "Power quality issues and their mitigation techniques in
microgrid system-a review," 7th India International Conference on Power Electronics (IICPE),
Patiala, 2016

[6] Ami Shah, Yash Shah, Sanket Patel, Jagdish Bichve

‘‘Power Quality Problems, their Power Quality (IEEE & IEC) Standards in Power
System’’
2nd International Conference on Current Research Trends in Engineering and Technology © 2018
IJSRSET

Dept. of E&E Engg., NIE, Mysuru Page 16