Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582

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International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijepes

Probabilistic assessment of the influence of transformer rating on power

quality indices in future residential networks
Pablo Rodríguez-Pajarón a, *, Araceli Hernández Bayo a, Jovica V. Milanović b
a
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
b
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This paper proposes a methodology to assess the influence of transformer rated power on the power quality
Distribution Transformer indices in future low voltage residential networks. Taking into account the stochastic nature of residential loads
EN50160 and the possibility of photovoltaic generation, a Monte Carlo methodology is developed in order to account for
Power Quality
the probabilistic aspects of the problem. In this work, different transformer ratings are simulated and the effect
Probabilistic Assessment
Residential Network
on power quality parameters, such as voltage unbalance and voltage total harmonic distortion, is assessed using
probabilistic approach. These power quality indices are compared to the compliance limits proposed in standard
EN50160. Several case studies are presented for two different networks, the IEEE European Low Voltage network
and a larger 471-buses residential network. These studies allow establishing general conclusions regarding
desirable transformer size in order not to exceed power quality limits and considering the influence of photo­
voltaic generation on power quality parameters.

1. Introduction
The next generation grid will be very different from past and present
grids. Nowadays, and even more in the future, power comes from
distributed sources, such as photovoltaic generation (PV), that are
frequently integrated in the grid by means of electronic converters. In
addition, on the load side, there is an increasing use of power
electronics-based loads with nontraditional consumption patterns [1].
The mass adoption of these new generation and consumption tech­
nologies implies a potential threat that the power quality (PQ) in the
network could be degraded [2]. In particular, harmonics are one of the
most concerning disturbances in residential networks since the power
electronic based devices increasingly connected in domestic environ­
ments inject non sinusoidal currents [1]. On the other hand, residential
loads, as well as PV generation, involve a high level of uncertainties.
Consequently, in order to assess the impact of these technologies,
deterministic formulations [3,4] can lack representativeness of the true
performance of the distribution system and the uncertainty associated
with input data must be accounted for [5].
This paper aims to evaluate PQ voltage levels of future distribution
networks with increasing participation of nonlinear (NL) loads
considering their stochastic nature. This work extends the study pre­
sented in [6] by including PV distributed generation and case studies on
large, realistic test network. Furthermore, in order to account for the
uncertainties related to the random performance and allocation of loads
and PV generation, a probabilistic approach based Monte Carlo (MC)
method is applied. It has been found in the past that the loading ratio of
the main substation transformer feeding the residential network is a
critical factor that affects the attained PQ levels and the probability of
compliance with the standard limits [7]. However, this influence of the
transformer rated power is very often neglected or not analyzed in detail
in probabilistic studies that assess harmonic distortion [8–12]. The aim
of this work is to provide a better understanding of the influence of the
transformer sizing and to propose some indicative figures about desir­
able transformer loading ratios.
Several studies in the past established the optimal design and ca­
pacity of transformers installed in distribution networks to account for
the expected load growth and the necessary capacity reinforcement
[13–17]. However, these studies, while considering substation design
according to reliability, losses, overloading, cost or other different pa­
rameters, disregarded the significant dependency of the selected trans­
former sizing on the levels of PQ achieved in the distribution network.

* Corresponding author at: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid,
Spain.
E-mail address: pablo.rpajaron@upm.es (P. Rodríguez-Pajarón).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2021.107582
Received 29 June 2021; Received in revised form 12 August 2021; Accepted 5 September 2021
Available online 24 September 2021
0142-0615/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al.
The work presented in this paper focuses on this particular aspect and
allows predicting the impact on PQ caused by changes in transformer
rated power and network aggregated demand ratio. The proposed
methodology and the presented case studies demonstrate that trans­
former rating is a key aspect influencing the PQ in the network and,
consequently, has a definitive impact on the compliance with PQ stan­
dards’ specified limits.
The main contributions of this paper include: i) A methodology for
the probabilistic assessment of harmonic and unbalance levels in resi­
dential networks considering the selected transformer rating; ii) prob­
abilistic assessment of the influence of the interaction between PV
generation and transformer rating on the expected PQ levels; iii) The
illustration of the methodology on a range of case studies applied to two
test networks, the IEEE European Low Voltage network [18] and a
realistic 471- bus residential network [19] and the comparison of results
to EN50160 standard limits [7]. These studies facilitate drawing general
conclusions regarding the desirable transformer size in order to comply
with power quality limits.
2. Probabilistic Methodology for PQ Assessment
2.1. Fundamentals of the Methodology for PQ Assessment
Devices connected to residential distribution networks are charac­
terized by their highly stochastic on–off state. In order to take into ac­
count the uncertainties in residential load modeling, PQ impact is
assessed by means of a probabilistic approach based on MC method.
Output results are compared with the limits specified in international
standards and, in particular, in standard EN50160 [7].
A flow chart of the proposed methodology is shown in Fig. 1, and
involves the following steps:
1. Definition of the scenario (i.e., transformer rated power and PV
penetration level).
2. Generation of weekly stochastic power demand profiles for resi­
dential loads and PV generated power profile with a 10-min time
step. Harmonic emission levels of loads and PV generation are also
stochastically established according to characteristic probability
distributions.
3. Load profiles are randomly allocated to network buses.
4. PV generation profiles are randomly allocated to network buses
depending on the study performed and according to the considered
PV penetration level.
Fig. 1. Flowchart of the proposed methodology.
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International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582
5. Harmonic injection caused by nonlinear loads and PV generation are
applied. With this, unbalance and voltage harmonic levels are
assessed by means of three-phase power flow and harmonic power
flow.
6. Calculation of PQ indices according to EN50160.
7. Steps 2) - 6) are repeated numerous times using MC simulations in
order to get probabilistic assessment of PQ harmonic indices. The
number of required MC simulations is discussed in Section 3.2.
This process has been performed for several scenarios with different
values of rated power of the main substation transformer to assess the
influence of this parameter on the existing PQ levels.
The methodology proposed in this work can be adopted to study
different effects, networks or PQ phenomena. The validity of the results
obtained in this work rely on the accuracy of the models considered,
such as the models for residential load profiles, PV generation, harmonic
injections and test feeders, which are comprehensively explained in the
following sections.
2.2. Modeling of Residential Load Profiles
Weekly residential demand is simulated by means of a model based
on Markov chains proposed in [20,21]. This model allows generating
synthetic electricity load profiles for detached houses with 1-min reso­
lution. Standard EN50160 requires a resolution of 10 min, so the power
demand estimated with [20] is averaged to meet this condition [12].
The number of occupants per residence required by the model in
order to generate domestic demand curves is extracted from Spanish
statistics and forecasts for 2030 [22].
In order to randomize the process, a set of 100 weekly load profiles
have been generated for three occupancy levels (few, many and average
occupants), i.e., 300 weekly load profiles in total. An example of a res­
idential load curve is shown in Fig. 2 for a randomly selected week of the
pool. According to the simulated occupancy level, a weekly load profile
from the appropriate pool is randomly selected for each residence in
each simulation.
All demand profiles are simulated for winter period, when demand is
higher and PQ disturbances can reach higher severity levels [8].
2.3. Modeling of PV generation
In some of the analyzed case studies, PV generation is also considered
in the network. In order to account for the stochastic behavior of this
type of generation, sun irradiance is probabilistically calculated ac­
cording to [23]. In this model, sun irradiance is calculated based on time
of day and latitude. Afterwards, real sun incident irradiance is re-
calculated considering a stochastic passing-cloud factor. In this work,
latitude for the city of Madrid, Spain, is considered in sun irradiance
calculations.
To model the generated power, previously computed irradiance
values are attached to a PV generator, which is considered to have ef­
ficiency between 0.135 and 0.185 (with uniform probability) according
to [24]. A random panel size is selected for each dwelling as reported in
Table 1 [25]. Inverters are supposed to work with unity power factor.
Fig. 2 also shows the aggregated PV generated power in the IEEE LV
European network [18], with a penetration level of PV generation of
Fig. 2. Example of weekly residential demand and PV generation profile.
P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al. International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582

Table 1 Table 3
PV panel size and probabilities [25]. Harmonic spectrum for residential loads [5].
Size (m2) 6.25 9.38 12.5 15.63 18.75 21.88 25 Harmonic current spectrum for residential loads

Probability 0.01 0.08 0.13 0.14 0.14 0.12 0.38 Harmonic order Type a Type b

3rd Mag [%] 10–20 50–70

Phase [◦ ] 230–290 120–180
40% [11]. Increasing PV penetration level causes a net power demand
reduction in the network, which may have a similar effect as increasing 5th Mag [%] 5–10 40–60
transformer rating. To consider the impact of this effect, different Phase [◦ ] 90–150 200–260
penetration levels of PV generation are considered in this work.
7th Mag [%] 2–4 30–40
Phase [◦ ] 40 - (-10) 200–260
2.4. Modeling of Harmonic Injections

NL penetration is a key parameter affecting the PQ levels in the

network. Different levels of NL penetration lead to different severity of
harmonic distortion in the network. In this study, 60% of residential
loads are assumed to have a NL characteristic (and, consequently, to
inject harmonics) in accordance with the forecast for residential load
growth in 2030 [1].
In [5,26] the current harmonic emission of NL residential loads is
determined based on field measurements. According to this approach,
current harmonic spectrum of aggregated residential profiles follows a
distribution considering two load types (load types a and loads type b)
whose participation (fa and fb ) in the total load is obtained from a
normal distribution with mean and typical standard deviation that vary
depending on the time of the day as shown in Table 2. Table 3 shows the
limit interval values for uniform probability distribution of the harmonic
magnitude and phase angle of both types of loads.
The current harmonic emission of NL loads has been modeled ac­ Fig. 3. Single-line diagram of the LV European test feeder.
cording to the probability distributions described in Table 3 and derived
from field measurements [5]. The higher harmonic orders have not been buses and 55 single-phase residential loads, allocated to a phase of the
considered in THD calculation, as it has been proven that their contri­ system. Each load represents an individual domestic consumer.
bution to voltage THD is negligible due to their typically low magni­ The feeder is connected to medium voltage by a Dy 800 kVA trans­
tudes. The influence of harmonic voltages on harmonic current former substation that steps the voltage down from 11 kV to 416 V. This
injections has been neglected [9]. transformer is overrated when compared to the power demand of the
PV harmonic current emission has been modeled by considering the specified loads, which is 64 kVA according to the network specifications
real harmonic spectrum of PV single-phase inverters extracted from [18]. Nevertheless, in this paper, the demanded power is obtained for
PANDA database [27]. each week in a probabilistic way as described in Section 2.2. Different
Voltage harmonic levels in the network are calculated by modeling scenarios where the initial transformer rated power is modified are
residential loads and PV devices as constant P and Q demands at the considered in this work to establish the influence of this parameter on
fundamental frequency, and as Norton equivalents, as proposed in PQ levels.
[28,29], at harmonic frequencies. With this, the methodology illustrated The second test feeder used in this work is the Representative Eu­
by flowchart in Fig. 1 is applied to calculate PQ levels for each scenario ropean Network #7 [19]. In this network, 7 different feeders are con­
and the results are compared with the international standard limits. The nected to a 11/0.416 kV Dy transformer, whose rated power is modified
details regarding the simulation framework are provided in the in each case study. All 471 residential loads in the network are single
following section. phase and their allocations are specified in the network model. Fig. 4
shows a single-line diagram of the test network.
3. Simulation Framework
3.2. Monte Carlo Simulation
3.1. Test feeders
MC method is based on the fact that a single simulation is not
Two different networks have been considered in this study. The first
representative of the reality in a stochastic study. This is why several
one is the IEEE European low voltage (LV) test feeder [18]. IEEE Euro­
iterations (each corresponding to a week) with different random inputs
pean LV test feeder represents a distribution system based on the Eu­
must be performed in order to obtain statistically representative output
ropean typical distribution grids. This means that the fundamental
values. The number of necessary iterations in the MC method depends
frequency is 50 Hz and it has a radial configuration, as shown in the
on the problem to solve. To select an appropriate number of iterations
simplified single-line diagram in Fig. 3. The network is composed of 906
for the study presented in this paper, the impact of the number of iter­
ations on the frequency of occurrence of 3rd harmonic voltages has been
Table 2 assessed. The mean squared error (MSE) between the frequency of
Weighted contribution of each of the harmonic type [5].
occurrence of 3rd harmonic voltages in a MC with 1000 simulated weeks
Period (hrs) fa fb and the frequency of occurrence of 3rd harmonic voltages in a lower
μ σ μ σ number of iterations (simulated weeks) has been calculated for the IEEE
European LV test feeder [18]. The MSE is shown in Fig. 5 and also the
8:00–18:00 0.1 0.03 0.9 0.3 required simulation time for different number of simulated weeks. As
18:00–8:00 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.12
shown in Fig. 5, MSE has a strong elbow between 20 and 100 iterations

3
P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al.
Fig. 4. Single-line diagram of Representative European Network #7 with each feeder shown in a different color.
Fig. 5. Mean-squared error of the frequency of occurrence of 3rd harmonic
voltages with different number of MC simulations.
whereas the simulation time increases proportionally to the number of
iterations. This means that increasing the number of iterations from 100
to 400 or 700 does not reduce the error proportionally, while the time
increases significantly. In this work, 160 weeks have been simulated as a
good compromise between simulation time and accuracy.
3.3. Simulation Characteristics
For each considered scenario with different transformer rated power
and PV level, a MC simulation with 160 simulated weeks has been
applied. Harmonics and unbalances are estimated during a week with a
10-min sampling period. Therefore, 144 harmonic injections and three-
phase power flows are run per day, 1008 per week, and 161280 har­
monic injections and power flows in total are performed within the
observation period of 160 weeks in each scenario. All simulations were
done with the OPENDSS [30] software through interaction with MATLAB in
a Intel Core i7-7700 CPU @ 3.6 GHz with 32 GB RAM.
A continuous load flow has been performed for each ten-minute time
interval during the week for all weeks in a scenario without PV gener­
ation. In all scenarios with different power rated transformers the
voltage magnitude remained within + 10% and − 15% of the rated
voltage during 100% of the time, as required by EN50160 [7].
Furthermore, the voltage magnitude also stayed within ± 10% of the
rated voltage during 95% of the time at all system buses and for all the
scenarios except for the scenario with the smallest transformer. In this
case, a few buses that are the farthest away from the substation had
slightly (a few percent) lower voltages for around 10% of time.
4. Case Study: IEEE LV network
In this case study, the proposed method has been applied to the IEEE
LV network described in Section 3.1.
Voltages at fundamental and harmonic frequencies are obtained at
all network buses for each 10-min interval of every simulated week.
With these values, the 95th percentile of PQ indices can be calculated and
compared with EN50160 limits. Since 160 different weeks are simulated,
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International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582
compliance with standard thresholds can be established not just for a
single week, but over the whole observation period. These simulations
have been repeated for different scenarios to assess the influence of the
rated power values of the main transformer, ranging between 160 and
800 kVA (in steps of 10% rated power). The percent impedance of the
transformer has been assumed constant for the considered range of rated
power.
All these scenarios have been considered for two situations: without
PV generation and including 40% penetration level of PV generation.
4.1. Harmonic Levels Assessment
Standard EN50160 limits total voltage harmonic distortion (THD) to
a level of 8% during 95% of the time at the terminals of consumers [7].
In Fig. 6 a boxplot with the percentage of clients experiencing THD limit
violations (i.e., THD over 8% during more than 5% of the time) is pre­
sented. The lower horizontal axis of Fig. 6 shows the kVA power rating of
the transformer, while the upper horizontal axis shows the ratio between
the transformer rating and the mean demanded power in all the simu­
lated weeks. The mean apparent power supplied by the transformer is
182.5 kVA and the peak demanded apparent power is 305 kVA in the
simulated weeks. The median in this graph is represented as a red line
and it is referred to the THD value exceeded in 50% of the simulated
weeks (i.e., 80 weeks). For example, in Fig. 6(a), with a transformer with
a ratio of 2.67 between rated power and mean demanded power, in 50%
of the weeks there will be more than 61.8% clients exceeding limits.
These values are decreased (to only 49% of clients) in the scenario with
integration of PV generation.
From Fig. 6 it can be concluded that transformed sizing is a critical
aspect regarding THD level in the network. When the transformer rated
Fig. 6. Number of clients suffering from THD problems with different trans­
former ratings.
P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al. International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582

power is below around 2 times the average demand the percentage of

clients with non-compliance problems starts to grow very significantly.
On the other hand, by comparing the left and the right part of Fig. 6 it
can be seen that PV generation contributes to decreasing the level of
clients exceeding limits even if it includes converters that introduce
additional harmonic emission. In order to explain this effect, Fig. 7
shows the frequency distribution of demanded aggregated power in all
the simulated weeks. The mean value of aggregated apparent power is
182.5 kVA, and 90% of demanded power values are between 120.9 and
233.8 kVA when PV generation is not considered. The connection of PV
generation has the effect of reducing the total transformer load by
decreasing the supplied power. Therefore, PV generation increases the
ratio between the transformer rated power and demanded power.
The assessment of the percentage of clients experiencing THD vio­ Fig. 8. 95th percentile of THD at bus 53.
lations can hide the real variation of THD levels caused by variations of
transformer rating, since any value above the limit is considered as an
exceedance problem without consideration of its severity. To overcome
this limitation of the previous analysis, Fig. 8 shows the maximum,
minimum, and mean 95th THD percentile values for all the simulated
weeks at the farthest node from the substation (bus 53). At this bus, with
low short circuit power, all simulated weeks exceed the EN50160 THD
limit. However, this trend is different for other buses. Fig. 9 shows the
same analysis at the bus situated at the secondary side of the main
substation transformer. Buses in the network placed between the sec­
ondary of the main transformer and the farthest bus 53, have interme­
diate values of THD. Decreasing transformer power rating below around
2 times the mean demanded power causes a severe increase in the THD
levels. In addition, a great variability can be observed between the
maximum and the minimum THD level reached at buses, with some
weeks below the THD threshold and others above it. This shows the Fig. 9. 95th percentile of THD at secondary of transformer.
importance of performing a probabilistic study based on a MC method in
order to accurately represent the uncertainty in the variables.
In all the cases, PV generation can slightly decrease the level of
exceedance.
Regarding the recommended ratio between transformer rated power
and demand, is important to bear in mind that in real networks, very
frequently, the function of the rated 800 kVA transformer is allocated to
two parallel 400 kVA transformers, to comply with n +1 requirement
[31]. In this case, a scenario with just a 400 kVA transformer can occur
whenever one transformer is under maintenance. In this situation, the
network is not strong enough to assure the same level of THD, and an
increase in demanded power or a de-rating of transformer can lead to
severe PQ limit violations.
Fig. 10 shows the probability of exceeding THD limits for each bus of
the network in a scenario with a transformer with of 400 kVA rated
power and without PV generation. The square graph of Fig. 10 is divided
into 49 small squares (7x7), each of them corresponding to the bus
indicated by the number inside the square. The upper left corner cor­
responds to bus 7 and the lower right corner corresponds to bus 55.
Therefore, the upper rows of the square are allocated to buses close to
Fig. 10. Probability of THD limit exceedance at different buses with Stransformer
of 400 kVA.

the transformer substation, while lower rows correspond to buses

Fig. 7. Aggregated apparent power demand in the network.
located far away from the transformer. The color of each of these 49
boxes represents the probability of the bus exceeding the disturbance
limit (THD in this case). Probability near 1 (i.e., colored in yellow) in­
dicates that the THD threshold is very likely to be exceeded at that bus
according to the results obtained in the 160 simulated weeks. This figure
shows that the probability of non-compliance increases at buses far from
the main substation.
In Fig. 11, the square graph shown in Fig. 10 is replicated (with
reduced size) for all the scenarios with different transformer rated
power. By comparing the different color maps of the square graphs of
Fig. 11, the influence of transformer rated power on the analyzed
parameter can be assessed at different system buses. Fig. 11 shows that

5
P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al.
Fig. 11. Probability of THD limit exceedance for different transformer ratings.
the probability of limits violation is reduced when the transformer size
increases. The integration of PV generation can contribute to a reduction
in THD levels.
4.2. Unbalance Levels Assessment
According to EN50160 standard, unbalance ratio cannot exceed 2%
during more than 5% of the time of the week at the connection point of a
certain consumer. Fig. 12 shows the boxplot with the percentage of the
total number of clients that experience unbalance limits violations in the
simulated weeks when different transformer rated power is assumed for
the main transformer of the feeder and no PV generation is included. The
median in the boxplot is represented as a red line. For instance, in Fig. 12
(a), by looking at the median for a ratio 1.36 between demanded and
rated power, it can be seen that around 7% of the clients experience
violations of the 95th unbalance limit during at least 50% weeks. This
value decreases to 0% of the clients if the scenario with integration of PV
generation (see Fig. 12(b) on the right).
To illustrate the variation of unbalance levels caused by variations of
transformer rating, Fig. 13 shows the mean, maximum, and minimum
value of 95th percentile of unbalance at the farthest bus from substation
(bus 53), considering the 160 simulated weeks. In this figure, an elbow
can be seen around Stransformer /Sdemanded = 1.36. The variation observed in
unbalance levels when increasing the power transformer ratio over this
value is very slight and less noticeable than in the case of THD levels
shown in Fig. 8. However, it can produce significant changes in the
Fig. 12. Number of clients suffering from unbalance problems with different
transformer ratings.
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International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582
Fig. 13. 95th percentile of unbalance at bus 53.
percentage of clients with limits violations due to the proximity of the
unbalance levels to the threshold unbalance value 2%. The slight effect
of PV generation in the reduction of unbalance levels is also observed in
the right part of Fig. 13.
Fig. 14 shows the probability of exceeding unbalance limits for each
bus of the network in the considered scenarios with different trans­
former rated power by using a square graph similar to the one explained
in Fig. 10.
By comparing Fig. 14 for unbalance limits and Fig. 11 for THD limits,
it can be observed that transformer sizing is more critical regarding
limits compliance of harmonic distortion than regarding unbalance
limits. PV generation produces a slight decrease in disturbance severity
in both cases.
5. Case Study: Representative European Network
In order to validate the methodology proposed and to extend the
conclusions to different residential networks, the proposed method is
applied to a larger network: Representative European network #7 with
471 residential buses [19]. In this case, different scenarios are consid­
ered where the transformer rated power is increased from 1.6 MVA to
7.2 MVA, with a mean value of aggregated demanded power in the
network around 1.5 MVA.
5.1. Harmonic Analysis
Transformer rated power influences the number of clients exceeding
Fig. 14. Probability of unbalance limit exceedance for different trans­
former ratings.
P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al. International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582

harmonics limits in the network as shown in Fig. 15. A reduction in the

cases of non-compliance with THD limits is observed when the trans­
former size increases. This improvement slightly reduces for ratios
Stransformer /Sdemanded above, approximately, 2.67. The integration of PV
generation is considered in Fig. 15(b) where a general reduction in cases
of limits violation can be observed. This effect is caused by the decrease
in the global demand of the network produced by the connection of PV
generation and confirms the same trend observed in Section 4.1 for the
smaller network.
This tendency can be further analyzed by observing the probability
of exceeding THD standard limits at any particular bus of the system. In
Fig. 16 a squared graph is shown which represents with a coloured
scheme the probability of exceeding THD limit at any bus of the network
during the 160 simulated weeks. The upper left square corresponds to
bus 31 and the lower right square corresponds to bus 471. Differences in
non-compliance probability at certain buses can be observed between
the scenarios shown for transformers with 1600 kVA and 6400 kVA. The
integration of PV generation produces a decrease in the non-compliance
probability according to the trend seen previously for the IEEE 55-buses
network.

5.2. Unbalance Analysis

Unbalance levels in the network are not very influenced by trans­

former rating, as it is shown in Fig. 17. It can be seen that the median of
the distribution of clients experiencing unbalance over the threshold is
between 50% and 55% for all the simulated scenarios with different
Fig. 16. Probability of THD limit exceedance for different transformer ratings.
transformer ratings. In the case where PV generation is integrated, the
probability reduction is very slight, practically negligible. This result is
in coherence with the probability of limit exceedance shown in Fig. 18
for the scenarios with 1600 kVA and 6400 kVA. By comparing Fig. 18
with Fig. 16 it can be seen that transformer ratio is less critical regarding
voltage unbalance than regarding THD levels, i.e., unbalance levels are
less influenced by the transformer sizing than harmonic distortion. The
similar conclusion was reached in the previous case study with the 55-
bus network.

6. Influence of PV generation

Previous case studies have shown that PV generation has an impact

on PQ in residential networks. On the one hand, the summation of the
residential consumption and the energy generated by the integrated PV
generation leads to a net reduction of demand in the distribution
network. This effect is comparable to an increase of the ratio
Stransformer /Sdemanded , with the consequent reduction of PQ incidents.
However, on the other hand, PV inverters inject harmonic currents that
can increase the harmonic voltage levels. To analyze in detail this
phenomenon, a simulation in the Representative European Network #7
[19] is conducted with varying penetration level of PV generation (i.e.,
Fig. 15. Number of clients suffering from THD problems with different trans­
former ratings.
Fig. 17. Number of clients suffering from unbalance problems with different
transformer ratings.
the percentage of residences including PV generation, which is modeled
as explained in Section 2.3) of 0%, 20%, 40%, 80% and 100%. In this
case study, the transformer rated power is fixed to 4 MVA.
Fig. 19 shows the average and maximum demanded power in the
network depending on the PV penetration level. The effect of net de­
mand reduction when the PV generation is increased can be observed.
Fig. 20(b) shows the variation in the boxplot for the number of cli­
ents of the Representative European Network #7 that experience THD
violation of limits. A noticeable reduction in the number of clients
exceeding THD levels is detected when integrating PV generation into
the model, as seen in Fig. 20(a). However, increasing the number of PV
generators over 20% reverts this trend and the number of clients expe­
riencing THD violations increases.
A similar effect can be observed for unbalance levels. In this case, the
number of clients that experience unbalance violation of limits does not
change significantly with PV generation. Nevertheless, a slight reduction
in the number of clients exceeding the limits is detected when PV gen­
eration is integrated in the network with a small penetration level (20%
and 40%). However, this trend changes when the PV increases to larger
values (80% and 100%).

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P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al. International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582

Therefore, according to this study, the beneficial effect of PV gen­

eration on PQ levels seems to be bounded to a maximum PV penetration
level around 20%.

7. Conclusion

This work has presented a probabilistic method to assess power

quality in low voltage distribution networks, focusing on the influence of
the distribution transformer rated power on THD and unbalance levels.
Considering that PV generation will also have an outstanding role in
future distribution networks, the effect of different penetration levels of
this technology has also been assessed.
Results have been obtained by means of a MC method that considers
the stochastic nature of residential loads by simulating realistic load
profiles and assuming a 60% NL load penetration as a forecast value for
2030. Output results are compared to standard limits established in
EN50160.
Results have shown that the expected increase in the amount of NL
loads can jeopardize harmonic limit compliance and, under these cir­
cumstances, distribution transformer sizing is a crucial aspect. The case
studies performed in the IEEE LV 55-buses network and the 471-buses
representative European network, show that a loading ratio over 2
and 2.5 (expressed as the ratio between the transformer apparent power
and the mean demanded apparent power) is recommended in order not
to increase very significantly the number of clients with violation of PQ
limits. The increase in PQ problems is not linear with the transformer
rated power and that it shows an elbow at the aforementioned ratio. It
has also been proved that unbalance levels are less affected by the
Fig. 18. Probability of unbalance limit exceedance for different trans­ transformer sizing than harmonic distortion.
former ratings. Techno-economical constrains must be considered before a miti­
gating solution is adopted. The cost of increasing the transformer rated
power must be evaluated carefully (including other potential benefits
resulting from using larger transformers) and compared against the cost
of alternative solutions such as the installation of passive harmonic
filters.
Scenarios with two parallel transformers must be very carefully
analyzed when one transformer is under maintenance, since the network
in this situation cannot assure the same level of PQ limits compliance.
Finally, the integration of PV generation can produce a beneficial
effect on PQ caused by the net reduction of the transformer loading
factor. However, this effect is bounded to PV penetration level over 20%.
The case study presented has shown that increasing PV penetration over
this value does not introduce additional reductions in PQ levels.
With more detailed information about the network and its compo­
nents, e.g., the level of spatial and temporal penetration of NL loads and
their harmonic current injection values, the level of penetration of PV
cells, etc., the methodology presented here would contribute to a
Fig. 19. Average and maximum aggregated powers with different PV development of realistic insights in harmonic performance of a given
penetrations. network along the lines of the conclusions presented here.
The methodology proposed can be easily extended to other distri­
bution networks and also, to different PQ disturbances, such as flicker,
supraharmonics or voltage drops.

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y

Universidades, Spain, under Project RTI2018-097424-B-I00.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial

interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Fig. 20. Number of clients suffering from unbalance and THD problems with
different PV penetration levels.

8
P. Rodríguez-Pajarón et al. International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 135 (2022) 107582

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