Voltage Unbalance Mitigation in Low Voltage Distribution Networks using Time Series Three-Phase Optimal Power Flow

Abstract

Due to high penetration of single-phase Photovoltaic (PV) cells into low voltage (LV) distribution networks, several impacts such as voltage unbalance, voltage rise, power losses, reverse power flow arise which leads to operational constraints violation in the network. In this paper, a time series Three Phase Optimal Power Flow (TPOPF) method is proposed to minimize the voltage unbalance in LV distribution networks with high penetration of residential PVs. TPOPF problem is formulated using the current injection method in which the PVs are modelled via a time-varying PV power profile with active and reactive power control. The proposed method is validated on a real LV distribution feeder. The results show that the reactive power management of the PVs helps mitigate the voltage unbalance significantly. Moreover, the voltage unbalance index reduced significantly compared to the case without voltage unbalance minimisation.