Analysis and operation of a microgrid with photovoltaic sources

Abstract

The present work focuses on the study of a physical module implemented in the Power Systems Control and Operation Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The system, which is referred to as the microgrid, consists of a solar generation unit, a central inverter, power electronics, measuring devices, data acquisition systems, and a mainly resistive load. The microgrid operates by connecting to the bulk power grid. The objective of this research is to understand the principles of the operation of a microgrid and to perform its electric power quality assessment. Part of the work involves describing and configuring the settings for proper operation of the microgrid and the data acquisition systems. The main contribution of this master’s thesis is to develop methods to perform power quality assessment of this specific system in accordance with the relevant quality standards: the IEEE Std. 519, “IEEE Recommended Practice for Harmonic Control in Electric Power Systems”, and the IEEE Std. 1547, “IEEE Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems”. The results and conclusions are all based on real measurements and are used to discuss simple design criteria to evaluate how different distributed energy resources would impact the local power system.