Inverter VAR control for distribution systems with renewables

• Published in: 2011 IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications pp. 457 - 462
• Main Authors: Farivar, M., Clarke, C. R., Low, S. H., Chandy, K. M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.10.2011
• Subjects: Capacitors; Inverters; Optimization; Reactive power; Substations; Switches
• ISBN: 9781457717048; 1457717042
• DOI: 10.1109/SmartGridComm.2011.6102366

Motivated by the need to cope with rapid and random fluctuations of renewable generation, we presents a model that augments the traditional Volt/VAR control through switched controllers on a slow timescale with inverter control on a fast timescale. The optimization problem is generally nonconvex and therefore hard to solve. We propose a simple convex relaxation and prove that it is exact provided over-satisfaction of load is allowed. Hence Volt/VAR control over radial networks is efficiently solvable. Simulations of a real-world distribution circuit illustrates that the proposed inverter control achieves significant improvement over the IEEE 1547 standard in terms of power quality and power savings.