PCC Voltage Stabilization using an Autonomous Volt-VAR Curve Change in Smart Inverters

This paper proposes a method of stabilizing a point of common coupling (PCC) voltage using an autonomous Volt-VAR curve change in smart inverters. When the interconnection capacity of distributed energy resources rapidly increases, the problem of a reverse power flow occurs and the PCC voltage becomes unstable. The smart inverter which is a grid-connected inverter for distributed energy resources performs Volt-VAR control in oder to stabilize the unstable PCC voltage. The smart inverter autonomously changes the Volt-VAR curve according to the PCC voltage. The smart inverter uses Volt-VAR curve with a larger slope if the PCC voltage is not stabilized when the Volt-VAR curve with a small slop is used. The Volt-VAR curve is maintained if the PCC voltage is stabilized using the Volt-VAR curve. The validity of the proposed method is verified by the simulation results and experimental results. Copyright ©The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers