Power Factor Correction of MV Microgrids by Adjusting LV Photovoltaic Inverters

In recent years, utilities require microgrids connected to the medium voltage distribution network to correct power factor at the point of common coupling (PCC). This paper proposes an approach based on the golden search method and the Fibonacci search method to define the photovoltaic inverters' power factor at the low voltage side of the network to achieve adequate power factor at the microgrid PCC (medium voltage). The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated using a simulation benchmark implemented using the OpenDSS COM interface in Matlab. This simulation is based on a real microgrid located at the Federal University of ABC in Santo André, Brazil, that includes nine photovoltaic systems with a total capacity of 473 kVA. The results showed that utilizing the proposed approach in microgrids can avoid operating with low power factors.