Coordinated phase-based voltage regulation in active unbalanced LV distribution networks

In this paper, a phase-based control algorithm is proposed to effectively address the voltage regulation problem in unbalanced low-voltage (LV) networks with high photovoltaic (PV) penetration. The proposed method is based on a single-phase droop characteristic of the injected power with respect to the phase-to-neutral voltage at the point of common coupling for each PV unit. The main objective is to regulate efficiently the grid phase voltages, as well as to ensure a uniform active power curtailment among the PV units connected in the same phase. Simulations of a highly unbalanced LV network justify the validity of the proposed method and its enhanced performance over the conventional droop control in terms of overvoltage and unbalance mitigation.