A bi-level inter-phase coordinated control method for voltage regulation in unbalanced LV distribution networks using PV-battery energy storage systems

Photovoltaic systems coupled with battery energy storage (PV-BES) can help to minimize the effects of variability in PV generation including voltage problems in low voltage distribution grids (LVDNs). Therefore, a joint centralized-decentralized method consisting of two control levels based on sensitivity analysis is proposed in this paper, which employs the BES charging and discharging control in the first level and reactive power capability of inverters in the second control level. When the BES charging and discharging control is insufficient for voltage regulation, the second level of the proposed method is triggered. For full utilization of the BES capacity and to ensure adequate capacity for the following day's voltage regulation needs, an enhancement algorithm is applied to the voltage to active power sensitivity coefficients. All of the voltage sensitivity coefficients are calculated by a central controller using an offline procedure and sent to the PV-BES inverters to determine the amount of active and reactive power in real-time according to the measured local voltage. Taking into account the inter-phase voltage effects, a request for Var compensation signal flow with inter-phase coordination constraints is utilized to properly coordinate the inverters in reactive power control. The proposed method can efficiently regulate voltage by preventing over and under-voltage problems, improving the average total voltage deviation (TVD), reducing the total reactive power absorption and injection by the inverters, and avoiding reduction in PV generation. To evaluate the performance of the proposed control method, it is compared with the commercially available inverter voltage control techniques in an unbalanced residential test feeder. Moreover, a comparison is conducted between the proposed method and an adaptive decentralized control approach presented in the literature. Furthermore, a three-phase Volt-Var strategy, with and without the inter-phase coordination constraints, is simulated that indicates the necessity of the constraints for proper coordination.