An Overview of DC Microgrid Protection Schemes and the Factors Involved

Abstract

The development of a suitable scheme for protection of DC microgrids is still a major challenge. This is due to the shortage of practical experience in appropriate protection guidelines and standards related to the uncertainty in the network topology, absence of a natural current zero-crossing point in DC systems, and dependence of fault current shape and magnitude on various factors. These factors include network topology, type of converters used in the network, type of fault and its location, fault impedance, and type of system grounding. In this paper, these factors and their impacts on the development of a comprehensive protection plan for DC microgrids have been investigated. Various algorithms that have been proposed in previous studies for fault detection and location are reviewed, and the technical challenges associated with the use of communication links in smart protection systems are described. In addition, the advent of new technologies for development of DC circuit breakers are reported, which are different from the conventional AC circuit breakers due to the differences between the faults in DC and AC microgrids and their respective clearance times. This comprehensive review covers all aspects of the DC microgrid protection including topology, converters, configurations, and types of faults.

Keywords:

• adaptive protection
• DC microgrid
• fault detection
• fault location
• protection

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Seyed Amir Hosseini

Seyed Amir Hosseini, received his Ph.D. degree from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2017 in electrical engineering. He was a Research Assistant for Niroo Research Institute (NRI), from 2014 to 2015. He is currently an Assistant Professor of electrical engineering with Golpayegan College of Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Golpayegan, Iran. Dr. Hosseini is currently the Associate-Editor of the AUT Journal of Electrical Engineering. His research interests include power system protection, power system analysis, and smart grids.

Behrooz Taheri

Behrooz Taheri, was born in Qazvin, Iran, in 1993. He received the B.S. degree in electrical power engineering in 2015. He is received his MSc degree in Electrical Engineering with high honors from Qazvin Islamic Azad University (QIAU), Qazvin, Iran, 2018. He is currently doing his Ph.D. at QIAU. First researcher among all university students in the Qazvin province in 2021. He has also been a Member of young researchers and elite club since 2018. His research interests include Power system protection, Non-intrusive load monitoring, Microgrid, and Smart grid.

Seyed Hossein Hesamedin Sadeghi

Seyed Hossein Hesamedin Sadeghi, received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1980, the M.S. degree in power engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester, U.K., in 1984, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic systems engineering from the University of Essex, Colchester, U.K., in 1991. In 1992, he was appointed as a Research Assistant Professor with Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. During 1996–1997 and 2005–2006, he was a Visiting Professor with the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is currently a Professor of electrical engineering with Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT), Tehran, Iran. He is the holder of four patents and is the author or coauthor of one book, one book chapter and more than 370 scientific papers published in reviewed journals and international conference proceedings. Dr. Sadeghi is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the AUT Journal of Electrical Engineering, and an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement. He is also a member of the IEEE EMC TC-5, Subcommittee Lightning. His current research interests include power system protection, electromagnetic compatibility and electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation of materials.

Adel Nasiri

Adel Nasiri, received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and PhD degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, in 2004, all in electrical engineering. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA. Dr. Nasiri is a Fellow of IEEE and has served as the chair of IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Committee on renewable and sustainable energy conversion and Vice Chair TC5 (sustainable energy systems) at IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS). He is also an Editor of Power Components and Systems, and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Power Electronics and was an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (2013–2019) and paper review chair for IAS (2018–2019). He was the general Chair of 2012 IEEE Symposium on Sensorless Electric Drives, 2014 International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications (ICRERA 2014), and 2014 IEEE Power Electronics and Machines for Wind and Water Applications (PEMWA 2014).