A New Centralized Active and Reactive Power Control

Strategy for Voltage Regulation in Power Distribution

Networks with High Penetration of Photovoltaic
Generation
Emanoel L. da Silva*, Antonio M. N. Lima+, Maurcio B. R. Corra+, Monti A. Vitorino+ and Luciano Barbosa*
Department of Electrical Engineering
Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG)
Campina Grande PB - Brazil
{emanoel.silva*,luciano.barbosa*}@ee.ufcg.edu.br,
{amnlima+, mbrcorrea+,vitorino+}@dee.ufcg.edu.br
Abstract A centralized power control strategy for regulating the
voltage level at secondary power distribution network under high
photovoltaic penetration level is proposed. The voltage and active
power levels are received by a Centralized Control Unit (CCU) at
which the optimal operating condition for minimizing both the
absorption of reactive power and, when necessary, the active
power curtailment. The real-time optimization problem is
formulated as a linear programming problem that is based on
sensitivity coefficients determining from P&O techniques
meaning that the implementation of the proposed strategy does
not require the knowledge of the network parameters. Simulation
results are used to demonstrate that by using the proposed
centralized strategy, besides the reduction in the consumption of
reactive power, it is also possible to maintain the voltage within
prescribed limits.
Index Terms-- Centralized Control, Distributed Generation,
Optimization and Photovoltaic Systems.

I.

INTRODUCTION

The increase of photovoltaic (PV) penetration in Low

Voltage Networks (LVN) usually leads to overvoltage
problems [1]. High PV penetration levels degrade the Power
Quality (PQ) and compromise system reliability [2], and as a
consequence, PV generation expansion may be limited [3,4]. In
this context, several studies have been done to investigate
different solutions for mitigating this problem based on the
perspective that there is a continuous expansion of distributed
PV generation. The first solution would be based on increasing
investments to change in physical infrastructure of the
distribution network, for instance, by replacing Distribution
Transformers (DT) and cables. On the other hand, a more
prominent solution is to use the PV system itself to mitigate
such problems, i.e., provide active power, and regulate voltage

levels, aiming at reducing the investment costs and to increase

hosting capacity for installing additional distributed generation
units [5].
In the literature, two strategies for voltage rise regulation
using the PV generation systems have been proposed: the
decentralized and the centralized strategies. In the decentralized
strategy, only local measurements are used for voltage
regulation, generally the active power generated by the PV
system and the voltage at the Point of Common Coupling
(PCC). This strategy it is very common due to its simplicity and
no need for communication within the network. However,
without the information regarding network state and
transmission line parameters, and without communicating with
other inverters, the decentralized approach does not guarantee
voltage regulation at acceptable levels, and does not allow the
minimization the absorption of reactive, and thus overloads the
DT and increases the losses [6].
Unlike the decentralized strategy, the centralized strategy
relies on the communication infrastructure for collecting
network data, processing them and to control the PV inverter
[7]. For this reason, this strategy has long been set aside.
However, in recent years, with advances in technology and the
increasing development of smart distribution management
systems, power distribution network has been enabled with
communication capability and centralized control has gained
increasingly popularity [8], [9].
In this paper it is proposed the use of a Centralized Control
Unit (CCU) to adjust the voltage in LVN with PV penetration
level. The power flow between PV system and network is
coordinated by using the CCU. To promote energy efficiency
in the voltage regulation process, the CCU receives data from
PV inverters distributed along the feeder and solves a real-time
optimization problem to define the set points for all the PV

978-1-5090-3792-6/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE

735

units. The optimization problem is formulated based on V-P

and V-Q sensitivity coefficients at buses with critical voltage
levels, for minimizing the consumption of reactive power and,
if necessary, the Active Power Curtailment (APC). Sensitivity
coefficients are determined by the Perturb and Observe (P&O)
technique, and consequently does not require any knowledge of
the parameters of power distribution network. To enable the
participation of all inverters in the voltage regulation process,
consumers connected in the terminal buses operate consuming
reactive power and, as far as possible, consumers near origin
operate injecting reactive, promoting an internal reactive
compensation in the LVN, reducing the load the DT and
network losses.
II.

STANDARD APPROACHES FOR VOLTAGE REGULATION

IN LVN

A. Descentralized Control
Between the techniques that are part of the decentralized
approach, it has been highlighted the use of the V-var Control.
In this approach, active power generation is prioritized, while
voltage regulation is made through the absorption or injection
of reactive power. This requires the PV inverter to operate with
a Power Factor (PF) different from unit. To meet this
requirement, some countries have already updated their
network standards [10]. In Brazil, ANEEL established the
minimum power factor of 0.9 (leading or lagging) for inverters
with rated power up to 3 kW. This means that the inverter must
be dimensioned with additional capacity of up to 11% of the
rated generation capacity. Thus, the reactive power level
) for absorption or injection should be
available (
calculated as:
=

(1,11

In droop curve, is half the width of the dead zone where

the inverter operates at unity PF, and + 1, it is the threshold
voltage where the PV inverter control starts absorbing reactive
is the maximum voltage where reactive
power, whereas
). The maximum
power is absorbed as much as possible (
reactive power is calculated as function of generated active
):
power and the minimum power factor (
=

where
is the rated apparent power of PV inverter and
the active power generated by PV.

In the case of PV generation, where active power injected

varies during the day, one of the most common strategies
consists in calculating the PF as a function of the generated
active power (
) and, in order to avoid unnecessary
absorption of reactive power, to calculate the reactive power
reference as a function of voltage at PCC ( ( )) [11].

(2)

B. Centralized Control
In this approach, optimization can be formulated from the
Optimal Power Flow (OPF), where an objective function is
obtained aiming to minimize the absorption of reactive power,
and restrictions are related to the normative voltage limits and
operating constraints of PV inverters [13].
The use of OPF approach for optimization problem
formulation requires the application of non-linear programming
methods to solve the fundamental equations of power flow [14].
Another disadvantage of this approach is its dependence on the
model of the network parameters, because without knowing the
Y bus admittance matrix there is no way to solve the
optimization problem.
To overcome these disadvantages, in this paper it is
proposed the use of sensitivity coefficients V-P and V-Q for
optimization problem formulation.

III.

is

In the calculation of
, it should be considered the
operational capacity of the PV inverter, because in some cases,
the active power generated by the PV system may be greater
than the rated power. Thus, the maximum reactive power
should be calculated as the minimum between (1) and (2).

(1)

tan(

OPTIMIZATION THROUGH NETWORK SENSITIVITY

ANALYSIS

Sensitivity analysis is commonly used for optimal static

voltage compensation using capacitor bank in medium voltage
networks [15]. However, in this paper, the sensitivity analysis
is used to determine the necessary dynamic voltage
compensation using PV inverters for voltage regulation in
LVN. In this case, the sensitivity analysis allows relating the
voltage variation with the active and reactive power injected
into the bus through a linear expression, which allows the use
of linear optimization techniques to solve the optimization
problem.

Figure 1. Droop curve for ( ) control.

A. Formulation of Optimization Problem

In a radial LVN, is the set composed by all buses
is the number of buses contained
containing PV generators,
is the bus with critical voltage level. The
in and
bus,
optimization problem is to limit the voltage rise in
absorbing the minimum amount of reactive power and, when
necessary, cutting the minimum active power of the PV
generator.

In ( ) strategy, reactive power reference is calculated as

a function of voltage at PCC, following a droop curve illustrated
in Fig. 1 [12].

Through sensitivity analysis, in order to optimize the

absorption of reactive power and APC, the inverters that are
connected to buses more distant from DT will always have a

736

greater participation in voltage regulation process as a result of

the increased sensitivity to active and reactive power variation
and as a result, a lower quantity of power injected or absorbed
by these buses will produce a more significant variation in
voltage regulation.
In this paper it is proposed a configuration in which all PV
inverters are involved in the process of voltage regulation. In
this configuration, the contribution of each consumer is defined
in a way that while the terminal inverters operate absorbing
reactive power, inverters close to the origin operate injecting
reactive power consequently promoting internal compensation
in LVN. When the reactive power absorption is not sufficient
to mitigate the voltage rise, the power curtailment is distributed
among all PVs without harming only those who are connected
at the end of the feeder.
Considering these points, mathematically, the optimization
problem can be formulated as follows:
(3)

subject to:
+

(4)

is the maximum active power that can

rated power and
be generated by PV system.
B. Determination of Sensitivity Coefficients
The sensitivity coefficients can be obtained directly from
sub-matrices of the Jacobian ( ) of the linear equation of
Newton-Raphson method [16]. However, these coefficients
must be constantly updated whenever the network operating
conditions are changed. This constant updates in coefficients
can make computer calculation unfeasible, due to the need for
complex matrix operations [17]. Another disadvantage is the
necessity of determination of bus admittance matrix Y in order
to calculate the Jacobian, making the method dependent of the
network model.
In this paper, it is proposed the use of perturb and observe
(P&O) method to estimate the sensitivity coefficients [18].
Using this approach, there is no need for calculation of the
Jacobian and the method becomes model-free. The P&O
method consists of applying small perturbations of active ( )
and reactive ( ) power in buses and after that to measure the
voltage variation on the bus of interest. Thus, sensitivity
coefficients relating the variation in voltage bus
to the
variation of active and reactive power of the PV generator
connected to a bus are estimated by:

(5)

(6)

1
1

(9)

(10)

In (9) and (10), the term

was inserted to

compensate possible variations of active power between the

instants in which the perturbation is applied and voltage
measurement is carried out.

(7)
(8)

Objective function is represented by (3), where

is
reference value for reactive power to be absorbed or injected by
PV inverters connected to the bus i and
is the APC when the
reactive power absorption is not enough for voltage regulation.
Inequality (4) is related to voltage limits standards,
are vectors of dimension 1
containing,
and
respectively, the sensitivity coefficients V-P and V-Q related to
.
are vectors with dimension
and
the bus
1 containing, respectively, the variations of APC and
reactive power between the current and previous control
actions.
The constraint represented by (5) was added to ensure that
the PV inverters near the origin of the network, operating in the
capacitive mode, it will provide only the minimum reactive
power necessary to compensate the reactive power absorption
at the end of the network and (6) was added to ensure that the
APC is the same for all PV inverter.
The inequalities (7) and (8) represent the constraints in
value
terms of the operational limits of the PV system, the
is calculated considering the minimum PF and the PV inverter

IV.

CENTRAL CONTROL UNIT (CCU)

The CCU proposed consists of a common entity that

monitors all PV generator units distributed along the feeder of
power network. It receives data about voltage and active power
generated, it processes the data according to the optimization
algorithm explained in section III, and sets the operating point
of each PV inverter in terms of absorbed or injected reactive
power and APC.
As illustrated in Fig. 2, the CCU has three operation modes.
In each one of these modes, different control actions are
executed in different discrete periods of time = ,
where is the
sample and
is the period of sampling.
A. Mode A: Stead State
The Mode A is the operating mode in steady state, which
means that it is the mode where no bus displays critical voltage
levels. All control actions should be taken by the CCU to
conduct the network for this mode of operation, and once
reaching it, no new control action is needed.

737

( )=

( )

( )=

( )

or
( )=

( )

>

>

( )=

&
( )<

>

( )=

( )

&
( )<

( )

( )

>
&
( )

( )

Figure 2. CCU operation modes.

In this way, the CCU does not need to send communication

signals for PV inverters, remaining this until an absolute active
power variation greater than 0.1 kW is observed by some PV
inverter. In this case, the CCU will change to Mode B operation.
B. Mode B: V-var Control
In Mode B, the CCU processes the input data according to
the optimization problem formulation, having as objective
function the minimization of the sum of reactive power,
keeping the APC null.
For this, the following actions are taken: (1) starting from
terminal buses until buses near to the origin, apply successive
perturbations ; (2) for each perturbation, measuring the
and calculate the respective
voltage variation on the bus
sensitivity coefficient V-Q; (3) solve the optimization problem.
The actions are repeated until the vector
is fully
updated. At the end, the operating points are defined in terms
of reactive power for each PV inverter.
Once set the operating point, new measurements of voltage
and active power are performed and the logic of the next mode
consists in evaluating the input data in the current instant (k)
and the previous (k-1):

( )
If
mode A;

( )>
If
and
( 1) <
( ): it
means that it was not possible to mitigate voltage rise
and, as there is availability for absorption of reactive
power, CCU remains in the Mode B in order to define
a new operation point for each PV inverter;

If
( )>
and
( 1)
( ): there
is no possibility of increasing the reactive power
injection or absorption, PV inverters set operation at
value and CCU starts operation in Mode C.

: The CCU should operate in the

C. Mode C: V-W Control

The Mode C is similar to Mode B, the only difference is that
V-P sensitivity coefficients are calculated at this mode and the
objective function in this case is to minimize the sum of APC.
Finally, the operating points are defined in terms of active
power in order to regulate the voltage, keeping reactive power
at maximum value.
In this mode, if all the active power is cut and voltage
continue above its maximum allowed value, the overvoltage
protection of PV inverter is activated and the inverters are
disconnected from the network.

V.

PERFORMACE EVALUATION

To verify the performance of voltage regulation proposed

approach, computer simulations of a Secondary LVN were
carried out. The results obtained from simulation of the
proposed centralized control technique were compared with
decentralized Droop Control.
To compare the performance between Droop Control and
the CCU proposal, it was taken as a basis the power quality
requirements established in Module 8 of PRODIST ANEEL
documentation, e.g. minimum PF of 0.9 and maximum voltage
1.05 pu, which corresponds to 231V in a network with rated
voltage 220V.
For CCU, it was considered an update period of 100 ms for
voltage and active power sampling. In Droop Control, in order
to enable all PV systems to participate in voltage regulation, the
D parameter was defined as 1.025 pu.
A. LVN Test System
As shown in Fig. 3, the simulated grid consists of a single
phase Secondary LVN containing only one radial feeder with
five buses. Bus 1 is a reference bus with constant module and
voltage phase equal to 1 pu and 0, respectively.

738

on DT. When the reactive power absorption is not sufficient to

mitigate the voltage rise, CCU applies the same percentage of
APC for all PVs in order to maintain the voltage below 1.05 pu.
With Droop control, when generated power exceeds the
rated capacity of inverter, it is not possible to maintain the
voltage below 1.05 pu because, as seen in Fig. 6 (a), using this
approach only the inverters at the end of the feeder (PV4 and
PV5) participate in the voltage regulation process, making this
task be more difficult.
Figure 3. Single phase Secondary LVN under test.

For performance testing purpose, it was considered a

scenario with no load and three PV systems with a rated power
of 10 kW. Distribution Transformer is modeled as RL
impedance. The PV systems were modeled using a controlled
current source, where the active power varies throughout the
day depending on the solar radiation.
Figure 5. Voltage at bus 5.

Figure 4. Solar radiation profile obtained using a pyranometer.

The radiation profile was collected using a pyranometer

installed on the roof of Industrial Electronics Laboratory
(LEIAM) in Brazil during an interval of 24 hours and with a
resolution of one sample per second. However, to reduce the
simulation time it has been used only a range equivalent to 2
min as shown in Fig. 3. In the discontinuities of the samples
was used linear interpolation to calculate the radiation values.
It was considered that all the PVs are subjected to the same solar
radiation profile.
B. Simulation Results
In order to evaluate the transient generated through the
control actions of the two techniques, simulations are dynamic
in time with 50 s fixed integration step. Simulations were
performed using Matlab and Simulink software.

Figure 6. Reactive power generated by each PV inverter.

Fig. 5 represents the RMS value for voltage at the bus 5 for
three techniques: without voltage regulation (No Q), Droop
Control and the CCU proposed approach. Fig. 6 represents the
reactive power generated by each PV inverter and Fig. 7
represents the total active power generated by all PVs.
As can be seen, without regulation process, the voltage can
rise above the established limits, especially when the active
power generated is greater than the inverter rating, where
voltage rises above 1.07 pu . With CCU, the voltage raising is
completely mitigated and, as seen in Fig. 6 (b), all PV
inverters cooperate with the voltage regulation in order that
PV5 and PV4 operate absorbing reactive power while PV3
operates injecting reactive power, consequently promoting
internal compensation in Secondary LVN and reducing the load

Figure 7. Total active power generated by all PVs.

In Table I is presented the values of chosen performance

indicators calculated at the time period considered in
simulations: maximum voltage at bus 5, total Active Energy

739

Generated (AEG), total Reactive Energy Consumed (REC) and

total Active Energy Lost (AEL).

[6]

TABLE I. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR THE THREE VOLTAGE REGULATION

APPROACHES.

[7]

Performance Indicators

Control
Techniques

Max. Voltage at bus 5 (pu)

AEG (Wh)

REC
(varh)

AEL
(Wh)

No Q

1.071

902

50

Droop

1.061

901

158

53

CCU

1.051

886

113

51

[8]

[9]

CCU approach was able to reduce the total consumption of

reactive power in almost 28% when compared to Droop
Control. However, there was a reduction of 1,8% in total active
power generated, because during the critical intervals, CCU had
to cut active power generated by PV system in order to maintain
voltage below 1.05 pu.

[10]

[11]

[12]

VI.

CONCLUSIONS

With centralized control strategy proposed, it was possible

to estimate with high accuracy the sensitivity of the network,
allowing the simplification of optimization procedure as a
linear problem and without the need to compute the Jacobian
matrix and being independent of the model. In the performance
evaluation, the active and reactive power flow in PV systems
connected to a secondary LVN was coordinated by the
proposed CCU, maintaining voltage below the levels
established by standards and increasing energy efficiency when
compared with one of the decentralized control strategies
proposed in the literature.

[13]

[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Council
for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq),
Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel
(CAPES) and PROCEL/ELETROBRAS.

[18]

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]
[3]

[4]

[5]

P. K. C. Wong, R. A. Barr and A. Kalam, Voltage Rise Impacts and

Generation Modeling of Residential Roof-top Photo-Voltaic Systems,
in 2014 16th International Conference on Harmonics and Quality of
Power (ICHQP), pp. 229-233.
M. Roscia and D. Zaninelli, Sustainability and Quality Through Solar
Electric Energy, in 10th International Conference on Harmonics and
Quality of Power, pp. 782-787.
Y. Ueda, K. Kurokawa, T. Tanabe, K. Kitamura and H. Sugihara,
Analysis Results of Output Power Loss Due to the Grid Voltage Rise in
Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Power Generation Systems, IEEE Trans.
on Industrial Electronics, vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 2744-2751, July 2008.
R. Tonkoski, L. A. C. Lopes and T. H. M. El-Fouly, Coordinated Active
Power Curtailment of Grid Connected PV Inverters for Overvoltage
Prevention, IEEE Trans. on Sustainable Energy, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 139147, April 2011.
T. Stetz, F. Marten and M. Braun, Improved Low Voltage GridIntegration of Photovoltaic Systems in Germany, IEEE Trans. on
Sustainable Energy, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 534-542, April 2013.

740

G. Kerber, R. Witzmann and H. Sappl, Voltage Limitation by

Autonomous Reactive Power Control of Grid Connected Photovoltaic
Inverters, in 2009 Compatibility and Power Electronics Conf., pp. 129133.
F. Oliver, P. Aristidou, D. Ernst and T. V. Cutsem, Active Management
of Low-Voltage Networks for Mitigating Overvoltages Due to
Photovoltaic Units, IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 926936, March 2015.
I. K. Song, S. Y. Yun, S. C. Kwon and N. H. Kwak, Design of Smart
Distribution Management System for Obtaining Real-Time Security
Analysis and Predictive Operation in Korea, IEEE Trans. on Smart
Grid, vol. 4, no. 1, March 2013.
A. Berizzi, C. Bovo, D. Falabretti, V. Ilea, M. Merlo, G. Monfredini, M.
Subasic, M. Bigoloni, I. Rochira and R. Bonera Architecture and
Functionalities of a Smart Distribution Management System, in 2014
16th International Conference on Harmonics and Quality of Power
(ICHQP), pp. 439-443.
Y. Yang, P. Enjeti, F. Blaabjerg and H. Wang, Wide-Scale Adoption of
Photovoltaic Energy: Grid Code Modifications Are Explored in the
Distribution Grid, IEEE Industry Applications Magazine, vol. 21, no. 5,
pp. 21-31, Sept. 2015.
E. Demirok, P. C. Gonzlez, K. H. B. Frederiksen, D. Sera, P. Rodriguez,
R. Teodorescu, Local Reactive Power Control Methods
for Overvoltage Prevention of Distributed Solar Inverters in LowVoltage Grids, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, vol. 1, no. 2, December
2011.
E. Demirok, D. Sera, R. Teodorescu, P. Rodriguez and U. Borup,
Evaluation of the Voltage Support Strategies for the Low Voltage Grid
Connected PV Generators, in 2010 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress
and Exposition (ECCE), pp. 710-717.
B.I. Craciun, E. A. Man, V. A. Muresan, D. Sera, T. Kerekes and R.
Teodorescu, Improved orks, in 3rd IEEE International Symposium on
Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG), pp. 775781.
M. Farivar, R. Neal, C. Clarke and S. Low, Optimal Inverter VAR
Control in Distribution Systems with High PV Penetration, in 2012
IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, pp. 1-7.
A. Kishore and E. F. Hill, Static Optimization of Reactive Power
Sources by Use of Sensitivity Parameters, IEEE Trans. on Power
Apparatus and Systems, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1166 1173, May 1971.
P. S. Seshadri and A. D. Patton, Bus Voltage Sensitivity: An Instrument
for Pricing Voltage Control Service, in 1999 IEEE Power Engineering
Power Summer Meeting, pp. 703-707.
K. Christakou, J. Y. LeBoudec, M. Paolone and D. C. Tomozei,
Efficient Computation of Sensitivity Coefficients of Node Voltages and
Line Currents in Unbalanced Radial Electrical Distribution Networks,
IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 741-750, June 2013.
F. Tamp and P. Ciufo, A Sensitivity Analysis Toolkit for the
Simplification of MV Distribution Network Voltage Management,
IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 559-568, March 2014.