A novel decentralized voltage control method for direct current microgrids with sensitive loads

Abstract

Low-voltage direct current (DC) microgrids will have a significant position in smart grids. Of course, currently, DC microgrids are mainly used in the areas with sensitive electrical loads. The main issue in these microgrids is the voltage control. In this paper, a practical, reliable, modular, autonomous, and decentralized voltage control method, namely the voltage-based power-voltage (VbPV) control method, is proposed for the most common type of DC microgrids, that is, the DC microgrids with sensitive loads. The proposed voltage control method leads to the flattest voltage profile, which is essential for the DC microgrids. Besides, the presented method minimizes the power loss and maximizes the line capacity release. It is noteworthy that the VbPV control method requires no telecommunication infrastructure. Furthermore, contrary to some other DC voltage control methods, it is applicable to different real DC microgrids. Here, some numerical examples are mentioned to discuss and clarify the remarkable achievements of the VbPV control method. The analytic and simulation results confirm the successful performance of the VbPV control method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.