Power quality in LV distribution networks is already 1 a concern in many European countries especially where there 2 is a strong presence of renewable energy generation. Therefore 3 there is a growing interest in new solutions able to improve the 4 power quality level of such a system. Among them, an interesting 5 solution is represented by the open unified power quality con-6 ditioner (Open UPQC) proposed within the present work. The 7 system consists of a single or three-phase ac/dc power converter 8 installed at customer's premises and a main single or three-phase 9 ac/dc power converter in the MV/LV substation. The paper dis-10 cusses the design, simulation and implementation phases related 11 to an Open UPQC installed in a real LV distribution grid in 12 the city of Brescia (Italy) within the smart domo grid project, 13 co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. 14 Results from the field installation show the effectiveness of the 15 proposed solution to face power quality issues in distribution 16 networks.
Traditional low voltage grids are equipped with meters for the accounting of the energy consumed by customers. Recently, the use of electronic meters offers the possibility of the remote reading. This paper deals with smart sensing: a secondgeneration Smart Meters replacing traditional metering device, and the first generation of electronic meters, in order to extract a richer and near real-time information. This information in then transferred on a fast communication network where is needed. In other words, the Smart Meters deployed over the distribution grid create a Sensor Network used for grid control and management. The intelligent unit employed in the proposed system is able to communicate using standard metering protocols like
DLMS/COSEM, allowing high-level integration with systems that use this information for both billing and customer relationship management -as is today with Automatic Meter Management systems -and for the technical management of the LV power infrastructure like Distribution Management Systems. The paper presents a pilot installation in a real grid of the smart sensor network composed about 50 new-generation Smart Meters using fast -broad-band -communication. The network of Smart Metershas been used to monitor, during a measurement campaign of two months, the Power Quality of a part of the distribution grid. During the campaign, the grid voltage is below the 5 % of the nominal value only for the 3 % of the time, despite the large presence of distributed renewable resources.
The increment of Distributed Energy Resources -DERs -such as small photovoltaic plants or micro-cogeneration systems together with the increase of Electric Vehicles connected to the grid are bringing new challenges to the Distribution SystemOperators -DSOs. In order to support DSOs to take on these new challenges it is proposed a new framework for the network automation move part of the grid control logics in the substations. With SAU -Substation Automation Unit -monitoring and control functionalities are decentralized and brought nearest to the field with the aim to reduce complexity increasing the network controllability and the system performances.
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