Evaluation of the impact of the electric network's quality on the appliance's signatures

Abstract

The continuous increase in the demand for electrical energy has led to the design of highly complex electrical systems, which can even extend to entire countries. In this context, active residential customer participation in the smart grid can benefit from having control over a number of data points related to the behaviour of the grid and the devices connected to it. The load signatures are the basis for practical energy's consumption monitoring technologies, which involve identifying an electrical device and determining their operating status. Although several load identification techniques are under development in research laboratories, it is important to note that studies on the impact of power system quality on the signatures underlying these developments are not yet clear. Knowing that load profiles depend on environmental factors, user habits, and other non-deterministic factors, it is important to assess the impact that grid quality can have on load signatures in order to take it into account in the development of identification systems to be integrated into the smart grid. This research focuses on the two central components of these approaches: (1) Presenting an assessment of the different network faults that can impact the signatures of connected loads, (2) Analysing and quantifying the impact of each fault through load behavioural models and virtual simulation. The study considers the two types of loads generally encountered in homes (linear and non-linear). It then analyses the characteristic quantities such as waveforms, effective current and voltage values, active and reactive power (harmonics) and non-deforming power (fundamentals). The results of the simulations performed on Simulink/Simscape show that some network faults such as flicker have a significant and permanent impact on the signatures while others (Voltage Sag) have a temporary and sometimes insignificant effect.