Fault Location in Active Distribution Networks Containing Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)

Abstract

This paper presents a simple yet effective method for locating faults in radial distribution networks where impedance-based methods are known to have limitations, especially in the presence of inverter-based power sources (IBPS). The proposed approach utilizes the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) to capture the first arrival times of the fault-generated traveling waves. It is assumed that a digital fault recorder (DFR) exists at the terminal node of every lateral, as well as the beginning and end of the main feeder. The detailed derivation of the fault location method is presented, and illustrative fault scenarios are simulated to experimentally verify the proposed algorithm's performance under very diverse conditions. It is shown that the proposed approach performs successfully irrespective of the unknown fault impedance, inception angle, and type.