Novel agent-based voltage control methods for PV prosumers using nodal price

Abstract

Recently, the rapid expansion of photovoltaic (PV) sources in the distribution system (DS) has caused severe voltage problems. The voltage condition of PV varies depending on the connection point at the DS, which causes an unfair situation that the output powers are curtailed for some specific PVs. This research proposes two novel methods for managing the PV sources’ powers to achieve the optimal and effective operation of the DS. The objective is to maximize the total generated PV powers while regulating the DS voltages and decreasing the unfair situation based on the dynamic nodal pricing for active and reactive powers. The first proposed method provides the optimality in the DS, while frequent communications are necessary. In the second method, the prosumers directly utilize the target nodal voltages for real-time controls, which can prevent the degradation of the control performance despite the decrease in the communication frequency. Furthermore, a multi-agent control approach is used to realize an effective control structure. The Simulated case studies show that the proposed methods can realize optimal DS operation successfully and deal with the voltage violations, minimizing the curtailment of PV power and providing a solution to the unfairness problem.