Abstract:
The present era witnessed substantial research and development in the field of DC
distribution because of swift escalation in the installation of solar panels on roof top
and employment of loads (DC in nature) in residential sector. In this regard, the notion
of DC microgrids has recently received a lot of study attention. Efficiency is the
parameter that once wiped DC out of the power system because of the tussle of currents
between AC and DC (the Tesla-Edison regime). Efficiency can therefore be regarded
as the decision-making parameter for adoption of AC/DC at distribution scale. The
main aim of this study is to compare the efficiency/energy savings of a AC power
distribution network to a DC distribution power network in modern homes. There are
various variables that determine when HVDC is superior than HVAC in power
transmission systems, and the same is true in the case of distribution A number of
significant variables have an impact on the effectiveness of distribution networks,
particularly DC distribution network. The critical analysis indicated the loopholes in
the DC distribution system efficiency or AC vs DC distribution system research studies
that had previously been given.Moreover, the current research presents a modular
approach on the distribution converters for efficiency enhancement of DC distribution
systems.To achieve the aforementioned goals, the AC and DC distribution system
models are implemented using real data traces of a modern home. The loads are
classified based of their types, like AC category loads, DC category loads, and
independent category loads. The independent loads can run on either an AC power
supply or a DC power supply. The voltage levels are chosen considering the defined
standards. The power electronic converters (PECs) are installed wherever required to
drive a load in the premise e.g., AC loads in DC system are require an inverters (DC AC converter) for their operation.The load variation with respect to time and PECs
variation with respect to loading are also considered in the analysis powered through
utility grid as well as standalone solar system. Mathematical model is devised using
bottom-up approach i.e., from load to the grid. The mathematical model is supported
with Matlab simulations. Moreover, efficiency enhancement of distribution converters
and in-turn efficiency enhancement of DC distribution system is also presented by
employing modular architecture. A detailed comparison is established in the end among
AC, DC and modular architecture-based distribution system. The analysis concludes
with the DC system having an efficiency of 89.39% averaged over 24 hours of the day,
x
as compared to that of AC system equal to 87.07%. Moreover, by making usage of the
state of the art modular approach, the effectiveness of DC system enhanced to 91.63%.
Hence it can be stated that DC posseses an efficiency advantage of 2.32% over AC,
which improves to 4.56% by employing modular approach.
