Author(s)

Umair Shahzad, Sohrab Asgarpoor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.

Due to the increasing demand of energy and the need for nonconventional energy sources, distributed generation (DG) has come into play. The trend of unidirectional power flow has been gradually shifting. With new technology comes new challenges, the introduction of DG into the conventional power system brings various challenges; one of the major challenges is system protection under DG sources. These sources pose a significant challenge due to bidirectional flows from DGs as well as lower fault current contribution from inverter interfaced DGs. This paper reviews existing protection schemes that have been suggested for active distribution networks. Most of these protection strategies apply only to smaller distribution systems implying that they may need to be extended to larger systems with a much higher penetration of distributed generation. In the end, a potential protection scheme has also been recommended as a future work.

Distributed Generation (DG), Energy, Protection Schemes, Active Distribution Networks

Shahzad, U. and Asgarpoor, S. (2017) A Comprehensive Review of Protection Schemes for Distributed Generation. Energy and Power Engineering, 9, 430-463. doi: 10.4236/epe.2017.98029.