Author(s)

Zhanhe Liu¹, Xufeng Xu¹, Hany A. Abdelsalam^1,2, Elham Makram¹

¹Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Clemson University, Clemson, USA.
²Electrical Engineering Department, Kafrelshikh University, Kafrelshikh, Egypt.

Harmonics distortion is a crucial problem in microgrid. Harmonic sources can be categorized as two main factors: renewable energy integration and nonlinear loads. Both factors are investigated in this paper. For renewbale energy, photovoltaic (PV) power is one of the most effective solutions for energy crisis and it is showing great potential for serving customers in microgrid. A three- phase PV source model is establised and integrated at different locations in order to observe the impact of harmonics on a microgrid and power quality (PQ). A composite load is modeled using Crossed Frequency Admittance Matrix theory. A practicdal microgrid loacated at GA, USA is used as a study system. The microgrid, PV model and nonlinear load model are simulated in MATLAB/ Simulink environment. The results show the impact of installing PV sources at two types of locations considering linear and composite nonlinear loads. In addition, three PQ indices are discussed to show the numerical impacts with various perspectives.

Crossed Frequency Admittance Matrix, Nonlinear Load, Harmonics Distortion, PV, Power Quality Indices

Liu, Z. , Xu, X. , Abdelsalam, H. and Makram, E. (2015) Power System Harmonics Study for Unbalanced Microgrid System with PV Sources and Nonlinear Loads. Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 3, 43-55. doi: 10.4236/jpee.2015.35004.