IEEE Power Electronics Magazine Compendium - March 2018 - 72

Reprinted from December 2014 issue of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine

by Deepak Divan,
Rohit Moghe, and
Anish Prasai

©ISTOCK PHOTO.COM/JGROUP

Power
Electronics
at the Grid Edge
The key to unlocking value from the smart grid

U

tilities implementing diverse grid modernization
initiatives are observing greater volatility at the
grid edge that cannot be managed using traditional electromechanically switched centralized command and control solutions. The decentralized,
distributed, and dynamic capabilities required can only be
achieved with semiconductor-based power electronics solutions that are deployed appropriately along the grid edge. The
key control objective is the fast and granular control of volts
and vars at hundreds of points along the feeder, a functionality typically associated with static synchronous compensators
(STATCOMs) and unified power flow controllers (UPFCs), albeit in a distributed manner and at lower voltage levels. Several companies are now offering grid-edge power-electronics
solutions to solve this new set of challenges, with substantial
data from the field validating the benefits that such solutions
can provide. This article discusses the challenges, solutions,
and some of the results that point to the benefits that power
electronics at the grid edge can provide for utilities.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2014.2360811
Date of publication: 18 December 2014

72

IEEE PowEr ElEctronIcs MagazInE

z	December 2014

Power Electronics on the Distribution Grid
Power electronics, in the form of high-voltage dc systems
and, more recently, flexible ac transmission system
devices, have played a visible and key role in power-grid
control for over 60 years, mainly on the transmission side
for the management of bulk power flows [1], [2]. The use
of power electronics on the distribution grid has been
much more limited. In the area of generation, wind and
solar energies have seen explosive growth, with inverters
providing the controlled interface to the grid. However,
these inverters are typically not utility-owned-and-operated resources, but they have a primary function of delivering energy/power to the grid. In recent years, as the penetration of renewable resources has grown, key requirements have emerged for grid support, such as detection
and disconnection during islanding, low-voltage ridethrough, and dynamic voltage support [3], [4]. However,
distributed photovoltaic (PV) inverters today still cannot
be effectively used for dynamic voltage support [3].
There is an emerging need for dynamically controllable
utility-owned assets to help meet the new challenges that
utilities are facing as a result of grid modernization initiatives
2329-9207/14©2014IEEE



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine Compendium - March 2018

Contents
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine Compendium - March 2018 - Cover1
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine Compendium - March 2018 - Cover2
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine Compendium - March 2018 - Contents
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine Compendium - March 2018 - 2
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IEEE Power Electronics Magazine Compendium - March 2018 - Cover4
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