Single-Phase Generation Headroom in Low-Voltage Distribution Networks Under Reduced Circuit Characterization

The paper addresses the problem of determining the maximum distributed energy resource (DER) capacity that can be connected to low-voltage (LV) networks without creating voltage-rise problems. That maximum capacity depends on the network characteristics and on the candidate sites for DER connection. When sites are multiple and LV networks are poorly characterized, such maximum capacity cannot be determined with power-flow or other admittance-matrix-based approaches. This paper proposes an approach to estimate voltage rise caused by DER under reduced network characterization. Such approach is built upon customary voltage and impedance measurements to be made at the sites of DER injection and gives sufficiently accurate results under most practical situations. The paper validates the accuracy of the proposed approach against exact power-flow results for well-characterized networks and load situations and provides guidelines for DER connection based on maximum capacity nodal allocation.