Reliability assessment of possible AC/DC distribution system configurations

In this paper several configurations are proposed for AC/DC distribution systems. Each configuration is based on one of the two conventional AC systems, European or North American, on one hand and on the other hand use of AC or DC system in the primary or secondary side of the distribution system. Furthermore the DC system can be in unipolar or bipolar structure which leads to various AC/DC distribution system configuration. After configurations are proposed, they are applied to supply a specified area and are assessed from a reliability point of view and then reliability indices such as SAIFI and SAIDI are calculated. Finally the effect of some factors such as scope of under study area and failure rate of power electronic devices on the reliability of proposed configuration are investigated. The results show that the use of bipolar DC distribution system in primary side can lead to significant improvement of distribution system reliability.