Real time OpenDSS framework for distribution systems simulation and analysis

Advanced Distribution Automation (ADA) has become a topic of considerable interest in the electric power industry; moreover, for the development of ADA it is necessary to build new methodologies and computational tools to support the distribution networks (DN) simulation with Real Time Hardware in the Loop (RT-HIL) techniques, reducing the design and testing times at low cost. OpenDSS is a free powerful software platform to simulate DN including the models for distributed generation; the RT-HIL systems improve the OpenDSS capabilities, interfacing the data delivered for this platform using analog and digital signals in Real Time (RT). This way, the design engineer and external hardware can interact with the DN like in the real scenario switching and analyzing the response of the system. As result, in this paper the Real time analytical simulation of the IEEE 13 Nodes system is presented; this with the aim of evaluating the performance of the developed tool. All the developments were made using National Instruments Real Time hardware architectures, OpenDSS software and the LabVIEW® RT software. Finally, the different possibilities with the developed tool and the future developments are presented.