Reactive power management of a AC/DC microgrid system using a smart PV inverter

This paper analyses the effect of a smart voltage source inverter (VSI) embedded in a photovoltaic (PV) unit on the voltage stability/reactive power balancing of a microgrid. The conventional unity power factor PV-VSI is modified to operate for both active and reactive power management operations. The PV integrated AC/DC microgrid system is designed with a central smart VSI in PSCAD/EMTDC software environment and implemented in the Energex 11 kV distribution network, Australia. The results show superior dynamic performance and robust transient recovery from the smart VSI integrated microgrid for real life radiation variations, random loads variations, faults and intentional external disturbances.