Innovative training techniques to account for power quality issues when deploying distributed energy resources

Sizing and optimizing an investment in distributed energy resources (DER) must take into account power quality issues: it is then a matter of defining the right balance between the end-user’s energy supply expectations and their financial capabilities to launch the investment. This requires a minimum understanding of power quality constraints during the DER unit optimization process: bridging the knowledge gaps between power quality experts and DER end-users relies on critical, complex technical and economical considerations. This paper argues that dedicated training is able to bridge such knowledge gaps: end-users will then feel more confident at taking optimal decisions when investing in DER units. It is the complexity of power quality issues that drove the development of innovative training sessions herein described: they lean on the coupling of experimental descriptions of current power quality problems faced by electrical network managers with “learning by doing” approaches.