Reliability assessment of load points including solar and wind DGs

With the increase of advanced and sophisticated loads on the load side, consumers of electricity are demanding higher power reliability and quality. The reinforcements of power systems for higher reliability are costly and time-consuming. In trending technology, the microgrid offers an alternative on-site power system reinforcement that requires less time and cost. Moreover, the microgrid can integrate both conventional and unconventional distributed generations (DGs) to the system at several load points. These DGs are used as backups to or in line with the grid to reduce failure rates and downtimes experienced by consumers. Some unconventional renewable sources are intermittent in nature, and it is pertinent to quantify the effects of such intermittency on the reliability of power systems. This paper studies the stochastic effects of the integration of two intermittent power sources, wind and solar, in a power system. Furthermore, three types of consumer models were studied: residential, commercial and industrial. The DGs were used as backups to the grid, and the ensuing increase of the power system's reliability was measured.