Design of a New Operating Mode for Voltage Regulator Controls in a Smart Distribution System

A new operating mode for voltage regulators is presented in this paper. When power flows from load side to the source side (reverse power) of the voltage regulator, the selection of the control operating mode is important, as dangerously high or low voltage can result due to the wrong operating mode. The source of reverse power can be due to excess power produced from Distributed Generation (DG), or due to line switching operations on the feeder, causing an alternate source connection on the opposite end of the feeder. This paper proposes a method by which the operating mode can be selected based on the delta voltage measured during a tapchange operation locally without the need for any communications from the switches/reclosers or the distributed generation sources.