Integrating Distributed Devices onto Rural Circuits

Utilities typically prioritize the satisfaction of their customers. Their customers expect the highest levels of reliability as many day-to-day activities involve loads requiring a constant energy supply. In urban areas, to ensure this reliability factor, many utilities use networked systems so there are several paths for generation to reach a customer in the event of an outage. These systems inherently build redundancy through their configuration and switching abilities. In rural areas, however, lower population densities and power system branches cause the reliability techniques used in urban areas to become less practical. Consequently, customers in rural areas experience more outages and longer outage times due to the distance between customers. Not only are longer lines more vulnerable to environmental hazards such as trees, weather, and cars, but outages also affect all downstream customers who need to wait for repair trucks to get dispatched to rural areas, increasing outage times.Current research focuses on the integration of distributed generation, mostly with solar, to support rural circuits. This paper will explore the impact of integrating distributed storage in rural systems at the edge of the grid. We will use models to evaluate how these feeders accommodate new devices and how they impact the reliability of the circuit. In addition, different levels of penetration are compared to anticipate the effect of future devices, such as electric vehicles, which have similar behavior and are becoming more popular. This exploration can help predict the threshold for electric vehicles before utilities need to investigate and make upgrades.