Cabling Requirements for Low-Voltage DC Systems

In the past years Low-Voltage Direct Current (LVDC) microgrids have gained interest for various reasons. Many aspects have been studied, such as energy efficiency, stability, control strategies, etc. However, when it comes to cable design, the bread and butter still comes from traditional Alternating Current (AC) systems. This paper analyses the effect of cable parameters on both system stability and short-circuit protection to derive guidelines for LVDC specific cable design. System stability does not impose limitations on the cable design, however selective protection does. This paper concludes that an LVDC cable should have an inductance value as low as possible, with no specific needs for a low cable capacitance, as is desired in AC systems.