Microgrid protection: An overview of protection strategies in North American microgrid projects

Microgrids have been proposed as an attractive solution to harness the benefits offered by distributed energy resources (DERs). However, despite their advantages, microgrids introduce new challenges to electric grids. In particular, they can impact conventional protection practices in distribution systems. This is mainly due to the presence of DERs, different microgrid operational modes, as well as various network configurations. This paper will provide an up-to-date overview and analysis of the protection schemes that have been designed and/or implemented in major North American microgrid projects. A brief overview of the microgrid protection issues and potential solutions are also presented in the paper to help designers with defining protection requirements for practical microgrids.