Impact of Load Unbalance on Low Voltage Network Losses

The total losses volume represents a substantial amount of energy and, consequently, a large cost that is often included in the tariffs structure. Uneven connection of single-phase loads is a major cause for three-phase unbalance and a fundamental cause for active power losses, particularly in Low Voltage (LV) networks. This paper analyzes the impact of load unbalance on LV network losses. In the first phase, several load scenarios per phase are considered to characterize how losses depend on load unbalance. The second phase examines the data collected per phase on a set of real networks, aiming at illustrating real-world cases. The third phase analyzes the effect that public lighting and microgeneration may have in the load unbalance and on the subsequent energy losses. The results of this work clearly demonstrate that it is possible to reduce three-phase unbalance (and losses) through a judicious distribution of loads and microgeneration.