Dynamic Conductor Temperature Modelling and Analysis of a Distribution Network with PV

The IEEE Std 1283™-2013 details the adverse effects of high conductor temperatures, which emphasises the need to model and analyse dynamic conductor temperatures in a power network. Conductor temperatures are dependent on the power flows (due to load current), the resistive losses, and the weather conditions surrounding the conductor. Conventional power system analysis does not take into account changing weather and its impacts and as a result, studies conducted are erroneous due to absence of such realistic assumptions of the weather impacts. In this manuscript, a dynamic conductor temperature model is presented and utilised to study and thermally profile the conductor temperatures in a distribution network. The proposed approach is decoupled i.e. the power flow and the conductor heat balance model are solved separately to obtain the thermal profile network conductors in operation. In comparison to the existing approach suggested in the literature, the proposed approach is computational light and can be easily scaled to larger networks. Simulations were carried out for two cases with different load and weather conditions. The changing weather conditions and their impact on the network and thermal profile was understood by utilising the proposed technique. The simulation results presented show the advantages of using dynamic conductor temperature modelling in power system studies for better analysis of power networks.