Voltage Unbalance Factor (VUF) Mitigation Considering Demand Side Management on Islanded Microgrid

Microgrid is becoming an integral part of the power system as it increases the reliability and flexibility of the power system. Apart from benefits, there are some challenges like power quality, voltage unbalance, frequency deviation etc. The power quality problem is more pronounced in the case of an islanded-microgrid where there is no backup in voltage and frequency deviation. Demand-side management (DSM) is used to be for the minimization of unbalance in voltage and hence, this work presents a voltage unbalance (VU) mitigation strategy by using thermostatically controlled devices (TCDs) as DSM entities. The voltage dependence model of TCD is presented and used in the mitigation strategy. The thermal comfort of the users is maintained during the implementation of this control strategy. The mitigation strategy is tested and verified in MATLAB/Simulink environment.