A hybrid anti-islanding method for inverter-based distributed generation

Abstract

Nowadays, high penetration of Distributed Generations (DG)s in power systems caused some protection issues. One of these issues is unintentional islanding. As regards IEEE 1547 standard, this situation must be recognized immediately, and DG must be separated from the load in less than 2 s. In this paper, to detection of islanding in an inverter-based distributed generation, a new hybrid method with high performance is proposed. In the proposed method, a primary detection of islanding is conducted by measuring the voltage harmonic distortion at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC), as well as comparing the variations to a specified threshold level. After this primary detection, a temporary reactive current signal is injected to the PCC by the inverter of DG, and its terminal voltage and frequency are measured. In the case of deviation of voltage or frequency from permissible range, definitive detection of islanding is determined. Simulation results indicate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed detection method in different circumstances, especially for loads with the different quality factors.