Smart home energy management in unbalanced active distribution networks considering reactive power dispatch and voltage control

Abstract

This paper presents a new optimization algorithm for home energy management systems (HEMSs) in three-phase unbalanced low-voltage (LV) distribution networks. Compared with conventional HEMS optimization methods, which consider only the active power consumption scheduling for smart home appliances and distributed energy resources (DERs) (e.g., solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage systems (ESSs)), the novelty of the proposed approach is to consider: i) both active and reactive power consumption schedulings of home appliances and DERs, ii) realistic three-phase unbalanced LV distribution networks with voltage-dependent load models, and iii) voltage control using an on-load tap changer transformer and smart inverters of PV system and ESS at the households. The proposed HEMS optimization algorithm, which is formulated using mixed-integer linear programming, is tested in the modified CIGRE LV distribution network. Numerical examples demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm in terms of active/reactive power consumption, three-phase voltage magnitudes, and the total cost of electricity.