Monitoramento do desequilíbrio de tensão e da corrente reversa na rede de distribuição de baixa tensão: uma proposta de sistema computacional que utiliza a infraestrutura de iluminação pública

Abstract

Brazil’s and the world’s energy matrices are in an energy generation decentralization process due to the Distributed Generation (DG) expansion resulting in the energy generated through Photovoltaic Panels (PP) installed on the roofs of residences in urban areas. This change has made the energy quality monitoring for the Low Voltage Distribution Networks (LVDN) one of the Distribution System Operators (DSO) biggest challenges, who are only aware of the energy quality levels through the customers’ complaints to the distributors. There are few projects implementing systems for this purpose, possibly due to the high investment required for this technology. Therefore, this research proposes a cyber-physical system for monitoring the direction of electric current flow and voltage imbalances in an RDBT using the street lighting infrastructure. The proposed system will provide the DSO’s with real-time information on the power quality in the RDBT through a low-cost data acquisition model using the street lighting infrastructure through Telemanagement Relays (TR). The system was empirically validated by monitoring a street where photovoltaic generation systems stochastically connected to RDBT inject power. The results show that the proposed system can identify the direction of the current in the RDBT and estimate the voltage unbalance with an average absolute error of 0.096% compared to the professional power analyzer. The results of this project can make relevant contributions to the challenge in power quality monitoring; for example, DSO’s can use the proposed system to access real-time information relative to the RDBT through a low-cost data acquisition model. It is expected that the results of this project would bring relevant contributions to the challenge of monitoring the levels of power quality, thus collaborating for a more orderly expansion of the distribution of energy production in Brazil.