CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 11Optimal Power Flow DistributionMicrogrid Control and OptimizationPower Quality and Harmonics

Benefits of On-Load Tap Changers Coordinated Operation for Voltage Control in Low Voltage Grids with High Photovoltaic Penetration

Open access
Ciocia, Alessandro, Chicco, Gianfranco, Spertino, Filippo·2020·2020 International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies (SEST)
DOI 10.1109/sest48500.2020.9203231
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

The transformers that connect the Medium Voltage (MV) grid with the Low Voltage (LV) system are classically equipped with tap changers with tap positions variable only at no load. The evolution of the technologies and the increasing needs of controlling the voltage profile in the LV networks require better control capabilities. The use of MV/LV transformers with On Load Tap Changers (OLTCs) is increasing, to provide further control capabilities in LV grids with high penetration of distributed generation. In this paper, centralised voltage control is evaluated by simulating the operation of an OLTC installed inside the MV/LV transformer substation. The goal is to stabilise the voltage at the LV bus of the transformer. It is supposed that the OLTC does not communicate with other devices in the grid; thus, it does not know the voltage levels at the other nodes. At the same time, the distributed PV inverters control the voltage in their grid connection points without any information about the other nodes. The expected benefits of exploiting OLTCs in LV grids with high photovoltaic (PV) penetration are determined through indicators that assess the voltage deviations with energy flows, the global overvoltage or undervoltage persistence, and the overvoltage or undervoltage duration. The results show that the use of an OLTC can help the mitigation of voltage fluctuations, especially limiting the undervoltages. The effectiveness strongly depends on the control parameters, especially the maximum number of daily taps.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1109/sest48500.2020.9203231

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Off-load tap changers need manual intervention (labour and outages) and may not be practically feasible in distribution networks with bidirectional power flow where both undervoltage and overvoltage conditions may be induced as PV penetration increases.

    “However, off-load tap changers need manual intervention (labour and outages), and this approach may not be practically feasible in distribution networks with bidirectional power flow where both undervoltage and overvoltage conditions may be induced as PV penetration increases [34].”

    From Voltage Regulation in Rooftop PV-Rich Distribution Networks: A Review and Detailed Case Study (2026) · cites this paper as [34]

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

No references could be resolved yet.

Research works printed but not linked: 26

  1. L.M. Cipcigan and P.C. Taylor, "Investigation of the Reverse Power Flow Requirements of High Penetrations of Small-Scale Embedded Generation," IET Renew. Pow. Gener., vol. 1, pp. 160-166, 2007.
  2. A. Mazza, E. Carpaneto, G. Chicco, and A. Ciocia, "Creation of Network Case Studies With High Penetration of Distributed Energy Resources," Proc. 53rd UPEC, Glasgow, UK, 4-7 Sept. 2018.
  3. C. Long and L.F. Ochoa, "Voltage Control of PV-Rich LV Networks: OLTC-Fitted Transformer and Capacitor Banks," IEEE Trans. Pow. Syst., vol. 31, pp. 4016-4025, 2016.
  4. H. Pezeshki, A. Arefi, G. Ledwich, and P. Wolfs, "Probabilistic Voltage Management Using OLTC and dSTATCOM in Distribution Networks," IEEE Trans. Pow. Deliv., vol. 33, pp. 570-580, 2018.
  5. IEEE Recommended Practice for Utility Interface of Photovoltaic Systems, IEEE Standard 929, 2000.
  6. A. El-Naggar and I. Erlich, "Control Approach of Three-phase Grid Connected PV Inverters for Voltage Unbalance Mitigation in Low-Voltage Distribution Grids," IET Renew. Pow. Gener., vol. 10, pp. 1577-1586, 2016.
  7. A.T. Procopiou and L.F. Ochoa, "Voltage Control in PV-Rich LV Networks Without Remote Monitoring", IEEE Trans. Pow. Syst., vol. 32, pp. 1224-1236, 2017.
  8. T.T. Ku, C.H. Lin, C.S. Chen, and Cheng-Ting Hsu, "Coordination of Transformer On-Load Tap Changer and PV Smart Inverters for Voltage Control of Distribution Feeders," IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 55, pp. 256-264, 2019.
  9. A. Ciocia, V.A. Boicea, G. Chicco, P. Di Leo, A. Mazza, E. Pons, F. Spertino, and N. Hadj-Said, "Voltage Control in Low-Voltage Grids Using Distributed Photovoltaic Converters and Centralized Devices," IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 55, pp. 225-237, 2019.
  10. T. Aziz and N. Ketjoy, "Enhancing PV Penetration in LV Networks Using Reactive Power Control and On Load Tap Changer With Existing Transformers," IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 2683-2691, 2018.
  11. Y. Xu, C. Zhou, J. Geng, S. Gao, and P. Wang, "A Method for Diagnosing Mechanical Faults of on-Load Tap Changer Based on Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition, Volterra Model and Decision Acyclic Graph Support Vector Machine," IEEE Access, vol. 7, art 84803-84816, 2019.
  12. R. Yang, D. Zhang, Z. Li, K. Yang, S. Mo, and L. Li, "Mechanical Fault Diagnostics of Power Transformer On-Load Tap Changers Using Dynamic Time Warping," IEEE Trans. on Instrument. and Measurement, vol. 68, pp. 3119-3127, 2019.
  13. J. Seo, H. Ma, and T. Kumar Saha, "On Savitzky-Golay Filtering for Online Condition Monitoring of Transformer On-Load Tap Changer," IEEE Trans. Pow. Deliv., vol. 33, 1689-1698, 2018.
  14. S.R. Shukla, S. Paudyal, and M.R. Almassalkhi, "Efficient Distribution System Optimal Power Flow with Discrete Control of Load Tap Changers," IEEE Trans. Pow. Syst., vol. 34, pp. 2970-2979, 2019.
  15. Y. Chai, L. Guo, C. Wang, Y. Liu, and Z. Zhao, "Hierarchical Distributed Voltage Optimization Method for HV and MV Distribution Networks," IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid, vol. 11, pp. 968-980, 2020.
  16. G.C. Kryonidis, C.S. Demoulias, and G.K. Papagiannis, "A Two-Stage Solution to the Bi-Objective Optimal Voltage Regulation Problem," IEEE Trans. Sust. Energy, vol. 11, pp. 928-937, 2020.
  17. J.F. Franco, et al. "Advanced Control of OLTC-enabled LV Networks with PV Systems and EVs," IET Gen. Transm. Distrib., vol. 13, pp. 2967-2975, 2019.
  18. G.R. Chandra Mouli, et al., "Design of a Power-Electronic-Assisted OLTC for Grid Voltage Regulation," IEEE Trans. Pow. Deliv., vol. 30, pp. 1086-1095, 2015.
  19. S. Monteso Fernández, S. Martínez García, C. Cagigal Olay, J.C. Campo Rodríguez, R. Vela García, and J. Vaquero López, "Electronic Tap Changer for Very High-Power Medium-Voltage Lines With No Series-Parallel Thyristors," IEEE Trans. Ind. Electr., vol. 65, pp. 5237-5249, 2018.
  20. H. Xu, Q. Xu, Y. Gao, and H. Liu, "Coordinate Control Strategy for Current Stabilization in an Aluminium Smelter Including On Load Tap Changer," Energy and Power Engineering, vol. 5, 2013.
  21. A. Ciocia, G. Chicco, P. Di Leo, M. Gai, A. Mazza, F. Spertino, and N. Hadj-Said, "Voltage control in low voltage grids: A Comparison Between the Use of Distributed Photovoltaic Converters or Centralized Devices," in Proc. 2017 IEEE EEEIC / I&CPS Europe.
  22. T. T. Ku, et al. "Coordination of PV Inverters to Mitigate Voltage Violation for Load Transfer Between Distribution Feeders With High Penetration of PV Installation," IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 52, pp. 1167-1174, 2016.
  23. S.N. Salih and P. Chen, "On Coordinated Control of OLTC and Reactive Power Compensation for Voltage Regulation in Distribution Systems With Wind Power," IEEE Trans. Pow. Syst., vol. 31, pp. 4026-4035, 2016.
  24. K. Knezović and S. Krajcar, "Modelling and Simulating the Impact of a Small Solar Plant to the Low-Voltage Network," in Proc. Eurocon 2013, pp. 1270-1277.
  25. F. Spertino, A. Ciocia, P. Di Leo, R. Tommasini, I. Berardone, M. Corrado, A. Infuso, and M. Paggi, "A Power and Energy Procedure in Operating Photovoltaic Systems to Quantify the Losses According to the Causes," Solar Energy, vol. 118, pp. 313-326, 2015.
  26. J.M. Cano, M. Rejwanur R. Mojumdar, J.G. Norniella, and G.A. Orcajo, "Phase shifting transformer model for direct approach power flow studies,", Int J. Elect. Pow. En. Syst., vol. 91, pp. 71-79, 2017.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ciocia, A., Chicco, G., & Spertino, F.
Affiliations
Politecnico di Torino (IT)
ORCID
Venue
2020 International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies (SEST)
Publisher
IEEE
Published
2020-09
Pages
1-6
DOI
10.1109/sest48500.2020.9203231
OpenAlex
W3088498781
Cited by
11
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1
FWCI
2.11
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies (SEST) (publishedVersion)
  • PORTO@Iris (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Optimal Power Flow Distribution
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Microgrid Control and Optimization
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Power Quality and Harmonics
Keywords
on-load tap changer, voltage regulation, low-voltage distribution networks, photovoltaic penetration, distributed generation, MV/LV transformers, voltage fluctuation, overvoltage, photovoltaic inverter, transformer tap position

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review