Mitigation of Overvoltage in PV-Rich Distribution System Using Decentralized Control of EV Charging

This article presents a novel decentralized control algorithm for mitigating overvoltage issues in rooftop solar photovoltaic (RTPV) rich distribution networks, utilizing both active and reactive power control of electric vehicle (EV) chargers. Unlike conventional methods that rely solely on limited reactive power control approach, the proposed approach optimizes the use of EV chargers to manage voltage levels while ensuring that all EVs achieve the desired state of charge (SoC) by their plug-out time. The proposed algorithm effectively addresses the voltage rise associated under high RTPV penetration and regulates the system voltage within operational limits. The decentralization of the control strategy eliminates the necessity for a communication framework, thus significantly lowering infrastructure costs and system complexity. The efficacy of the control algorithm is validated through comprehensive analysis on the IEEE 45-node low-voltage (LV) distribution system, using DigSILENT PowerFactory. Furthermore, a power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) study is conducted to experimentally validate the performance of the proposed decentralized control algorithm.