ES10026

Examensarbete 30 hp
December 2010

Power quality in low voltage

grids with integrated microproduction
mrten einarsson

Abstract
Power quality in low voltage grids with integrated
mircroproduction
mrten einarsson

Teknisk- naturvetenskaplig fakultet

UTH-enheten
Besksadress:
ngstrmlaboratoriet
Lgerhyddsvgen 1
Hus 4, Plan 0
Postadress:
Box 536
751 21 Uppsala
Telefon:
018 471 30 03
Telefax:
018 471 30 00
Hemsida:
http://www.teknat.uu.se/student

This report seeks to evaluate and predict possible power quality issues regarding
Fortums engagement in the project of Stockholm Royal Seaport. Stockholm Royal
Seaport is a city district planned by Stockholm Municipality to be constructed based
on sustainable urban city principles. Fortum has, together with additional partners,
engaged in the challenge to create a sustainable energy system.
This is thought to be achieved through several measures. Energy saving actions are
in-corporated at several levels and there is a plan to create a smart grid for the
electricity supply. A smart grid has no strict definition but in this case a key feature is
demand-response which effectively means a way to optimize the consumption to
have a more balanced consumption over the 24 hours of a day.
One of the key components in the smart grid is the active house which is planned
to have several specific features separating it from an ordinary house. It is planned to
have its own contribution to electricity production using solar cells and an energy
storage using batteries. Another feature is thought to be both automation and
economic incentives measures to achieve peak load reduction.
This thesis has taken the perspective of the end customer in the active house and has
tried to evaluate the power quality to be experienced. An investigation regarding the
dif-ferent components has been carried out to get an overview from the mentioned
perspective and identify possible problems or issues that may require attention in the
realization of Stockholm Royal Seaport.
It has been found that no major problems are to be expected but some smaller issues
has arisen that might be worthwhile giving some attention.

Handledare: Jan-Olof Olsson, Johan Lundin

mnesgranskare: Mats Leijon
Examinator: Kjell Pernestl
ISSN: 1650-8300, ES10026
Sponsor: Fortum Distribution AB

Sammanfattning
Den hr rapporten syftar till att evaluera och frutsp eventuella elkvalitetsproblem fr
Fortums engagemang i projektet Norra Djurgrdsstaden. Norra Djurgrdsstaden r en
stadsdel i Stockholm planerad av Stockholms stad i hllbarhetens tecken. Fortum har, tillsammans med ytterligare aktrer, engagerat sig i att skapa ett hllbart energisystem.
Detta r tnkt att uppns genom flera tgrder. Energibesparingstgrder utfrs p flera
plan och man tnker sig implementera ett koncept man kallar smarta nt fr elfrsrjningen. Ett smart nt kan definieras p flera olika stt men hr handlar det mycket om att
styra elkonsumtion fr att uppn en jmnare elfrbrukning ver dygnet.
En av baskomponenterna i det tnkta smarta ntet r det aktiva huset som planeras ha
ett antal speciella egenskaper jmfrt med ett ordinrt hus. Man tnker sig egen elproduktion i form av solceller samt energilagring med hjlp av batterier. Man tnker sig ocks
olika former av mjuka och hrda styrmedel fr att kontrollera elkonsumtion.
Examensarbetet har utgtt frn slutkund i det aktiva huset och har skt utvrdera vad
denne kommer att uppleva i form av elkvalitet. Man har tittat p de olika komponenterna
fr att bilda en helhetsuppfattning ur det givna perspektivet och identifiera eventuella problem eller frgestllningar som krver uppmrksamhet infr genomfrandet av projektet
Norra Djurgrdsstaden.
Examensarbetet har brjat med att definiera begreppet elkvalitet som utgngspunkt. Det
r vldigt vagt formulerat i svensk lagstiftning utan grundar sig p branschpraxis som utgr
ifrn ett antal europeiska standarders. Vidare frs en diskussion om vem och vad som pverkar elkvaliteten i ntet.
Drefter grs en grov ekonomisk uppskattning kring problem orsakade av elkvaltetsfenomen. Olika rapporter frn forskningsorganet Elforsk har gtts igenom och citeras p
uppgifter kring samhllsmssiga, fretagsmssiga och privata utgifter i relaterade till dlig
elkvalitet.
Det grs sedan en mer teknisk utvrdering av problemet. Hr brjar man i den tilltnkta
applikationen, solceller, fr att ta reda p vilka elektriska egenskaper denna har. Dessa
egenskaper har sedan tagits som mall fr att utvrdera mjliga elkvaltetsproblem uppkomna i Norra Djurgrdsstaden.
Man har funnit att det inte vntas uppkomma ngra strre problem men har identifierat
ngra punkter som kan komma att krva lite noggrannare vervgning.

Nyckelord: elkvalitet, lgspnningsnt, solceller, mikroproduktion, smarta elnt, Norra

Djurgrdsstaden

Innehllsfrteckning
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4

Background
10
Stockholm Royal Seaport ............................................................................................ 10
Actors and research goals ........................................................................................... 10
Distributed generation.................................................................................................. 11
This thesis relation to the over all goal......................................................................... 11

2
2.1
2.2
2.3

Theory
12
The power grid of today ............................................................................................... 12
Future grid ................................................................................................................... 12
Motivation to a Power Quality study............................................................................. 13
2.3.1 Voltage drop ..................................................................................................... 13
2.3.2 Less traditional loads ........................................................................................ 15
2.3.3 Phase asymmetry ............................................................................................. 15

3
Power Quality
16
3.1 General and definition.................................................................................................. 16
3.2 A brief description of the phenomena [V] ..................................................................... 17
3.2.1 Outage.............................................................................................................. 17
3.2.2 Frequency variations ........................................................................................ 17
3.2.3 Phase angle ..................................................................................................... 17
3.2.4 Transients......................................................................................................... 17
3.2.5 Harmonics ........................................................................................................ 17
3.2.6 Voltage variations ............................................................................................. 17
3.2.7 Flicker ............................................................................................................... 18
3.2.8 Asymmetry ....................................................................................................... 18
3.3 Regulations and Guidelines ......................................................................................... 18
3.4 Official documents ....................................................................................................... 18
3.5 Crude guidelines .......................................................................................................... 19
3.6 Actual threshold values................................................................................................ 19
3.7 Comments to EN 50160 .............................................................................................. 21
4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7

Dangers and implications of bad power quality

22
Fortums distributing role .............................................................................................. 22
Protection .................................................................................................................... 22
Common customer damage claims ............................................................................. 23
A theoretical example .................................................................................................. 24
Costs related to power quality on a national scale ....................................................... 24
Discussion about power quality costs .......................................................................... 25
Good power quality is sought ...................................................................................... 26

5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4

Solar cells
28
History ......................................................................................................................... 28
Functionality ................................................................................................................ 28
Electrical characteristics .............................................................................................. 29
Output of power ........................................................................................................... 32

6
6.1
6.2
6.3

Other components in Stockholm Royal Seaport

33
General ....................................................................................................................... 33
PV generation and batteries ....................................................................................... 33
Electric cars ................................................................................................................ 34

7
Detailed descriptions of PQ phenomena and its effects
36
7.1 Outage ........................................................................................................................ 36
7.1.1 Outages in Stockholm Royal Seaport .............................................................. 37
7.2 Frequency variations................................................................................................... 37
7.2.1 Frequency deviations in Stockholm Royal Seaport ......................................... 38
7.3 Phase angle ................................................................................................................ 38
7.3.1 Phase angle in Stockholm Royal Seaport ....................................................... 38
7.4 Transient over voltages............................................................................................... 38
7.4.1 Transients in Stockholm Royal Seaport ........................................................... 39
7.5 Harmonics................................................................................................................... 39
7.5.1 Harmonics in Stockholm Royal Seaport .......................................................... 40
7.6 Voltage variations ....................................................................................................... 40
7.6.1 Swells .............................................................................................................. 41
7.6.2 Dips ................................................................................................................. 41
7.6.3 Current transients ............................................................................................ 41
7.6.4 Voltage variations in Stockholm Royal Seaport ............................................... 42
7.7 Flicker ......................................................................................................................... 42
7.7.1 Flicker in Stockholm Royal Seaport ................................................................. 43
7.8 Asymmetry .................................................................................................................. 43
7.8.1 Asymmetry in Stockholm Royal Seaport ......................................................... 44
7.9 Summary .................................................................................................................... 44
8

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

46
49

1 Background
1.1

Stockholm Royal Seaport

Stockholm municipality has taken an initiative to carry out a large scale replanning
of a city district through an organization called Stockholm Innovation. This district
is located around Hjorthagen and Vrtahamnen and the project goes under the
name Stockholm Royal Seaport.
The main focus of this new city district revolves around sustainable urban solutions. The project is part of Clinton Climate Initiative which is a cooperation between 40 cities across the world to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The CCI
acts as a forum for the participants to exchange experiences in order to promote
advances within the field1.

1.2

Actors and research goals

Together with ABB, Fortum has joined the project from its position as leading
provider of electricity and heat. The idea is to create a full scale test site for a concept called smart grid that is looked upon as very promising in the struggle to
fight climate change. There is no strict definition of what a smart grid is but generally all mentioned properties of a smart grid refer to different ways to optimize
electricity generation, transmission and consumption in a smart way. A key feature
of the smart grid planned for Stockholm Royal Seaport is the utilization of demand
response technology. This effectively means that one wants to smoothen out the
power consumption over a 24 hour horizon, e.g. decrease consumption peaks and
move consumption to times when consumption is lower. This is also thought to be
achieved through energy storage[II].

10

www.clintonfoundation.org, march 2010

1.3

Distributed generation

Another aspect of Fortums involvement in the Stockholm Royal Seaport project is

the addition of micro production of electricity. For the specific case of Stockholm
Royal Seaport, this means electricity production from solar cells. This project is
supposed to be a forerunner of things to come. There are strong indications that
the electrical environment is about to change from its traditional layout to a much
more diversified system with new components to take into account. Small scale
production units, connected in locations where the grid was not originally designed to connect them, is such a thing. This is generally a widely accepted way to
reach goals of renewable energy input set up by both Swedish authorities and
European guidelines.

1.4

This thesis relation to the over all goal

The goal of this thesis project has been to look at what can be expected to be the
implications of such a change in the providing electrical system from the end customers point of view. The focus will be on power quality, what problems can be
expected, how harmful these problems are expected to be and how to address
them.

11

2 Theory
2.1

The power grid of today

The distribution network of tradition is built up around big powerful production

units. These units generate onto a core grid that transports the power in high voltage to the different consumers. Some industrial consumers that are heavy power
consumers are connected to the grid on the high voltage side and a regular domestic consumer is typically connected at the low voltage side.

Fig 1. Schematic view of traditional power gridFel! Hittar inte

referensklla.

2.2

Future grid

The trend within the electricity sector is pointing towards a more diversified grid
concept. It is expected that the future grids will be more diversified in both generation and consumption[II]. This is a feature of the subtle expression smart grids.
12

This thesis takes aim at providing a small piece of the puzzle in exploring how
distributed generation can affect the power quality in the low voltage grid. The
thesis is generally focused a bit more on solar power generation but as we will see
later on, the conclusions draws can be applied to other power sources.

Fig2. Schematic view of a more diversified expected future power gridFel! Hittar inte referensklla.

2.3

Motivation to a Power Quality study

Why, then, should any problems with power quality be expected approaching this
future view of the grid? Below follows a theoretical example and other reasoning
intended to illustrate how this diversified generation might affect the end user. The
example is of course greatly simplified but aims to describe a real phenomenon in
the grid today.

2.3.1

Voltage drop

When moving down in voltage, the current must be increased in order to transmit
the same amount of power. This leads to an increase of
Substation Substation
thermal losses. Thermal losses causes a voltage drop over
240V
the given transmission line. In areas with a weak grid these 230V
losses can be of a non negligible magnitude and will result in
a lower voltage at the end user than at the substations low
230V
voltage side. This is traditionally dealt with by upping the 220V
voltage at the transformer to give the end user a good voltUser
User
age[I].
Fig 3. Voltage upped at the
substation to meet demand

13

Now we consider the case of the end user becoming a small

scale producer of electricity. If he produces a larger amount of
Substation
n
electricity than he consumes he will probably try to export the
240V
240V
excess onto the grid. This means that he will have to overtake
this voltage differential. Twice. This will effectively put him at
250V in the example illustrated. If the production originates
230V
250V
from a stochastic energy source, such as solar photovoltaic, it
Producer
User
would also give large instant fluctuations when quickly switchFig 4. Over voltage at end consumer
ing between 250V and 230V.
when back-feeding the grid

This voltage drop can be seen in the grids of today, see fig 5.

Fig 5. Screenshot from the computer program Power Grid used by Fortum
14

2.3.2 Less traditional loads

The deviations from nominal power properties do not only depend on the feeding
from the substation. They also heavily depend on the properties of the electrical
load that the power is supposed to drive. The example above with voltage fluctuations is greatly simplified. For example, a grid with many electrical motors as
loads has energy stored in the rotating mass of both the motor itself and its connected mechanical load. The grid therefore has an inertia counteracting the sudden
voltage change described above. This phenomenon is a stabilizing factor in large
interconnected grids and works better the higher the short circuit power is.
However, the continuing trend regarding the composition of electrical loads
points toward a lower percentage of mechanical loads and motors and a higher
percentage of micro and macro electronical loads[IV]. The mentioned regulating
inertia, also known as frequency regulation, is therefore predicted to have a somewhat smaller impact in the future. This suggests that an external support for grid
stabilization might have to be considered.

2.3.3 Phase asymmetry

The ideal state of power is perfectly symmetrical three phase at nominal sinusoidal
voltage. But not all equipment we use run on three phase power. In practice, the
tradition has been to roughly divide the one phase loads between the phases. This
works quite well. However, in the case of small scale production one might not
consider the idea of three different inverter systems for one installation to be reasonable. To add production in one phase would potentially cause symmetry problems.

15

3 Power Quality
3.1

General and definition

The concept of power quality is not strictly defined. It varies with the requirements
of the consumer and the electrical characteristics of the load of the consumer.
Therefore the responsibility of maintaining a good electrical environment falls
upon both the distributor, the manufacturer of the application and the user of the
application.
There are, however, several phenomena that can cause problems of different magnitude for a grid connected user. Examples of these are harmonics, voltage variations, asymmetry between phases, frequency deviations and so on. All of these
phenomena describe states that in some way deviate from the nominal state of the
electrical characteristics, see fig 6.
-

One can therefore define power quality as the absence of these phenomena.
Outage
Frequency
variations

Power
Quality

Distorted
Phase Angle
(Active/Reactive
power)

Transients

Harmonics

Voltage
characteristics

Asymmetry
Voltage
variations

Flicker

Fig 6.Schematic view of different Power Quality phenomena

16

3.2

A brief description of the phenomena [V]

3.2.1 Outage

Outage describes a state where the power supply is cut. This is defined as below
10% of nominal voltage. Outages are in many documents labelled service reliability and treated as a different kind of problem not really related to power quality issues.
3.2.2 Frequency variations

Deviances from the nominal frequency which is in Sweden set to 50 Hz. Theoretically, any node of an interconnected (AC) grid should have the exact same frequency. This is not the whole truth in reality. Weak parts of the grid have more
local frequency issues in general than strong parts of the grid. Frequency deviations also tends to become an issue when dealing with islanding or closing in on
such a state.
3.2.3 Phase angle

Refers to a situation where the voltage and current goes slightly out of phase to
one another. This is created by the inductive part of the impedance of both transmission equipment and loads where motors and generators are significant contributors.
3.2.4 Transients

A temporary increase in voltage. Usually occurs when large units are connected
or disconnected from the grid or by the act of thunder. A transient can increase the
voltage by an order of magnitude lager than the nominal voltage. This does not
however mean that they contain a large amount of energy as they are usually very
short in time and low on current.
3.2.5 Harmonics

Signals of a frequency that is a multiple of the nominal frequency are called

harmonics and are potentially very harmful.
3.2.6 Voltage variations

Called Swells in the case of an increase and dips in the case of a decrease.
Needs to be in effect over a couple of periods to qualify as swells rather than transients.
17

3.2.7 Flicker

A quite subjective phenomena. The term flicker refers to the variations in

light emitted by light bulbs. It is hard to define electrically and has a definition
based on the perception of the human eye.
3.2.8 Asymmetry

The unbalance between the phases of a three phase system. An unbalance occurs when one or more of the phases displays a slightly different voltage, current
or deviates from the 120 degrees phase shift supposed to be there.

3.3

Regulations and Guidelines

Ellagen 3 kap 9:
9 Den som har ntkoncession r skyldig att p skliga villkor verfra el
fr annans rkning.
verfringen av el skall vara av god kvalitet.
En ntkoncessionshavare r skyldig att avhjlpa brister hos verfringen i
den utstrckning kostnaderna fr att avhjlpa bristerna r rimliga i frhllande till de olgenheter fr elanvndarna som r frknippade med bristerna.
Regeringen eller den myndighet som regeringen bestmmer fr meddela
freskrifter om vilka krav som skall vara uppfyllda fr att verfringen av el
skall vara av god kvalitet. Lag (2005:1110).

Fig 7. Citation of the Swedish law of electricity

3.4

Official documents

Fig 7 is a quote from the Swedish legislation. It states that the transmission of
power should be of good quality. Furthermore it states that the operator is obligated to remedy possible faults of the transmission to an extent that the benefit is
reasonable in proportion to the cost[VII]. The legislation is in other words open to
interpretation. The operator is legally obligated to measure amount of consumed
electrical energy and its distribution over time for a connected consumer. There
are however not any legal obligation to measure voltage quality[VI].
What is considered to be good power quality in Sweden is commonly agreed to be
in line with the guidelines provided in the European standard EN 50160; Voltage
characteristics of electricity supplied by public distribution systems. This stan18

dard provides threshold values for the supply voltage of a given grid. All of the
phenomena in fig 6 are described there. It is however erroneous to only discuss the
supply side of a given node. The electrical environment is also dependant of the
dynamics of the load connected. Therefore, another series of standards have been
developed called EN 61000 Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) with many
subdocuments called EN 61000-1-2 etc. This series of standards specify how the
connected equipment should behave electrically.
Together these sets of documents paint a picture of how the electrical environment should behave.

3.5

Crude guidelines

Many large installations require better power quality than the values allowed by
the EN 50160[I]. Such installations may be process industry or something alike
and are generally also large consumers. In those cases it is common for the provider, consumer and manufacturer to through a discussion reach a level of quality
that is most beneficial. This is the most cost effective way to deal with power quality issues but puts high demands on the competence of the consumer in order to be
feasible.

3.6

Actual threshold values

A good overview of the document EN 50160 can be found in an interpretational

document called voltage disturbances[VIII]. Here we also see the comparison to
the EN 61000 document sets which gives a better perspective on the regulations
for electrical environment.

19

Fig 8.Table of threshold values of EN 50160 and EN 61000 [VIII]

20

3.7

Comments to EN 50160

It is important to keep in mind that the strife for good power quality should not be
a goal in itself. Many (or actually most) applications do not require perfect power
quality and it is therefore unreasonable and uneconomical to create an environment with perfect power quality. The stakeholders should instead, through a discussion, settle on a level that is most beneficial for all parts. Industries and commercial consumers also in general require a higher level of power quality.
The EN 50160 is under revision. A European cooperation is undergoing to revise this standard and a set of recommendations have been presented by ERGEG
and is supposed to be accepted as changes to the existing version[VII].
The above mentioned EN 50160 set to describe the properties of the supply voltage is limited to only apply under normal operating conditions. This of course
means that when an event occurs, planned or unforeseen, the grid is immediately
outside of normal operating conditions and a customer cannot claim the protection
of EN 50160.

21

4 Dangers and implications of bad power

quality
To further motivate the conduction of this study some words regarding the consequences of bad power quality should be mentioned.

4.1

Fortums distributing role

Fortum is because of their position as electricity provider responsible for the product they deliver, namely electricity. Therefore they occasionally get damage
claims from customers who have in some way received a bad product. Since the
legislation in Sweden is open to interpretation[VI] and measurements at a single
user are very seldom carried out, a big lack of information is common in such
cases. A section within Fortum that works with damage claims handles the received claims and cross check the time of the reported incident with records of non
ordinary behaviour in that region of the grid. This can be due to repairs, malfunctions of equipment or new installations in the area. But over all the information is
scarce, especially specific details about exactly what has electrically happened at
the feeding point of an end consumer.

4.2

Protection

The low voltage grid is protected only by breakers that react to large currents and
short circuits. There is traditionally no protection against voltage variations[IX].
This is due to the fact that the voltage is relatively stable which means that high
currents represent high powers. High powers are what is dangerous to persons and
property. This is regulated by elskerthetsverket in Sweden and follows more
strictly defined regulations than power quality since it is considered a safety issue.
The simple principal of this is that the series of interconnected conductors that
constitutes the grid always are dimensioned for a maximum power flow. A breaker
is installed as the weakest link of a section of conductors and will hence trip and
cut power at a set value of current flow to protect the installation. This principal is
22

used in all voltage levels of the grid and manifests itself at the end consumer as a
fuse.

4.3

Common customer damage claims

Many of the problems reported to Fortums damage claim coincide with faults on
the zero conductor. Modern installations in buildings include a residual-current
device (jordfelsbrytare), required by law on public buildings and outdoor installations. The design of the residual-current device is made to cut power when a difference between phase current and PEN current is detected, i.e. current leakage.
Older installations are not protected in this way and are susceptible to zero conductor faults. Such a fault often occurs together with maintenance or repair work.
Such a fault can potentially give 1 phase equipment a voltage of 400V instead of
the nominal 230V[IV]. This often leads to extensive equipment damage but can
also be a safety hazard.

Fig 9. Left: PEN conductor lost. Right: short circuit between a line and neutral[IV].
Claims can then typically include domestic equipment such as dishwashers, refrigerators etc. In some cases, claims can include virtually all electrical equipment in
the house [X]. A received damage claim is treated by Fortums personnel who open
a case for investigation. The case is then revised and the incident is cross checked
versus known incidents in the grid matching the time interval given such as maintenance work or detected faults. If the claim is for a larger amount of money, insurance companies usually handles the process of juridical responsibilities. Fortums investigators also do this for claims of lesser values. The previously mentioned lack of information is however a big issue. In cases where there are no internal records of deviances from normal operation it is a case-to-case decision.
23

Since all decisions needs to be backed up by documentation, installation electricians and entrepreneurs are consulted for a professional statement. In cases where
there is no relevant data to consult a decision is made on a probability estimation.

4.4

A theoretical example

Problems may arise when consumers connect large temporary loads, especially if
they are one phase connected. A good example can be a part of a suburban grid
with a few villas connected to the same substation where the grid is not too strong.
If one of the consumers connects a welding machine running on one phase power
it will probably affect his neighbours in a negative way. Such a load is an intense
power consumer and is also rapidly switched on and off. Visual effects will be
flicker in lights connected to the same phase and possibly a brief hiccup in electrical motors such as fans. Unnoticed effects might be three phase connected motors
damages such as washing machines, dryers, water pumps etc. who receive an unbalanced power input. This will be extra bad if the electrical characteristics of the
load contain a big inductive part, in which case three phase motors will be subjected to a counteracting magnetic field which will lower its efficiency and cause
more wear and tare. Such a scenario is clearly caused by the introduction of an
exceptional load but the responsibilities are not clearly defined, see section Power
Quality. The welding machine should obey the emission standard SS-EN 61000-32 [XI]but even if it does so the neighbours might experience problems in a weak
grid. This results is a situation where the electricity provider has kept up his end,
the welder producer has kept up his end but some customers still experience a degeneration of their power supply. This knowledge of the behaviour of the low
voltage grid is far from general knowledge among house owners. From a customers point of view the product they are buying is suddenly changing from good to
bad without them changing anything. A survey carried out by Elforsk shows that
customers put responsibility foremost on the electricity provider, secondly on the
electrical installation entrepreneur. The device manufacturer comes in third place
and on fourth neighbouring consumers[XII].

4.5

Costs related to power quality on a national scale

Elforsk has in December of 2006 put together an evaluating report about power
quality and its implications[I]. This report evaluates the full national electrical system from small apartment consumer to major processing industries, but it still
helps us to put economical figures on the issue of power quality in the low voltage
grid. A good overview table can be found on page 44
24

Fig 10. x-axis reads process industry, production industry, commerce, office, real
estate, public, rural, households, y-axis reads long outages, short outages, transients, voltage variations, harmonics, voltage asymmetry, flicker . Digits are in
million SEK. begr means limited[I]

4.6

Discussion about power quality costs

Dissecting this table we can see that outages in general are by far the most expensive power quality problem. This is also the most well-documented phenomena.
The cost is mainly due to production interruptions. The high figures for short outages is because a short interruption or power dip often trips safety equipment and
takes some time to restore. In this way, a power cut of half a second can result in
production interruption of several hours. This is obviously not desired and many
large power consumers have supporting equipment of their own to guard themselves against this.
When looking at domestic households, transients and voltage variations stand out
as big expenses. This is interesting for the topic of this thesis. The figures presented correspond almost exclusively to damaged equipment. A big part of this is
equipment connected to two or more electrically signalling grids, e.g. distributing
network and tele network. An over voltage in one of them gives an unnatural voltage difference between the two systems. This difference will be present inside of
25

the device which the device is generally not constructed for. More on this in section Detailed description. Even though these estimations are quite rough they
still provide some idea of what good power quality at the end consumer could be
worth. This of course has to be weighed against the investment needed to reduce/eliminate the given problem.
Another report from Statens Energimyndighet dated 2003[XIII] states:
Fire in property due to over voltages:
xa100 x 1 million
Damages to domestic and office electronic devices etc covered by
home- and property- insurances:
22 000 x 10 000 kr
Damages covered by product warranty:
Damages to electronic devices not covered by insurance:
Sum

100
220

50
150
520

As we can see, Fortum does not carry the heavy financial burden of bad power
quality. The Cost is distributed among all the actors. This can be considered reasonable given the previous discussion about the shared responsibility regarding the
electrical environment. All documents regarding power quality stress the fact that
a reasonable electric environment must be achieved through cooperation between
the parts involved. But when looking at the financial part of the problem, an additional actor enters the scene. Insurance companies. There are examples of cases
when legal processes are carried out between Fortum and insurance companies
regarding financial compensation to a customer. This can be a hot subject if for
example a full out fire has occurred in a real estate worth very much money. If the
fire is severe, the evidence is probably damaged and a lengthy legal process may
be the result.

4.7

Good power quality is sought

As a final word to conclude it can be said that that a good electrical environment,
good power quality, is worth a significant amount of money for all parts involved.
The price for bad power quality is divided among the stakeholders with an overweight on the consumer and commercial players. The price to achieve good power
quality, the investments needed to be made, is also divided among the players[I].

26

27

5 Solar cells
5.1

History

Electricity production from solar cells is also called PhotoVoltaic generation. The
phenomenon was first discovered by Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel (father of
Henry B.) in 1839 . This is about the time when humanity first started to discover
electricity (Faradays law of induction in 1831) and the vast possibilities of electrical energy was not yet known. The first selenium solid-state cell was invented in
1876. The next big leap comes with the introduction of semi conductors in the
1950:ies. The modern silicon solar cell was invented at Bell Labs in 1954. It found
a natural niche in the space program and the first silicon solar cell was launched in
1958. Power generated from sunlight and without moving parts is of course ideal
for this purpose. This helped the development greatly because of the abundant financial funding of the likes of NASA[XIV].

5.2

Functionality

A solar cell is essentially a diode. It utilizes the photoelectric effect which means
that electrons are energized by photons; light. In a semi conducting material such
as silicon, with four out of eight possible electrons in its outer shell, this means
that an excess electron is knocked loose to move freely in the crystal structure. As
the electron is knocked loose, a gap appears where it was located. This gap also
moves freely and is labelled a hole and treated as a particle of its own. The photon has thus created an electron-hole pair.
The natural thing for the electron and the hole to do is to quite soon find each
other and free the energy now bound in them into dissipating heat. To prevent this,
the silicon is doped. Doping means that some impurities are introduced in the crystalline structure. Materials introduced include one extra, or one less, electron in its
outer shell. This shortage / excess of electrons create an electric field between
28

them. This electric field separates the electrons from the holes which are attracted
to opposite sides of the cell. When the two sides are connected by an external conductor a current arises. The solar cell is complete see fig 11.

Fig 11.Schematic view of a Solar Cell

5.3

Electrical characteristics

A single solar cell is, as shown in figure above, has only one voltage level. In a
silicon cell it is 0.6-0.7 V. This is a quantum mechanical property of the semiconducting element silicon. The distinct value corresponds to the potential difference
between the valence band and the conducting band within the silicon and corresponds to any photon carrying an energy of 1.2 eV or higher. This means light of
wavelength 1022 nm or shorter1 . An increase of the area of this theoretical cell
will increase the irradiance of light fallen upon it which will increase the number
of electron-hole pairs created. This will increase the current that can be drawn
from the cell but will not affect the voltage.
Since a voltage level of 0.6 V is very low something must be done to up the
level. This is done by connecting several cells in series into modules. Theoretically
this principle can be used to reach any voltage level desired. But the trade off in
doing so is that the module, being a closed electrical circuit will have its current
limited by its least conducting cell, the weakest link of the chain. This practically means that if an obstacle located as illustrated in cell B in fig 12 below will

E = h * f E = h * c / = h * c / E = 4.13 * 10-15 [eVs]* 2.97 * 108 [m/s ]/ 1.2 [eV]= 1022

* 10-9 [m]

29

limit the array to about 95% of its capacity, whereas an obstacle as illustrated in
cell C in fig 12 will make the whole array dead[XIV].

Fig 12. Solar cells and batteries connected in series

The electricity production of solar cells is also temperature dependant. The hotter
the cells get, the lower efficiency they get. Efficiency is also limited by obstacles
(as illustrated above), malfunctioning or inferior cells and of course whether the
sunlight is direct or indirect. Fig 13 below shows a theoretical solar cells electrical variances.

30

Fig 13. I-V curve of a solar cell [XIV]

In figure 11 X-axis shows voltage, Y-axis shows current. The green curve illustrates a cells ability to conduct current without being hit by sunlight. This curve
resembles the conducting curve of a diode. The blue curve, which is almost identical to the green curve except a constant is added, shows a solar cells ability to
conduct (create) current when illuminated by light. The point marked ISC on the
Y-axis is a theoretical maximum current the cell can create when short circuited.
Similarly the point marked VSC on the X-axis is the voltage across the cell when
no closed circuit is made and the voltage is measured across the cell. This voltage
should in the ideal case be the previously mentioned 0.7V but is in reality closer to
0.5V. Depending on ISC, VSC and the shape of the blue curve, the red curve is derived. The red curve stands for output power, I * V, and is of course what we are
looking for in electricity production. As shown in picture there is an optimal relation between current and voltage at which we want to operate in order to reach
maximum efficiency. This is achieved by controlling the load in the circuitry to
draw the exact amount of current that corresponds to the cells, or rather the array
of cells, IMP.

31

5.4

Output of power

The load in this case is a power inverter. An inverter takes DC power as input
and inverts it to AC power, in this case 230V 50Hz to feed the grid. In order to be
able to feed the grid, and not have power fed from the grid to the inverter, the inverter needs to keep a slightly higher voltage than the grid has at the point of connection. In the same way the DC input voltage from the solar modules must be
slightly higher than the input at the inverter. (For the same reasons a similar control system is also required when charging batteries from solar cells even though
both batteries and solar cells operate on DC power.) This obviously introduces the
need for a dynamic control system in order to be kept working at a good efficiency. It is usually this full control system and its power electronics that is called
inverter.
From the grids point of view there is just an inverter. The electricity is created
in the inverter and one can therefore make the argument that it is an electrically
robust installation. Disturbances and deviations (however unlikely) in the main
producing PV-arrays would not carry through to the AC power output.
The inverter furthermore inverts the power created by the installation. If less
power is created the inverter stays with the same voltage level but lowers its power
output. Therefore the system will affect the grid the most when the power output is
the highest. Thus, the thesis is focused on the installations maximum rated power.

32

6 Other components in Stockholm Royal

Seaport
6.1

General

The previous chapter about solar cells was chosen because it is the main new
component close to the end user. It was also chosen because it serves as a good
example of other components. Since the objective of the thesis was to look into
possible power quality issues at the end consumer, it does not exclusively concern
solar power. However, there is a lot to be learned by studying the properties of
solar power.

6.2

PV generation and batteries

The power electronics controlling the cells and making proper power output
from them are the key. These power electronics are very much the alike the controlling electronics for batteries. They have an energy source operating in a certain
voltage interval. For solar cells the voltage varies within the interval with obstacles, temperature and other minor aspects. For a battery it varies with the charge
percentage, age, temperature and so forth. The electricity sources are in other
words very similar. The inverter then takes this as input, keeps it at optimum voltage level and transforms the power to nominal grid AC. (A big difference obviously being that the electronics for the batteries needs to be able to charge the batteries as well as draw power from them.)
The figure below shows the schematic outline of the passive house and its
properties thought to be implemented in Stockholm Royal Seaport. Worth noting
is that 100m2 of solar cells corresponds to roughly 14kW power (peak effect)
which is strikingly close to the 13kW suggested for the batteries[II].
The yellow square with a blue lid in the apartments represent controllable loads
that the smart grid operator can use to balance power consumption over time.
33

1 Building
40 apartments
Normalized consumption profile according to research in
Elforsk report 8:54,
Estimated consumption of
4100 kWh per household/year
Controllable loads dishwasher and textile washing/dryer,
Total 43 kWh/daily
Photovoltaic generation, 10
000 kWh/year (100m2),
48kWh 200 days/year
Battery size 13 kW, 54 kWh
recycled daily, approx 1500
kg batteries

Fig 14. Schematic view of the active house of Stockholm Royal Seaport

6.3

Electric cars

The electric cars are thought to be a key component in grid management. They
are thought to be charged at night to balance power consumption over the 24 hours
of the day. But electric cars are still a few years into the future and have therefore
not been a main focus in this thesis.

34

35

7 Detailed descriptions of PQ phenomena

and its effects
Outage
Frequency
variations

Power
Quality

Distorted
Phase Angle
(Active/Reactive
power)

Transients

Harmonics

Voltage
characteristics

Asymmetry
Voltage
variations

Flicker

Fig 15.Schematic view of different Power Quality phenomena

7.1

Outage

Outage is the most dominant part of quality issues and also the easiest to measure
and find data records of. Outages are always caused by a fault, either spontaneous or
as a result of human error. An outage is comparably easy to cost-estimate. An outage
effects industry the hardest, especially production industry where a lack of production
of course leads to significant costs[I].
The costs for a domestic user are harder to estimate. There are of course examples
though. A case from damage claims tells a story where an outage to a summer cabin in
Dalarna caused the pipes to freeze and Fortum paid damages for 37000SEK[X]
An outage of more than 12 hours is compensated economically with a minimum of
900SEK and a maximum of 300% of the customers estimated yearly feeFel! Hittar
inte referensklla.. Outages of this magnitude are generally rare and very rare in
urban areas.
36

It is harder to estimate the cost of short outages, but these are on the other hand
easier to visualize. The time loss of equipment not functioning when needed (stove,
washing machine etc) and the scenario of work lost on the computer. Most often a
blackout is not depending on bad feeding from the grid but from safety tripping within
the house or property.
7.1.1 Outages in Stockholm Royal Seaport

The introduction of new electrical components poses a somewhat enlarged risk for
outages due to the lack of experience. However, ABB who provides the control system
for the smart grid has expressed the reliability of the grid to be a priority. It is therefore
the authors opinion that there will not be an enlarged risk of outages within the test
area Stockholm Royal Seaport.

7.2

Frequency variations

The frequency in the Swedish grid is set to 50Hz. This means that all synchronous
machinery electrically connected to the grid operates at this frequency. A variation in
this frequency is the grids natural response to a change in production or consumption
in the over all national balance of power. If a big production unit, e.g. a major hydro
power plant or a nuclear reactor, the frequency will drop a little. If on the other hand a
big power consumer falls off the grid the frequency is slightly increased. This is
managed on a national level by Svenska Kraftnt who are put in charge of balancing
production and consumption at all times.
Many direct connected motors and generators give the grid a certain mechanical
inertia. A way to visualize this is to imagine a big rotating motor rotating at a speed
corresponding to 50Hz. If there is a sudden lapse in production, the rotating mass of
the motor will in accordance to all physical theory want to keep spinning at the same
speed and will therefore make the sudden change more smooth.
Deviations in frequency affect clocks that use the electrical frequency of the grid to
know what time it is. Such clocks are common. Robotics with direct driven motors
would also go out of sync if fed with bad frequency.
In weak parts of the grid frequency variations are uncommon but possible. When
approaching islanding operational mode frequency deviations are more likely. If
absolutely zero power is exchanged in a node connecting a self sustaining grid part
and the overlaying grid it is theoretically possible for that part to have a frequency of
its own.

37

7.2.1 Frequency deviations in Stockholm Royal Seaport

Although island state could be considered due to the local production in SRS, the
generation is of such low magnitude that no problems are expected. Studies have
shown that a ratio of 70% local production nominal power of the feeding transformers
power is quite manageable by the grid. Also, as mentioned above, the local power
produced would be manufactured on site with near perfect properties.

7.3

Phase angle

The concept of a phase angle is a mathematical way to deal with a slight time lag
between voltage and current. The word phase in this section does not correspond to
a phase used in the below description of three phase systems but simply represents
the previously mentioned time lag, voltage and current are out of phase. Phase angle
directly correspond to the concept of active and reactive power in the way that cosine
of the phase angle equals the fraction of the apparent power that is active. Analogy,
sine of the phase angle gives the fraction of reactive power.
Reactive power is something useful for some applications, especially induction
motors require some reactive power to magnetize their rotor. When transporting
electricity, reactive power leads to losses and is therefore something that one wants to
avoid. Reactive power is dealt with by capacitor banks installed at key points in the
grid. Industrial power users sometimes create reactive power of which they are
charged with a fee by the distributing company. Many large power consumers therefore have their own phase compensation.
7.3.1 Phase angle in Stockholm Royal Seaport

Given the characteristics of the solar cell invertors, who creates power with a power
factor of 1 (no reactive power), it is considered unlikely that Stockholm Royal Seaport
will have a larger risk of reactive power problems than any regular part of the grid.
There is also not to the authors knowledge any electrical device with a particular large
inductive part considered to be introduced.

7.4

Transient over voltages

Voltage transients are in many ways interconnected with voltage variations. The
definition of a voltage transient according to EN 50160 is a brief oscillating or nonoscillating over voltage, usually heavily dampened with a duration of a few millisec38

onds or less[V]. Transients are caused by lightning or switching operations, for

example when a high inductive current is switched off [VIII]. The standard does in this
case express itself a bit unclear. It states transient over voltages does normally not
exceed 6kV peak value, but can occasionally reach higher levels. It does not actually
give a recommendation that transient voltages should not exceed this value, or any
other.
While 6kV seems like an extremely high voltage level compared to the nominal
voltage of 230V its effects are not as dire as expected from such a deviance. Given the
time span of maximum 5 milliseconds and down to microsecond level they do not
carry much energy[V]. A period is 20 milliseconds in a 50Hz AC power system.
These high frequency and low energy transients constitute the kind of transients that
presents lesser danger. Transients of low frequency and higher energy present more of
a problem. They can slip though protections because of their lesser height of the spike.
This is in reality an energy pulse carried by the grid. Voltage transients are in many
ways connected to current transients; see section below under voltage variations.
Voltage transients are dangerous in equipment connected to two or more electrical
signalling networks. Phones, faxes, computers and TVs are all connected to the power
grid but also to either data network, tele network or TV network. If one of these
networks are carrying a transient into a device there will be a potential difference
within the device between the two signalling networks and a flashover, a discharge,
will probably occur which is harmful to the device [XIII].
7.4.1 Transients in Stockholm Royal Seaport

To control the smart grid in Stockholm Royal Seaport a signalling system called
SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) is planned to be installed. It is
not yet decided whether this will be a physical network or information will be sent via
the wireless GSM network. A physical network parallel to the power grid will pose an
increased risk of transient damages to the SCADA system. This risk increase is
however considered marginal by the author. For one, there traditionally are very few
transient problems in urban areas especially in urban areas newly constructed. The
high short circuit power of the grid also works to an advantage to decrease voltage
transients. Current transients may however pose a problem, see section voltage
variations below. A second reason is the previous experience from SCADA systems.

7.5

Harmonics

Harmonics have historically been considered a lesser problem in Sweden than in the
rest of Europe. This is because Sweden has been a heavy power consumer per capita
with electric heating. Electric heating is electrically a very nice linear load and a
system built up of many of those helps to smooth out and reduce harmonics. As we
39

move forward into the future with more environmental awareness and a changing
energy system striving for more efficient power use we gradually try to eliminate this
use of electricity, and hence approach the continental situation[I].
Harmonics are voltage or current components of a multiple of the grid base frequency 50Hz. They are created almost exclusively at the consumer. With no regulating
equipment they travel upwards and spread in the grid. Harmonics are created by non
linear loads that draw a current of another plotted shape than the one of the voltage.
Depending on the strength of the grid, the impedance, the non linear current affects the
voltage and distorts the sine shape of the voltage too.
Harmonics are harmful to equipment and causes heat losses. They also have an
unwanted effect to occasionally create resonances between inductive and capacitive
parts in the grid which leads to non useful power transportation which means unnecessary losses. The 3:rd over tone is especially harmful since it adds itself up in the PENconductor which can then lead to vagabond currents. Another aspect which is hard to
estimate economically is pulsating torque effect that occurs in motors fed with power
tainted by overtones. Equipment using clocks that are based on the grids 50Hz frequency can also experience problems from harmonics with amplitude big enough to
create false intermediate crossing of zero potential. Harmonics are generally dealt with
by filters. This erases or restrains the harmonics by dissipating it as heat, which are
obviously losses.
7.5.1 Harmonics in Stockholm Royal Seaport

It is estimated that 70% of all global electrical power pass through rectifiers[I]. All
rectifiers are non linear loads. Rectifiers using PWM-switching are becoming more
common and use a very high switching frequency. Generally a higher switching
frequency creates less harmonics but there is a risk for the high order switching to
interact with other equipment of the same type. Resonance between two or more
components can in its own create harmonics. Different switching apparatuses can also
counteract each other. The author would suggest some thought would be given to this
matter in selection of apparatuses.

7.6

Voltage variations

Voltage variations are, together with frequency variations, the grids natural reaction
to a change in load or production. Voltage increases are called swells and decreases
are called dips. As stated in the section Power Quality we are approaching an
environment with less grid inertia as the fraction of electronic loads compared to
electric machinery is increased.
40

7.6.1 Swells

Swells are in general dangerous to equipment[IV]. A device constructed for 230V

will in most cases function normally on 240V but is not healthy in over long stretches
of time.
In high voltage parts of the grid some protections against over voltage is installed. It
is simply put a device between two conductors that short circuit them[I]. This device,
called over voltage protector, starts conducting at a certain threshold value but is an
isolator at nominal voltage. In low voltage parts of the grid there are no such protections since the cost does not motivate the benefit [IV].
Swells are related to transients. The difference is one of definition, a transient is
very short whereas a swell endures several seconds or is permanent. Swells are
uncommon.
7.6.2 Dips

Dips are however more common. On a national average there occur about 20 dips
every year in Sweden[IV]. Dips are indeed the sign that the protection systems within
the grid are functioning properly. Dips are caused by switching operations in the grid,
operations mostly caused by faults such as short circuits or PEN-faults. This can be
because of thunder, trees or man-made breaks on cables and the following disconnects
and circumventions of the fault.
A report by Elforsk suggests that dips are especially dangerous to electronic equipment[IV]. A, at the time of its publishing, still not practically proven theory is introduced that suggests dips as the indirect reason of several malfunctions on electronical
devices.
7.6.3 Current transients

Large over currents on a large scale are limited in the grid. This is because protections are installed to cut faulty parts or components of the grid if they draw an unnaturally large current. Since the voltage pretty much keeps steady it is the current drawn
that determines the power delivered/used. Therefore safety breakers are installed
mainly in the substation but also in different nodes in the grid and this eliminates the
danger of excessively large transient currents.
It does not however cover small fluctuations and current surges. For this we obviously have a personal safety legislation that guides how to safeguard a home with
domestic breakers. But they still might allow a current transient high enough to
damage electrical equipment.
Elforsk did in 2006 write a report investigating the sensitivity of electrical equipment with the main focus on equipment connected to two different signal networks,
e.g. power grid and tele grid. The investigation shows that current transients can occur
very locally and damage or destroy electrical equipment which is not sufficiently
41

protected . An identified weakness is that the conventional rectifier contains a protection for cold starts, but not for sudden current rushes following a voltage dip in the
grid. When a local or more spread out voltage dip occurs in the grid due to a start-up
of a significant additional load or similar, the grid quickly strives to balance it and
return to nominal voltage. During the dip, capacitors in the conventional rectifier have
emptied out its energy and now receive a sudden current rush which damages the
equipment.
Generally, equipment is protected against cold starts to limit inrush currents. These
protectors are however set out of play in the case of temporary dips[IV].
7.6.4 Voltage variations in Stockholm Royal Seaport

Dips are less common in urban areas than in rural areas, mean value of 0.8 per
month compared to 3.5. The phenomenon in its own however becomes more dangerous because of the high short circuit power in urban grids. A high short circuit power,
low grid impedance, makes current rushes larger and more instant. Since dips are
mainly caused by switching operations in the grid and a smart grid such as the one
considered for Stockholm Royal Seaport will probably have more switching operations per given time unit than an ordinary grid this phenomenon might have to be
given some consideration. There is technical protection equipment that can be installed
to circumvent this. The author does not however believe that there will in practical
reality be a real problem with voltage fluctuations. A part of this is that the battery
buffer will help keep the grid stable at end customer.

7.7

Flicker

Flicker is a very visual type of power quality problem. It originates from fast voltage fluctuations and makes a visual impact in light bulbs. The definition of flicker is
not electrical, but constitutes of a subjective perception of the human eye. It is still
measured by a device and has two types of values; Pst and Plt (short- respectively
long- term severity). Flicker is typically created by electrical emmittance from factories using arc cutting elctrodes in the high voltage region. In low voltage grids emittance sources can be welding machines, elevators, heat pumps etc. The grid impedance
is a big factor here.
Flicker is mostly unpleasant to the human eye/brain but does not constitute much of
a danger to equipment. In fact, the voltage fluctuations causing the flicker is usually
very much within the margins of what is considered good voltage levels. It is treated
as a power quality issue of its own due to its resonance with what the human eye is
42

sensitive to. It is easily reduced by the use of low energy light bulbs instead of regular
light bulbs[XVI].
7.7.1 Flicker in Stockholm Royal Seaport

Flicker is a phenomenon generally occurring in weak grids. The grid planned for
Stockholm Royal Seaport will be designed to be strong and somewhat over dimensioned to meet possible future demands. It is therefore the authors opinion that flicker
levels will not be a problem in Stockholm Royal Seaport.

7.8

Asymmetry

In the three phase system we have today we say that the system is balanced when
the phases are equal in magnitude, sine-shape and lags exactly 120 degrees (or 1/3
period) after each other. An unbalanced system is called asymmetrical. Virtually all
tools of calculation used by electrical engineer today are based on a balanced system.
Calculations on asymmetrical systems quickly become very complex and very soon
become incomprehencible. As a tool of to be able to calculate related problems, a
system of symmetrical components is introduced. It is an estimate of an unbalanced
system that consists of a zero, positive and negative sequence components . Unbalance
is measured as the ratio between positive and negative sequence components expressed in percentage.
An unbalance larger than 1% is uncommon. EN 50160 allows 2% for 95% of a
weeks measurement but leaves room for an occasional 3% at certain points[V].
Unbalance in the high voltage transmission grid is caused by unsymmetrical loads
which mean that the conductors for the three phases for some reason have slightly
different impedance. Unbalance is more common in the low voltage grid where local
values of 2% may occur[XVI]. The unbalance here is mostly due to non evenly
distributed one phase loads.
Unbalanced power affects three phase motors and transformers and leads to excess
heat losses. This is because two different magnetic fields create resisting torques, one
rotating and one stationary. This causes induction heating of the motor and makes the
motor run on a lower efficiency than normal with excessive heat development as a side
effect. A result of this is a shorter life of the motor as well as more expensive operation . Frequency rectifiers are more sensitive. Frequency rectifiers are used to drive
motors of a different frequency than the nominal 50Hz and are mostly used in industries. Even at an unbalance of 1.5% the equipment may trip because it at that point
43

only draws power from the two strong phases which makes breakers react to an
abnormal current consumption[XVI].
7.8.1 Asymmetry in Stockholm Royal Seaport

Even though we are moving in a direction of traditional three phase loads becoming
one phase loads it is not suspected that there will be a higher unbalance in Stockholm
Royal Seaport compared to traditional domestic areas. This is also based on the
assumption that the solar power installed will generate three phase power which seems
to be a reasonable assumption.

7.9

Summary

Outage
Frequency
variations

Power
Quality

Distorted
Phase Angle
(Active/Reactive
power)

Transients

Harmonics

Voltage
characteristics

Asymmetry
Voltage
variations

Flicker

Fig 16. Evaluated view of different Power Quality phenomena

Areas marked yellow symbolize areas that may require extra attention in the realization of Stockholm Royal Seaport due to reasons stated above. Green areas are areas
that in the authors opinion does not require special attendance for this particular
project compared to ordinary new constructions.
This is all evaluated from the end customers point of view, at the very end of the
vast national electric distribution grid.

44

45

8 Conclusions
It is the authors over all opinion that solar electricity production will not deteriorate the customers experience of their electricity supply. This standpoint is further
backed up by investigations carried out at some European locations which have
had electricity production from solar power for several years [XVII].
The reasoning behind the introduction of solar power can in many ways be applied to any power source using modern rectifiers. Since Stockholm Royal Seaport
is planning on implementing energy storage in the form of Lithium batteries, many
parallels can be drawn. The conclusion here is also that there will be no deterioration of power quality for the end user.
The author also believes that the energy storage will have a buffering effect that
can help stabilizing fluctuations of different kind in the power flow. This will
however probably not be noticeable within the research area of Stockholm Royal
Seaport because of the robust grid planned for the area.
There are however some details that can be worth some attention moving in on
the realization of the project. These are mentioned in chapter detailed descriptions and boil down to:
- Monitor smart grid switching operations to not create unnecessary voltage
dips resulting in inrush currents
- Choose inverter equipment with some attention in order to avoid equipment
interaction
- Protect SCADA-system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), the
smart grid command and communication system, the same way as the power
grid against thunder and faults. This in order to avoid transients carried by
SCADA system.
Of the above mentioned bulletins, the last is a bit of a question mark. The author
deems there not to be a significant risk of material damage due to transients carried by an alternative network, this because of the improbability of such an event.
The cost of the protections should be weighed against the risk of an event occurring and its potential costs.
46

List of references
[I]
[II]
[III]
[IV]
[V]
[VI]
[VII]
[VIII]
[IX]
[X]
[XI]

[XII]
[XIII]

[XIV]
[XV]
[XVI]

[XVII]

Clinton Climate Initiative Summer newsletter 2010

Presentation Stockholm Royal Seaport, May 2010
Elforsk 06:81; Elverfring av god kvalitet
Elforsk 06:08; Skadade apparater
EN 50160: Voltage characteristics of electricity supplied by public distribution systems
Ellagen 3 kap. 9 second piece
Frstudie leveranskvalitet delrapport 3 Energimarknadsinspektionen
Voltage Disturbances, Henryk Markiewicz, Antoni Klajn, Wroclaw University of Technology
Ntanvisningar, Fortums mall ver lgspnningsntskonstruktion
Fortums skadestndsavdelnings rendekatalog
Svensk standard SS EN 61 000elektromagnetic compatatibility (EMC)
part 3-2: Limits Limits for harmonic current emissions (equipment input current up to and inclucing 16A per phase) See section PQ
Elforsk 08:48; Elektronisk last Skadade apparater
kerlund John, avbrottsfria kraftnt UPN AB, beskrivning av immunitetslget mot transienter och verspnningar i elanvndares elektriska apparater, system och anlggningar, Gpr Elvaotet redovisning av regeringsuppdrag 2003-10-27, Statens Energimyndighet, oktober 2003
Lecture notes by Uwe Zimmermann, Uppsala Universitet 2010
Fortums Villkor fr avbrottsersttning March 2010
EMC, elkvalitet och elmilj guide fr elanvndare och allmnt sakkunniga inom elomrdet. Elforsk, Energimyndigheten, Elskerhetsverket,
Teknikfretagen 2007
PV upscale Impact of photovoltaic generation on power quality in urban
areas with high PV population; Sjef Cobben (Continuon), Bruno Gaiddon
(Hespul), Hermann Laukamp (Fraunhofer ISE)

47

48

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Fortum Distribution AB, especially the local network planning unit, for your contributions of knowledge, guidance, financial help and your
company.
I would like to thank my two supervisors Jan-Olof Olsson at Fortum and Johan
Lundin at the department of electricity for sharing their time and expertise that
lead to the making of this thesis.
I would also like to thank prof. Mats Leijon for his quality control of this thesis
as well as inspiration during my years at the university.
A word of recognition also goes to Gustaf Nissen who helped out many a time
with clever input and moral support.
A special thanks is also directed towards Marcus Krell for his final review of
the thesis. Plus for keeping me alive for half a year at sea.
On a personal note I would also like to thank Jane Summerton and Ove
Lngstrm for lifelong tutorship that directed me to this point in my life.
Stockholm December 2010

mrten einarsson

49