Probabilistic Assessment of Harmonics in a Residential Network

This paper presents a framework to assess voltage harmonic levels of future distribution networks with increasing participation of nonlinear loads and photovoltaic distributed generation. The methodology proposed is used to assess harmonic impact up to 7th order and THD degradation in future scenarios up till year 2030 in low voltage residential networks. Stochastic behaviour of loads and photovoltaic generation is considered in the model by applying a probabilistic approach that accounts for uncertainties in electrical devices allocation and performance. A Monte Carlo simulation is performed for every scenario studied in order to obtain a probabilistic assessment of harmonic impact.The methodology proposed is applied to the IEEE European Low Voltage network and results are compared to standard EN50160 limits as the reference framework for low voltage power quality indices.