Adaptive Decentralized Control of Residential Storage in PV-Rich MV–LV Networks

The rapid adoption of residential-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems in low-voltage (LV) networks combined with the falling prices of residential-scale battery energy storage (BES) systems is paving the way for a future in which customers could locally supply most of their energy needs. However, off-the-shelf (OTS) storage systems operate for the sole benefit of the customer (reducing grid imports). This means that charging might not occur during times of high PV generation, resulting in technical issues on LV and medium-voltage (MV) networks. This paper proposes an adaptive decentralized control strategy1 for residential-scale BES systems to reduce voltage and thermal issues whilst still benefiting customers. With this strategy, the power charging and discharging rates constantly adapt throughout the day based on clear-sky irradiance, PV generation, demand, and state of charge; significantly reducing reverse power flows and ensuring adequate storage capacity the next morning. A real Australian MV feeder with realistically modeled LV networks is studied using smart meter data. Results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy overcomes the limitations of the OTS BES. It is also shown that it can be as effective as an ideal optimization-based approach, being able to manage all technical issues without significantly affecting customers.