The paper titled “Use of D-STATCOM for Solid State LED Lamp Harmonic Power Mitigation” was recognized with Best Paper Award at the 10th International Conference on Smart Grid (icSmartGrid2022) held in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 27-29, 2022. The authors are the following:
Robert S. Balog, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, TAMU, Director, Renewable Energy and Advanced Power Electronics Laboratory (REAPER), Co-Director, NSF I/UCRC on Next Generation Photovoltaics (NGPV), Assistant Director for Grid Edge Modernization, TEES Smart Grid Center
Wesam Rohouma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering, University of Qatar
Miroslav Begovic, Ph.D., Moore Professor and Department Head, Electrical and Computer Engineering, TAMU, Associate Director, TEES Smart Grid Center
Aaqib Peerzada, Former Graduate Research Assistant (PhD), Graduate Teaching Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering, TAMU
Abstract
The use of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps is increasing dramatically in many countries, spurred by energy conservation initiatives. Some countries have gone as far as to completely ban the old incandescent lightbulbs in favor of the more efficient LEDs. However, many of these LED lamps, particularly low-cost and non-dimmable models, act as non-linear loads in the electrical power system, drawing non-sinusoidal current due to the power electronic components inside them to provide the required rectified and regulated direct current (DC). Thus, while solid-state lightbulbs help in energy conservation, they can have the unintended consequence of lowering the power quality in the smart grid electrical distribution network. In this paper, a matrix converter topology based distribution static synchronous compensators (D-STATCOM) is proposed for use in the low voltage distribution network to compensate the harmonics generated from the LED lamps. The D-STATCOM is controlled using a finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC). Experimental studies were performed, and the results obtained showed the effectiveness of the proposed technology in harmonics power mitigation.