Techno-Economical Comparison of MVAC and MVDC Micro-Grids with High PV Penetration

Abstract

Recent advances in DC hybrid circuit breakers (HCBs) and wide bandgap (WBG) devices have created an opportunity to deploy new DC and hybrid AC/DC grid options. With the prevailing distributed energy resources (DERs) and DC loads, Medium Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) grids are considered a promising solution for highly reliable, efficient, and safe power distribution. This paper proposes a techno-economical assessment framework and conducts a comparative analysis between MVAC and MVDC micro-grids with high PV penetration. The performance is evaluated through a two-step probabilistic optimal power flow (OPF) and reflected in a set of economic value streams. Numerical results show that the MVDC study case leads its AC counterpart in the key economic metrics.