Advanced Volt/VAr control element of Southern California Edison's Irvine smart grid demonstration

Abstract

Southern California Edison is developing a Smart Grid Demonstration project in Irvine California under ARRA funding from the DOE. The project, named the Irvine Smart Grid Demonstration (ISGD) is an integrated deployment of smart grid elements from transmission to the home. Subprojects of the ISGD include 1) Zero Net Energy Homes (ZNE), 2) a Solar Shade EV charging station, 3) Distribution Circuit Constraint Management using Energy Storage, 4) Advanced Volt/VAr Control, 5) Self Healing Circuits, 6) Deep Grid Situational Awareness, 7) Secure Energy Networking, and 8) Workforce of the Future. The demonstration site substation will also host a High Temperature Superconducting Fault Current Limiting Transformer being separately developed by a team headed by Waukesha Electric Systems. This paper describes the Advanced Volt VAr Control (AVVC) element.