Potential of Using Low Voltage Direct Current PDF

Potential of using Low Voltage Direct
Current in local distribution network to

improve the overall efficiency
Pierre Waeckerl
Degree project in
Electric Power Systems
Second Level
Stockholm, Sweden 2011
XR-EE-ES 2011:012
Potential of using Low Voltage Direct Current in local
distribution network to improve the overall efficiency
Master thesis report
KTH supervisor: KTH examiner:

Lars Abrahamsson Lennart Sder
Master student: Nexans supervisor:

Pierre Waeckerl Lazhar Kebbabi
June 29, 2011

Abstract
This project reviews the potential of Low Voltage Direct Current (LVDC) to replace Low
Voltage Alternative Current (LVAC) power in distribution grids. The study addresses
three different problems: a comparative literature review on LVAC and LVDC systems,
a study of the compatibility of the type of low voltage cables that are used in buildings
with a future LVDC distribution grid and a technical comparison from transmission and
conversion losses point of view.
The literature review provides an overview and explanations for the understanding
of the problem. Then, a special review of ageing phenomena and implementation to the
case study low voltage building cables concludes that there is a low risk of electrical
ageing in existing Alternating Current (AC) cables when used in a Direct Current (DC)
system.
Finally, a comparison of LVAC and LVDC is carried out at three different levels: 1)
the cable resistive losses are compared in LVAC and LVDC and the difference proved
not to be over 1% in standard situations because skin and proximity effects are not
significant at low frequency and low voltage level, 2) a comparison of the possible home
and distribution layouts single-phase and three-phase AC versus unipolar and bipolar
DC concludes to the clear advantage of DC over AC to carry power over longer distances
than AC, 3) an energy consumption comparison between households fed either with AC
or DC concludes to the absence of significant loss savings as no conversions are fully
removed.
ii
Sammanfattning
Projektet studerar mjligheterna att erstta LVAC med LVDC i distributionsnt. Studien
behandlar tre olika frgor: en litteratustudie om LVAC- och LVDC-system, en studie av
huruvida vanliga lgspnningskablar av den typ man har i byggnader kan anvndas i ett
framtida LVDC-nt och en teknisk jmfrelse av frlusterna i verfring och omvandling
i LVDC- och LVAC-nt.
Litteraturstudien ger en versikt och frklaringar fr att underltta frstelsen fr
problemet. Sedan en srskild litteraturgenomgng av ldrandefenomen fr likstrms- och
vxelstrmskablar fr byggnader med lga spnningar och genomfrandet av fallstudien
som drar slutsatsen att det r lg risk fr elektriskt ldrande om man anvnder kablar
avsedda fr vxelstrm i ett likstrmssystem.
Slutligen r en jmfrelse av LVAC och LVDC utfrd p tre olika niver: 1) kabel-
frlusterna jmfrs i LVAC och LVDC och visar sig inte ge resistiva frluster ver 1% i
vanliga situationer eftersom strmfrtrngnings- och nrhet-effekter inte r av relevant
storlek vid lg frekvens (50Hz) och lg spnning, 2) en jmfrelse av olika typer av hem
och distributionsntsutformningar enfas och trefas vxelstrm kontra unipolr och bi-
polr DC dr det visar sig vara en klar frdel att anvnda DC jmfrt med vxelstrm
d man vill verfra effekt ver lngre avstnd, 3) en energifrbrukningsjmfrelse mel-
lan hushll som matas med antingen vxelstrm (AC) eller likstrm (DC) resulterar i
sm frlustbesparingar vid byte frn AC till DC eftersom inga omformare helt kan av-
lgsnas.
iii
Aknowledgments
I would first like to thank Nexans for welcoming me at the NRC in Lyon. I
learned a lot of technical and non-technical things during those 6 months. I had
a very rewarding opportunity to learn a lot about cable manufacturing, even on
some matter that are out of my study scope but fed my curiosity.
Thank you to Lazhar Kebbabi and Arnaud Allais for their valuable technical
comments, guidance and critical review of my work all along that project.
A special thanks to the other interns, Yannis, Pierre-Marie and Jrmy for their
help. I would also like to thank the Nexans technicians that helped and/or wel-
comed me: Xavier, Jean-Michel, Olivier and Yann.
I also carried that project in connection with my supervisor Lars Abrahamsson

at the Electric Power Systems department at KTH. Thank you for the hints,
corrections and advices. Thank you also to Lennart Sder, my examiner, for the
critical, sensible and valuable comments on my work.
Last but not least, thank you to my family and friends that tried to understand
what I was doing. They listened and helped me when I was in need for it.
iv
Contents
Abstract ii
Sammanfattning iii
Aknowledgments iv
List of figures viii
List of tables ix
Introduction 1
1 Literature review on LV systems 2

1.1 Conversion technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1 From AC to DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1.1 Historical review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1.2 Un-commanded rectification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1.3 Commanded rectification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.2 From DC to AC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.2.2 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.3 From DC to DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.3.2 Linear converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.3.3 Switched-mode converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.4 From AC to AC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.5 Switched-mode power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2 Appliances technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3 Protection systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.1 Electrifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.2 Grid fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.3 AC protection systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.3.4 DC protection systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4 DC and new trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4.1 Environmental concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4.2 Improving the overall efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.2.1 AC intrinsic losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.2.2 Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.2.3 Renewable sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4.3 Smart grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4.3.1 Grid ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4.3.2 Grid topology evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4.3.3 Micro-grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.5 Conclusion of the chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
v
vi CONTENTS
2 Cable ageing in LVDC 18

2.1 Description of ageing phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2 Basic calculations of some ageing phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3 AC and DC comparison 22
3.1 AC versus DC in literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.1.1 AC advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.1.2 DC advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2 Cables under LVDC conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2.1 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2.2 Energy losses in cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2.3 Analytical calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.2.3.1 Simple skin effect model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.3.2 Skin and proximity effect coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2.3.3 Conclusion on the skin and proximity effects . . . . . . . 28
3.3 LVDC layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3.1 Comparison generalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3.2 Transmissible power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3.2.1 Household power grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3.2.2 Distribution power layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.3.3 Results and analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.3.3.1 Household power grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.3.3.2 Distribution power grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.4 Energy consumption comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4.1 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4.2 Monte Carlo simulation theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4.3 Simulation model and hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.4.4 Energy consumption of appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.4.5 Simulation workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.4.6 Simulation results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4 Conclusion 49
4.1 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.2 Future work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
A Ageing phenomena complements 51

A.1 Electric field calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
A.2 Electric field results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
B Analytical results 53
B.1 Skin depth calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.2 Skin and proximity coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
B.3 Voltage drop limitation calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm

CONTENTS vii
C Monte Carlo complements 58

C.1 Stratified sampling theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
C.2 Batch allocation method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
C.3 Appliances equipment rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
C.4 Appliances usage description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
C.5 Appliances consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
C.6 Matlab scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
C.6.1 Main code program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
C.6.2 Household creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
C.6.3 Household simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
C.6.4 Set of equipments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
C.6.5 Consumption patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
C.6.6 Consumption calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
C.6.7 Calculation stopping rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
C.6.8 Batch allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Glossary 73
Bibliography 74
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis

List of Figures
1.1.1 Three different schemes of rectifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.2 Graph of the voltage rectification from three-phase system . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.3 Power Wave Modulation example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.4 Dimmer for AC power modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.5 Appliances safety classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.1.6 Switched-mode power supply principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.1 Sales of ICT units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4.2 Cumulated installed PV capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.1.1 Breakdown and degradation phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2.1 Geometry parameters of the cable section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.2.2 Conductor disposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.3 Chart representation of ys + yp for 2 and 3 conductors configurations . . 29
3.3.1 Possible grid layouts at household scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3.2 Possible grid layouts at distribution scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3.3 A simple scheme of a load fed by a single-phase system . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3.4 Synthesis of the power limitation capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.3.5 Transmissible power versus load distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.3.6 Transmissible power limitation change at constant section . . . . . . . . . 39
3.4.1 The layout of a basic Monte Carlo simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4.2 Pure AC appliances power conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.4.3 Pure DC appliances power conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.4.4 Monte Carlo simulation workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.4.5 Simulation results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
A.1.1Parameters of a building cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
B.1.1Skin effect impact on resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
C.2.1Scheme of a Monte Carlo simulation with batch allocation . . . . . . . . 59
viii
List of Tables
1.1.1 IGBT conversion losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Main appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.4.1 Household types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

3.4.2 Description of the usage of each appliance, extract . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.4.3 Summary of the conversion efficiencies [1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.4.4 Yearly consumption by type of household . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.4.5 Yearly consumption difference for each household type . . . . . . . . . . 46
A.2.1Values of electric field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
B.1.1Skin depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.2.1Skin and proximity coefficients, 2 conductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
B.2.2Skin and proximity coefficients, 3 conductors trefoil . . . . . . . . . . . 55
B.2.3Skin and proximity coefficients, 3 conductors flat . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
B.3.1Transmissible power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
C.3.1Appliance equipment rate by type of household . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

C.4.1Usage description of each appliance by household type . . . . . . . . . . 61
C.5.1Power consumption of the set of appliances [2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
ix
Introduction
The project was initiated by Nexans to explore the potential of DC distribution networks.
As a cable manufacturer Nexans produces a wide variety of cables from building cables
to High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) submarine cables. Within Nexans, the project
was conducted by the Nexans Research Center of Lyon in the MV/HV unit.
The potential of DC in the power system is the subject of many papers. But the
outcomes of each study are related to the initial assumptions of each study. The thesis
was to provide an insight to Nexans on the subject.
The project was divided in three objectives: a) a state of the art on Low Voltage (LV)
networks, with the idea to compile useful knowledge for the understanding, assessment
and comparison of LVAC and LVDC grids, b) a losses comparison between LVAC and
LVDC to provide comparative figures resulting from verified calculations about trans-
mission and conversion losses, c) cable capabilities is the last concern dealing with the
capability of existing LVAC cables to sustain LVDC stress.
The report is organised according to the above objectives. The first chapter focuses
on a state of the art to constitute a base of knowledge making easier the understanding
of LVAC and LVDC pros and cons. The second chapter is specially oriented on the
assessment of the lifetime of existing low voltage building cables designed for AC grid
under LVDC stress. As the problem of cables breakdown is a complicated issue, a
literature review is presented and its results are applied here. The last part is the energy
comparison between AC and DC with an interest for cable resistive losses, transmissible
power in some different grid layouts and energy consumption for the final consumers.
1
Chapter 1
Literature review on Low Voltage distri-

bution systems
In 1879, the American scientist and inventor, Thomas Edison, patented an incandescent
electric lamp [3]. But T. Edison also tried to design a complete power distribution scheme
so to make electric lighting competitive with gas systems [3]. In 1880s lighting appliances
used electric arcs, Edison designed a DC grid [3]. The first DC grids build by Edison
appeared in 1882 (Holborn Viaduct, London, England temporary installation) and 1884
(Pearl Street Station, New York City, USA permanent) [3].
The Edison DC system used LVDC. As the raise of the voltage level was not eco-
nomically competitive in the 1880s, the served loads were only found in dense area. The
copper needed to carry the power at 110V was costly and the line losses limited the size
of the systems down to around 2 miles [3].
That issue was solved with AC systems. According to Michael Faradays law, the
change of a magnetic field with time will induce a current in a nearby wire. By nature,
the AC power creates a varying magnetic field. Using two inductors winded up around
the same magnetic circuit, the voltage can be stepped up and down. The first AC power
system was demonstrated in 1881 by Lucien Gaulard and John Gibbs [3]. The early
transformers were improved over history by many inventors and engineers. Among those
improvements, the contribution of Nikola Tesla is significant. In 1887, he filled 7 patents
on the matter of polyphase AC motors, power transmission, generators, transformers and
lighting.
The combined use of three-phase AC for transmission and distribution and single-
phase AC for end-use proved to be a very efficient system [4]. The AC solution, backed
by George Westinghouse, opposed with the Edison DC solution in what is commonly
named The War of Currents starting 1888 [3]. The AC system won that War because
it succeeded in installing power lines over always increasing distances. The increase of
the distance was made possible thanks to the increasing voltage of High Voltage (HV)
power lines.
AC power has been the power distribution power form ever since. But the arrival of
home electronics by the end the of the 20th century reintroduced DC in an increasing
number of appliances.
1.1 Conversion technologies

Whatever the form of the power AC or DC there are conversion stages on the layout.
But, depending on the final usage, AC power may be necessary or another DC voltage
level than the one fed by the system.
2
1.1 Conversion technologies 3
1.1.1 From AC to DC
1.1.1.1 Historical review
The first AC to DC conversion used electromechanical means as the power electronics
did not exist. It means coupling an AC motor converting the AC power into rotational
energy with a DC generator converting rotational energy into DC power. Due to
the complexity of the motor-generator set, the technology is inefficient, expensive and
requires intensive maintenance [3].
Power electronics made the rectification an economically feasible technique, first using
plasma technology. For HVDC transmissions, mercury arc valves were used. The mercury
arc rectifier is based upon an electric arc which, thanks to the valve environment, can
only be established in one way of the current. For lower voltages, argon gas electron tube
and vacuum tube were used. Power electronics reliability and efficiency have been greatly
improved thanks to semiconductors technologies. Nowadays, the AC to DC conversion is
performed thanks to silicon-based components.
1.1.1.2 Un-commanded rectification

The basic rectification - called half-wave rectification - uses a single diode to prevent the
backward displacement of charge carriers. In figure 1.1.1a, the principle is shown in a
schematic way. The big advantage is the system simplicity as a single diode is necessary.
But in half-wave rectification, the load is only fed during half the time. Thus the average
output voltage is at most half of the input one and the output signal contains unwanted
harmonics.
(a) Half-wave
(b) Full-wave
(c) Graetz
Figure 1.1.1 Three different schemes of rectifiers

4 Literature review on LV systems
To improve the power quality, other scheme exists such as the full-wave rectification.
To perform such a rectification, at least two diodes are needed: one conducting when the
current is positive (from the load point of view) and one when it is negative([5, 6] and
figure 1.1.1b). It is also possible to use 4 diodes in a Graetz rectifier as in figure 1.1.1c.
It uses 2 additional diodes but still is more interesting from an economical point of view:
compared to the full-wave rectifier, only two connections to the secondary side of the
transformer is needed.
The output of those rectifiers presents a strong electrical noise that can be reduced
with appropriate filtering units combining inductors and capacitors to remove unwanted
harmonics in the signal.
It is also possible, using the same principle to convert three-phase power to DC power
in a very efficient and clean way. Simply using full-wave rectifiers, one per phase, with
their outputs in parallel yields a signal whose oscillating frequency is six times higher
than the input one as shown in figure 1.1.2 [5, 6].
Figure 1.1.2 Graph of the voltage rectification from three-phase system
1.1.1.3 Commanded rectification

Semiconductors provide three different components:
1) Diode is the simplest one. A current can only flow in one direction through a diode
[7]. That is the reason we named the rectifier in section 1.1.1.2 un-commanded.
2) Thyristors is an improved diode. The current can only flow in one direction and
thyristors allow to control when they start conducting [5].
3) Transistors are the latest of the components. They are equivalent to fully control-
lable switches.
Thyristors and transistors gives two different commanded conversion technologies:

LCC1 uses thyristors to convert power. It is the technology offering the highest
power range with the disadvantage to be more expensive [8].
VSC2 uses Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) instead of diodes or thyris-
tors. While invented in the late 1970s, the IGBT technology became interesting for
power electronics in the 2000s. The VSC are available for smaller power than LCC
with a lower efficiency [8]. Still, development is on its way and works to improve the
efficiency. The major advantage of transistors is their low cost, easing the recent
development of HVDC lines. With appropriate design VSC allow for bi-directional
power flow. If they have at least two conversion stages, they can either rectify or
invert power [9].
A method for calculation of the conversion losses for IGBT modules is found in [2].
There might be conduction losses or switching losses depending among others on
the switching frequency fsw , the nominal current Inom and the actual current flowing
through the converter. The other parameters are listed in [2]. Running the calculation
for a converter with a rated current Inom = 1200A, for frequencies varying in the range
fsw = 1.5 20 kHz and loading of 25, 50, 75 and 100% give the values displayed in table
1.1.1.
fsw Converter loading
kHz 25% 50% 75% 100%
1.5 0.89 1.68 2.61 3.68
5 2.04 3.40 4.91 6.56
10 3.68 5.87 8.20 10.68
15 5.32 8.33 11.49 14.79
20 6.96 10.80 14.78 18.91
Table 1.1.1 Conversion losses for IGBT modules in kW
1.1.2 From DC to AC
As for rectification in section 1.1.1.1, an electromechanical conversion was first the only
way to invert from DC to AC. The vacuum tube technology was then used to convert
DC to AC, especially for the first HVDC links. The transistor is the power electronics
component that first replaced the vacuum tube at commercial scale. Nowadays, IGBT
are widely used in power electronics.
1.1.2.2 Principles
To recreate an alternating current from a direct current, we need to carry current in one
way and then in the other way. We can do that with two switches: one will conduct
1
Line Commutated Converter
2
Voltage Source Converter

the current in one way while the other is opened and vice versa. With the appropriate
frequency of switching we control the power waveform and frequency.
It is common to use pulse-width modulation3 which generates square-waves of differ-
ent width to recreate a sine wave signal. The faster the commutation, the higher the
harmonics frequency and thus the easier it is to filter them. But the faster the commu-
tation, the higher the commutation losses. A low-frequency example is shown in figure
1.1.3, with 6 oscillations per period. Nowadays, grid-tied inverters (used for photovoltaic
panels for example) reach 94-96% efficiency [5].
Figure 1.1.3 Power Wave Modulation example
1.1.3 From DC to DC
As explained in section 1.3.3 for AC to DC and DC to AC, electromechanical conver-
sion was the only way to convert DC power from one voltage to another. With power
electronics, DC to DC conversion is available at high efficiencies.
1.1.3.2 Linear converter

A linear converter consists of a variable resistor continuously adjusting a voltage divider
network to maintain a constant output voltage. The resistor is in parallel with a diode.
Only half the alternating waveform is flowing through the load. The other half flows
through the diode during its conducting periods. According to the Ohm law, the higher
the voltage drop, the higher the losses [5]. Those highly inefficient devices are currently
replaced by switched-mode converters.
1.1.3.3 Switched-mode converters

To convert one DC voltage to another, a solution is to store the input energy in either
magnetic field storage components (inductors or transformers) or electric field storage
3
PWM

components (capacitors) and to release it at another voltage. The efficiency of such

devices, ranging from 75 to 98% [5, 7], is much better than linear regulators.
Many different topologies exist for DC-to-DC converters. Two properties allow for a
ranking of the different topologies [5]:
Galvanic insulation may be performed by a DC-to-DC converter. If the galvanic
insulation is requested, the presence of a transformer is necessary in the layout.
Thus, the input DC power is to be inverted to AC first. Then, the AC intermediary
power goes through a transformer before a final rectification.
The path of the energy flow can either be simultaneous or in two steps. Simul-
taneous means the energy goes directly from the input, through the storage and to
the load. In a two-steps process, the energy is first stored and then released to the
load. Simultaneous converters cannot step the voltage up.
The topologies may also be characterized depending on the switching mode of the
solid-state components:
Hard-switched means that the transistors switch quickly while under both high
current and voltage. This reduces the efficiency and the reliability of the system [10].
Resonant means that the voltage across the transistor is shaped by an LC cir-
cuit. Thanks to that resonance, either the current or the voltage can be zero when
switching. Opposed to the hard-switch mode, the resonant mode is also named
soft-switching mode. This technology represents a major opportunity for efficiency
and reliability improvement.
The way the device is operated is also divided in two categories, referring to the
current shape:
Continuous means the current never equals 0 during operation.
Discontinuous means the current goes back to zero before the end of the conversion
cycle.
1.1.4 From AC to AC
AC power is stepped up or down using transformers
[11]. The physical principle can easily be found in
the literature. A common approximate for distribu-
tion transformer efficiency is 98%. Some experimen-
tal transformers using superconducting windings can
achieve 99.9% efficiency. But they are far from being
profitable.
Another need in all-AC systems is to control the
power flow. For example, lighting devices with a con-
trollable lighting power. In that case, the use of a dim- Figure 1.1.4 Dimmer for AC power
modulation
mer allows to control the Root Mean Square value of

a sin wave. Using a thyristor it is possible to obtain the desired output power. The
figure 1.1.4 shows the output signal of a dimmer with a cycle ratio of 12 , i.e. the thyristor
becomes conducting during one half of the wave cycle (or commute every 14 cycle).
1.1.5 Switched-mode power supply

At last, a mixed kind of power converters is of interest. By mixed, it is meant that those
Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS) use rectification, inversion and voltage levelling
during their conversion steps. But they also are the most common type as they are used
to power every modern electronic load.
Their topologies is the result of a few different constraints:
Galvanic insulation is necessary to ensure a good users safety. The International

Electro-technical Commission (IEC) defines 4 different appliances classes [12]. Each
class define a different level of protection, the symbols are shown in figure 1.1.5.
Class 0 meaning no galvanic protection is omitted.
(a) Class 1 (b) Class 2 (c) Class 3
Figure 1.1.5 Appliances safety classes
Controlled voltage is another constraint for sensitive loads such as electronics.

The expected output voltage has to remain within safety limits whatever the load.
A real time control of the output power is therefore necessary.
Power quality is essential for sensitive loads. Harmonics are to be avoided as

much as possible, both on AC and DC sides.
Weight and bulk must be as low as possible.
Energy efficiency should be maximized to save on thermal dissipation elements

and input energy.
As described in [5, 13], the following progression of conversion can be observed, as

summarized in figure 1.1.6:
1. Input rectifier: the input AC power is first rectified with a simple full-wave
rectifier [14]. This rectification stage is completed with an upstream (grid side)
filter to avoid harmonics on the grid and a downstream Power Factor Corrector.
This first conversion step could be saved if fed by a DC grid.

2. High-frequency inverter: the rectified power is inverted to AC power at high

frequency (typically 20-30 kHz). This is the stage which allows control over the
power flow PWM and output voltage. The regulation mechanism is detailed in
item 5.
3. Transformer: the high frequency AC current is levelled to the desired output

voltage(s). The transformer also ensure part of the galvanic insulation (the feedback
loop, if any, also must be isolated). Thanks to the high frequencies, the transformer
is much smaller than a 50/60 Hz equivalent.
4. Output rectifier: once the voltage is at the desired level, the power is rectified to
DC [5, 13, 14]. Similarly to the input rectifier, the high-frequency inverter noise is
filtered to provide an high quality output.
5. Regulator: located between the DC output and the high-frequency inverter, the
output voltage and current can be regulated that way.
Figure 1.1.6 Switched-mode power supply principle

1.2 Typical household and office appliances and their

working principles
The conversion technique is closely related to the kind of load to be supplied. Some
will not require high-quality power, while other will. The amount of existing appliances
is tremendous. Therefore it is necessary to constitute categories by operation principle.
The operation principle indicates which kind of power conversion is performed in the
appliance. Each principle is defined as follow:
Pure AC appliances: Many appliances use an induction motor to work. Induc-
tion motors are used in appliances requesting more mechanical power than possible
through universal motors. Whether they command or not the rotational speed of
the motor changes the way the input power is transformed:
Variable drive is found when control of the speed is necessary. The induction
motor exploits the changing nature of the alternating current to create a mag-
netic field. Therefore, the induction motor must be fed with AC. According to
equation 1.2.1, the synchronous speed ns is directly proportional to the power
frequency f if the number of poles p of the motor is kept constant.
120 f
ns = (1.2.1)
p
The power has to be rectified first and then inverted to control the motor speed
closely. A variable drive would work if fed with DC power.
Fixed speed can be used when no speed variation is necessary which means a sin-
gle frequency usually the grid frequency. It was the case in cooling (refriger-
ator, freezer) and heating (heat pump) appliances, the control only command
if the cycle is running or not. In case of use in DC, an input inverter would
be required. That kind of appliances is disappearing and will be neglected in
section 3.4.4.
Pure DC appliances: are the appliances whose working principle requires DC
power to run properly:
Magnetron creates microwaves with the ability to warm up food in micro-waves

oven for example. As a magnetron runs on High Voltage Direct Current, the
first stage in the energy conversion chain is a rectification. The Magnetron
mechanism is completely compatible with Direct Current power feeding.
Electronic gathers all new kinds of appliances running on DC power. Due to
the need for a controlled voltage, all those appliances rely on Switched-Mode
Power Supplies.
The table 1.2.1 shows a list of most common appliance types according to Institut
National de la Statistique et des tudes conomiques, french national statistics office
(INSEE) [15]. The equipment rate is the share of household equipped with the considered
appliance.

1.3 Protection systems 11
Apparatus Equipment rate (%) Operation principle

Refrigerator 99.8
Compression cycle
Freezer 86.1
Pure AC
Washing machine 94.2
Induction motor
Dishwasher 48.8
Microwave oven 83.7 Magnetron
TV 97.1
Video recorder & DVD 83.3
Pure DC Land-line phone 88.1
Electronic
Cell phone 78.9
Personal computer 62.8
Internet connection 54.7
Table 1.2.1 Main appliances with their operation principle, INSEE 2008 [15]
1.3 Users and apparatus protection in AC and DC

1.3.1 Electrical accident, users point of view
From a users point of view, the power represents the risk of getting electrified. An
electrifying contact can be of two kinds:
Direct contact happens when touching directly or through a conducting object
an active part. An active part is defined as a part used to carry current. In other
words, a direct contact happens due to a lack of information or judgement. One
may say that with the appropriate knowledge such an accident would have been
avoided.
Indirect contact happens when touching directly or through a conducting object
an inactive part. An inactive part is defined as a part usually grounded. In other
words, an indirect contact happens when a fault occurs and bring to a certain
potential a part which should be at ground potential. One can say that this kind
of accident is unfortunate.
1.3.2 Electrical fault, as seen from the grid

Depending on how the electrifying happens, three kind of faults are identified:
Short-circuit occurs when the current find a low-resistive path. This requires the con-
nection of two parts at different voltages.
Over-current is the consumption by a given component or group of components of
an excess amount of power. Over-current may happen in a large range of cases
including a short circuit.
Short-circuits and over-currents represents major hazards for electrical components
in the system. The major risks are the formation of an electric arc or the wire
overheating and melting.

Leakage currents is another kind of electrical fault. Due to a fault, some current does
not return to the feeding transformer through the neutral conductor but through
the ground.
1.3.3 Protection mechanisms for users and components in AC

systems
The protection is ensured thanks to fuses and circuit breakers. Actual European norms
for newly built homes recommend the use of circuit breakers. The reason for that decision
is that a fuse can be simply replaced by a conducting material (a copper conductor for
example) thus removing the fuse protection. Their role is simply to open the circuit when
detecting a fault.
A fuse is simply made of a metal wire that melts when too much current flows. They
are perfectly compliant with DC systems at same RMS value.
The circuit breaker are designed to detect the three kinds of faults described in section
1.3.2. A circuit breaker may combine the following detection systems [12, 16] :
Magnetic tripping consists in a conducting solenoid winded up around an actu-

ator made of soft-iron. A basic law of electromagnetism is that any wire driven
by a current creates a magnetic field. In a solenoid, it can be demonstrated that
it creates a magnetic field parallel with the solenoid axis inside it. The higher the
current in the solenoid, the higher the pulling force on the actuator. This is a quick
system but with low precision regarding the current. As a result, magnetic circuit
breakers protect against short circuits.
Thermal tripping consists in a conducting bi-metal plate. Due to the different

thermal properties of the plate, the two sides of the bi-metal will not thermally
expand the same way under an increased current. Thus, the plate will twist until
engaging a switch. This is a slow mechanism due to thermal conduction but highly
accurate. Therefore, the bi-metal protects against over-currents.
Residual-current device or differential circuit breaker consists in a magnetic

torus the magnetic circuit around which are winded up: the phase and neutral
conductors for single-phase systems as well as an additional inductor to measure
the magnetic field difference in the magnetic circuit. Being driven by alternating
current, each conductor creates a varying magnetic field in the torus. Under normal
operation, the current going through the phase and coming back from the neutral
are the same in opposite directions. The magnetic fields created in the torus are of
same value and opposite direction so that the sum evens out. In case of leakage in
the circuit, some current will not return along the neutral conductor. The magnetic
fields in the torus will not cancel each other out any more. According to Lenz law,
e = ddt
, a voltage e will appear between the measuring inductor terminals if the
inductor is under a time-varying magnetic field. With the appropriate equipment,
the differential breaker will command an opening once the voltage reaches a rated
level. The residual-current devices protects against direct and indirect contacts.

1.4 DC and new trends 13
Arc interruption, is an essential component of circuit breakers. A breaker, has

to be able to open safely. A circuit breaker can be switched open under voltage.
Thus, it must be able to extinguish the arc. In low voltage AC circuit breakers, the
arc is divided in several arcs in parallel thanks to metal plates. The metal plates
also perform a cooling of the arcs. Those actions will both increase the voltage
across the arc and decrease the conductivity of air. The system is designed to reach
certain conditions leading to auto-extinction at a zero-crossing point of the AC
signal [16].
1.3.4 Ensuring electrical safety for users and components in a

DC layout
From section 1.3.3, the main problems to ensure electrical safety in DC are the differential
current detection and the arc interruption. As stated above, the arc interruption is based
upon a zero-crossing point with voltage-temperature conditions favourable to the arc
extinction. But in DC systems, this zero-crossing point will never happen [16].
A solution is to generate oscillations so to create a zero-crossing point when a breaker
opening is necessary [10]. This is the same approach as for resonant converters. Using
such a solution makes a radical change in the safety components. The time at which
the circuit will have to be opened is decided by a detection device. The detection can
therefore consist of short-circuit, overload and leakage current. Once detected, the device
send the order to a couple of switches to open. This starts an oscillatory period using
capacitors and inductors and the soft-switching is possible.
The components are already commercially available [17]. But as they are not as
widespread as AC components, their selling price is high.
1.4 DC and the future of electricity in buildings

New power usage and generation appear nowadays, along with new concerns for environ-
ment. Section 1.4 reviews the advantages of DC system to make the existing power grid
compliant with new trends.
1.4.1 Environmental concerns, the 20-20-20 target

For a few years, environmental concerns have gained visibility. In Europe, the European
Commission defined the 20-20-20 target in March 2007 [18]. The three targets are:
Emissions: reduce by 20% compared to 1990 the greenhouse gases emissions

by 2020.
Renewables: 20% of the primary energy consumption in 2020 should be provided

by renewables energy sources.
Energy consumption: reduce by 20% compared to models the primary

energy use, to be achieved thanks to energy efficiency improvements.

All those targets have major impacts on the power grid and its future evolution. And
they all are linked together. For example, reducing the primary energy use through effi-
ciency improvements will make it easier to provide the remainder with energy generated
using renewables.
1.4.2 Improving the overall efficiency

As stated in the climate and energy package, the efficiency is a key measure towards
the fulfilment of the targets. This means considering each step of the energy cycle, from
generation to consumption, and tracking the waste of energy. From that perspective, AC
leads to a certain amount of losses due to its fluctuating nature.
1.4.2.1 AC intrinsic losses
AC power leads to various phenomena creating power leakages. The electromagnetic

phenomena are the leading reason for intrinsic losses in AC systems [11].
The fluctuating nature of AC power creates varying magnetic fields . As described
by Lenz law, a varying field creates a voltage that tends to counterbalance its variation:
d
e=
dt
As a result, a various range of undesired currents appear in all the components of an

AC scheme (cables, transformers). The resulting effects are skin or proximity effects.
Reactive power is another problem in AC which reduces the power components ability
to deliver active power. The equilibrium of the active and reactive power balance requires
careful supervision.
1.4.2.2 Electronics
While the typical consumption profile of appliances in power grid has been the same for
over a century, this situation is changing with the widespread use of electronics at home
and offices.
The concerned appliances are televisions, video recorders, personal computers, phones
and others (see table 1.2.1). As of INSEE 2008, 97% french households owns a television
and over 90% owns a telephone (land-line or mobile). Those figures only take into account
the households but every offices are equipped with computers and photocopiers. The
figure 1.4.1 shows the increase in sales of Information and Communications Technology
(ICT). There is an obvious trend to get equipped with electronics.
A common characteristic of all those appliances is that they consume DC power.
Thus, fed by AC power, the first steps of the power conversion cycle is to rectify using
Switched-Mode Power Supplies (see section 1.1.5). Using DC to avoid some conversion
steps would save some power in the conversion. But a centralized conversion would be
necessary to rectify AC power from the grid

1.4 DC and new trends 15
Figure 1.4.1 Sales of ICT units from 1990 to 2009, INSEE 2010
1.4.2.3 Renewable sources

Along with the new environmental awareness, new power generation sources are increasing
in number as illustrated in figure 1.4.2. Those power units require conversion stages before
the grid connection. The steps can be of two types:
DC-to-AC some generation units such as fuel cells and Photo-voltaic (PV) panels gen-
erate DC power. To get connected to the grid, either an AC or DC one, they need
some conversion steps. But, while the connection to an AC grid would require both
a DC-to-DC step-up rectification and a DC-to-AC inversion, the connection to a
DC grid would save the inversion.
AC-to-AC some generation units such as windmills generate AC power at another fre-
quency than the frequency of the grid. Thus, the generated power needs to be
rectified and inverted at the grid frequency. In a DC grid scheme, the rectifier stage
would be enough, saving the losses of the inverter stage.
1.4.3 The Smart grid trends

Smart grid is an expression that become more present in everyday life. The root of the
concept is to implement ICT in power grids to improve them. What improve means is
wide: more reliable, safer, cheaper, cleaner,...
In that study, we will only review some possible concepts of the Smart grid that
could favour DC systems without implementation in the case study.

Figure 1.4.2 Cumulated installed PV capacity, RTE 2011
1.4.3.1 Grid ageing
Power grids in the countries members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) are ageing. In France, most of the 220kV-grid was deployed
between 1900 and 1938. It was reinforced in the 70s with a 400kV-grid to transport the
power generated by nuclear power plants. The grid topology and material is 40 years old.
The necessary refurbishment and strengthening of national grids is a major opportu-
nity to adapt its topologies to new consumption and generation trends. One opportunity
with direct current is to save on consumption and losses to make available some trans-
mission capacity without building new lines. If DC systems saves on losses, they would
postpone the expansion of the grid until the consumption increase reaches the new max-
imal transmissible power.
1.4.3.2 From a centralised to a distributed grid
Another concept and root of the smart grid is the shift from a centralised toward a
distributed grid. In the current grid, there are plants on one side of the power lines
opposing to loads on the other side. This is a centralised scheme.
But the increasing share of renewables is changing the context. An increasing number
of small units may provide significant amounts of electricity near the consumption sites.
But their power output is fluctuating. Ensuring power grid equilibrium becomes a great
challenge.

1.5 Conclusion of the chapter 17
1.4.3.3 Micro-grids
A micro-grid is, by definition, formed when an electrical region capable of autonomous
operation is islanded from the remainder of the grid [19]. Compared to todays systems,
the major point is the ability to ensure autonomous operation. Nowadays, when the
feeding point of a consumption area breaks down, the concerned area is not anymore
supplied with power even if some local units generate the sufficient amount of power
within the area. The reason is simply that the area is not equipped with the systems
necessary to ensure the required safety and quality. Two major challenges with micro-
grids can be defined [20]:
Operation mode can either be connected or islanded. The micro-grid must be

able to handle the shift from one to the other mode while keeping the safety level
constant. The mode choice depend on economical, safety and reliability parameters.
Within each mode, the priority can be changed: ensuring the supply whatever the
cost or minimizing the generation costs.
Voltage and frequency management is another issue to be handled by the

micro-grid whatever the mode. The controlling unit must have some generation
units under control, called distributed generation units, with appropriate response
time and power capacity.
To develop micro-grids, a distribution of intelligence is necessary. This may make a

better use of distributed generation, reduce the line losses and increase system reliability.
Consumption sites would therefore be like islands able to live disconnected. The strong
decoupling between the feeding grid and the micro-grid makes it easier to use DC power
as the AC to DC conversion might be centralised at the control unit level.
1.5 Conclusion of the chapter

Chapter 1 gives a first explanation about a wide range of aspects of DC systems. Because
AC systems are the existing ones, the given explanations always kept them as a reference.
In the light of chapter 1, DC systems seem promising in the necessary evolution of the
actual grid, although some problems remain to be solved.
The review showed that every components needed to switch from AC to DC power
were available: power conversion, users protection, appliances. Still with the disadvan-
tage not to be as widespread as AC components.

Chapter 2
Cable ageing under Low Voltage Direct

Current stress
Existing cables available on the market are designed for existing installations. This means
that low voltage common type building cables are designed, tested and guaranteed for
AC grids. Other cables are also available on the market for DC applications such as PV,
telecommunications, .. But they are of specific type. For PV farms, cables are designed
to sustain severe outdoor constraints especially UV ageing. In telecommunications, the
extra low voltage in use, 48V, cannot be compared with the 230V of distribution grids.
The scope of the study are the LV cables used in distribution networks and buildings
with voltages up to 1kV. Three types of insulations are of interest: Polyvinyl chloride
(PVC), Halogen Free Fire Resistant (HFFR) or reticulated polyethylene (XLPE).
2.1 Description of ageing phenomena

Electrical ageing phenomena are the results of physical and chemical processes accelerated
or driven by an electric field [21]. The theory for calculating electric field in a cable is
detailled in A.1.
The phenomena leading to partial or complete deterioration of an insulation can
be ranked either in degradation or breakdown phenomena. The difference is the time
to breakdown: up to around 1000 hours for breakdown mechanisms while degradation
occurs above 1000 hours. A schematic view of the different phenomena on a Voltage-time
referential is given in 2.1.1, they are [21]:
Breakdown
Thermal breakdown when the heat produced by resistive heating in the

cable is not balanced by heat losses, the temperature of every components
increases up to thermal breakdown,
Electrical breakdown avalanche breakdown when small currents are multi-
plied by an increase in the number of charge carriers at very high fields.
Electromechanical breakdown is due to electrostatic attraction compressing
the insulation and thus decreasing its width. The width variation is related to
the Young modulus of insulation polymers,
Partial discharge happens in the gaseous content of micro-voids1 , above a
certain voltage. The electrical discharges erode the internal surfaces and help
electrical trees to grow,
1
small inclusions of gas in the insulation during the manufacturing process
18
2.1 Description of ageing phenomena 19
Degradation
Electrical tree is the result of partial discharges. This is the resulting

degradation phenomenon provoked by the partial discharges breakdown phe-
nomenon,
Water tree occurs when the insulation is in contact with an aqueous elec-
trolyte. Some chemicals reactions happen under the electrical field that grad-
ually lead to the insulation breakdown.
Figure 2.1.1 is a general overview of the possible phenomena either in AC or DC.
Figure 2.1.1 Breakdown and degradation phenomena sorted by electric field and time to breakdown
[21]

20 Cable ageing in LVDC
2.2 Basic calculations of some ageing phenomena

From the theory shown in section 2.1 and appendix A.1, a basic calculation of ageing
phenomena is performed. The first step is to assess the electric field magnitude. According
to equation A.1.2, the calculation results are shown in table A.2.1 for different voltages
and typical building cables.
Those results shows that the insulation thickness is around 1mm. We can define an
equivalent thickness seq calculated in 2.2.1, which represents the thickness of a plate of
insulating material reproducing the same electric field constraint.

R2
seq = R2 ln (2.2.1)
R1
If s is the real insulation thickness, we have R2 = R1 + s and s 1 mm. Thus the
radius ratio can be rewritten in equation 2.2.2.
R2 s
=1+ (2.2.2)
R1 R1
As s R1 (see table A.2.1) in our case study, we can simplify seq using Taylor series
in equation 2.2.3.

R2
seq = R2 ln
R1

s
= R2 ln 1 +
R1
s
(R1 + s)
sR1 R1
s2
s+
sR1 R1
s (2.2.3)
sR1
We can assume that seq 1mm, which allows to assume that the electric field in the
insulation is proportional to the voltage with unit V /mm.
From the point of view of breakdown phenomena, we are in the range 0 to 1 kV /mm
or 0 to 1 106 V /m. Comparing this value with the inventory of breakdown and
degradation phenomena from figure 2.1.1, there might only be thermal breakdown and
water treeing leading to breakdown.

The aim of that part was to get an insight on potential reduction of cable lifetime under
LVDC conditions compared to LVAC.

The calculations showed that risks of breakdown or degradation are very low. Ther-
mal breakdown and water treeing degradation were identified as the two possible causes
for breakdown. The first phenomenon thermal breakdown can be limited or avoided
through a good thermal design of the cable or sufficiently high safety coefficients to ac-
count for possible hazardous electrical installations. There is nothing different compared
to AC cables. The second phenomenon water treeing may occur in presence of an
aqueous liquid in contact with the cable insulation. This might be easily avoided with
appropriate electrical installations.
That calculation was only a simplified approach of the complex problem of breakdown.
As any simplification, it means some phenomena may not be considered in the study.
Still, from the point of view of normal operation, existing low voltage building cables for
AC distribution systems are suitable for future DC ones. The primary function of hte
insulation is more likely to be a protection against chemical threats.

Chapter 3
Technical comparison of AC and DC sys-

tems
The review of LV networks lead to a mixed conclusion about the potential of LVDC to
efficiently replace LVAC. Chapter 3 aims to run a technical comparison between LVAC
and LVDC.
The different components of a distribution power grids can be ranked under the 4
following categories:
Cables they were studied in terms of ageing in chapter 2 and they will be studied in
terms of efficiency in section 3.2,
Conversion power conversion is present at every stage of the transport and distribu-
tion and especially when considering DC in the actual all-AC distribution power
grid. The conversion will be estimated from articles to perform a consumption
comparison,
Protection this is specific to low-voltage grids with appropriate protection systems.

Section 1.3.3 showed that appropriate components exists but are not yet on the shelf.
The protection components will not be considered in the technical comparison,
Appliances the appliances are the reason of the distribution power grid. The rise of
pure DC technologies is also a reason for the questions around LVDC. The power
consumption of appliances will be compared in AC and DC systems.
Chapter 3 starts with a literature review of the advantages of AC versus DC grids

in section 3.1. Section 3.2 continues with a comparison of the cable losses, to assess if
there is a loss reduction when switching from AC to DC. Section 3.3 considers different
distribution layout and assess their efficiency in terms of transmissible power. Finally, a
consumption comparison is carried out in section 3.4.4 using a Monte Carlo simulation
at a multi-household scale.
3.1 General comparison of AC and DC advantages

From [22, 23] a general overview of AC and DC systems pros and cons can be drawn.
Those advantages extracted from the literature will be quantified in the other sections of
chapter 3.
3.1.1 AC advantages over DC

Stepping voltage up and down through transformers is easy, efficient and reliable. His-
torically, this is a determining advantage in favour of AC systems [3].
22
3.1 AC versus DC in literature 23
Safety of users and components is ensured by fuses or circuit-breakers fuses are now
forbidden for private installations. Those components were described in section
1.3.3. The safety is a big advantage for AC, mostly thanks to a century of research,
developments and installations.
Voltage control of the overall system. While reactive power is an issue as it reduces the
power-carrying capacity of a given cable, it presents the huge advantage to allow for
a separate control of voltage without modifying the active power as in DC systems.
Knowledge and experience are obvious advantages for AC systems. With over a
century of operation, an extended knowledge of system sizing, construction and
operation has been built.
3.1.2 DC advantages over AC

Distributed generation is often producing DC power or using DC power in its conver-
sion steps. Using a direct current grid would reduce the necessary conversion steps
saving an inverter in the case of generation units but not the entire power con-
version. According to [22], we can assume that removing a conversion step represent
an 2.5% increase in efficiency.
Storage and Uninterrupted Power Supply are provided thanks to batteries relying
on DC power. Using a DC grid would reduce the conversion steps but not completely
remove the power conversion unit.
Electronics represent an increasing load both in households and offices as explained in

section 1.2.
Variable speed drives are similar to wind turbine with a reversed power conversion
process. Using DC grid would save conversion steps but not entirely remove the
power conversion unit.
Voltage control is also an issue in DC systems, especially when combined with AC ones.
DC systems offers more choice and thus increase the need for further calculations.
On the other hand, a combination of AC and DC might - if correctly piloted -
increase the voltage stability thanks to the capacity of AC-DC converter to either
consume or produce reactive power at interfaces [9, 22, 24].
Power quality could also be improved through DC grids. Even though AC-DC con-
version is a major source of power harmonics, using centralized AC-DC conversion
station would allow a better control over the filtering practice, thus limiting the
undesired harmonics in the systems.

24 AC and DC comparison
3.2 Power cables efficiency under Low Voltage Direct

Current conditions
Cables are an obvious part of the power distribution system. Inserted in-between each
conversion step, cables can consume a significant amount of energy in losses. A frequent
assertion is that using DC may save cable losses. For a cable manufacturer as Nexans,
reduced losses means that the same copper cross-section area could carry more power in
DC than AC and lead to less copper sales which in turns means less benefits.
3.2.1 Methodology
When talking about cable efficiency, we want to compare the amount of losses. For a
cable, the losses are closely related to the impedance.
The assessment of the cable efficiency is presented in two steps:
1. Theory for the calculation of energy losses in cables,

2. Analytical calculations for simplified models to have order of magnitudes,
3.2.2 Energy losses in cables

Three types of phenomena can lead to power losses:
Magnetic losses are related to hysteresis cycles of materials. In short, hystere-

sis is the property of a material to follow a different magnetic path whether it is
loaded or unloaded. The area resulting of the cycle difference are the magnetic
losses. But, a) in AC systems the materials used in cables all can be considered
non-magnetic. This means that magnetic fields have a low effect on the mate-
rial properties b) in DC systems there is no oscillating phenomena and thus no
hysteresis cycle. Therefore, we neglect the magnetic losses in the cable efficiency
comparison.
Resistive losses is the phenomena of heating of a conductor when driven by a

current. This is described by the Joules first law in equation 3.2.1, where Pjoule is
the dissipated power in W , R the resistivity in and I the current in A.
Pjoule = R |I|2 (3.2.1)
The resistance R of a given cable depends of the a) conducting material resistivity

, b) environment characteristics, c) electromagnetical phenomena modifying the
current density repartition. From the perspective of a comparison between AC
and DC, we consider the same conductor (copper) in the same environment. The
difference between AC and DC may arise from the fluctuating behaviour of AC
magnetic fields.

3.2 Cables under LVDC conditions 25
The electromagnetic influences arise from the changing magnetic field in an AC

layout. By definition, when a conductor is in varying magnetic field, electromo-
tive forces are generated. Therefore, due to that potential difference applied on a
resistive material, a current named Eddy, Induced or Foucault appears.
According to Lenz law, An induced current is always in such a direction as to oppose
the motion or change causing it. Those induced currents move the charge carriers
electrons in cable conductors and increases the effective resistivity as the conductor
cross area is not uniformly used. Two effects issuing from that phenomena are:
Skin effect is caused by the time varying magnetic field of the conductor. It
is thus an auto-induction phenomena. It is characterized by the skin depth
defined for good conductors in equation 3.2.2, where is the conductor
resistivity, the current angular frequency ( = 2 f ) and = 0 r the
absolute magnetic permeability of the conductor.
r
2
= (3.2.2)

Proximity effect is caused by the time varying magnetic field of external

close conductors. This effect typically appears in cable bundles. Proximity
and skin effect combine itself in cables which gives complex current density
profiles.
To assess those two effects standards define the AC effective resistance RAC as the
DC resistance RDC increased of ys by the skin effect and yp by proximity effect.
Dielectric losses are losses related to the dielectric nature of the cable (insulation
and conductor). Standards [25] states that the dielectric losses can be neglected at
low voltage.
Due to those different losses, the cable resistivity will be modified. The cable will have
to dissipate the heat generated by Joule heating in the conductor. That heat transfer,
precisely defined in [25], will lead to an increase of the temperature of each component of
the cable. When one of the components reaches its limit temperature, the current carried
by the cable is named the ampacity.
3.2.3 Analytical calculations

The analytical calculations are a first step in the assessment of an order of magnitude of
the phenomena. Due to the complex nature of cables and electromagnetic interactions,
the analytical approach uses simplified models. The following calculations will be per-
formed: a) simple calculation of the skin effect for a single cable, b) simplified calculation
according to standards [25].

3.2.3.1 Simple calculation of the skin effect for a single cable
For this simplified calculation, we consider a single cable fed with 50Hz-AC power. The
skin depth is given in equation 3.2.2. The geometric layout of a simple cross-section is
shown in figure 3.2.1.
In order to run a comparison between AC and
d DC we want to calculate the effective sections in AC
(SAC ), and DC (SDC ). As no varying-field exists in
DC mode, the effective section is not modified and
therefore SDC is given by the simple expression in
equation 3.2.3.
d2
SDC = (3.2.3)
4
Figure 3.2.1 Geometry parameters of On AC mode, the current density is modified by

the cable section Eddy currents [11]. And the current density distri-
bution is modified according to equation 3.2.4. The
skin depth is therefore the length from the outer
border at which the current density has fallen to 1/e JS .
d
J(d) = JS e (3.2.4)
From figure 3.2.1, the three following cases can be distinguished:
d < 2 ,the skin effect is out of concern as the penetration depth exceeds the diam-
eter,
d = 2 , the skin effect still does not impact the AC effective resistance but this is
the key point,
d > 2 , the skin effect increases the effective resistance.
The effective conducting section SAC is given in equation 3.2.5.

(
(d ) if d > 2
SAC = d2 (3.2.5)
4
if d 2
The skin effect is effective at f = 50Hz if and only if SAC < SDC . This corresponds to
dlim = 18.45mm or SAC = SDC = 267.38mm2 . The table B.1.1 and figure B.1.1 shows a
synthesized view of the impact of the skin effect on a circular cross-section effective area.
The results of that first simplified approach shows the low impact of the skin effect
for LV installations. The low frequency employed in those installations combined with
the low value of magnetic fields generates very low Eddy currents. In the light of that
calculation, we can conclude that in our field of interest skin effect can be neglected.

3.2 Cables under LVDC conditions 27
3.2.3.2 Calculation of skin and proximity coefficients according to standards

The IEC 60287 standard [26] describes how to estimate the skin and proximity effects.
Their influence on the cable resistivity is calculated with help of two factors ys and yp
defined as the increase of DC resistance RDC when the cable configuration is used in AC:
RAC = (1 + ys + yp ) RDC (3.2.6)

The skin effect factor is calculated thanks to equation 3.2.7 from [26]:
x4s
ys = (3.2.7)
192 + 0.8 x4s
where,
8 f 7
xs = 10 ks
RDC
f is the power frequency and ks a coefficient related to the rigidity of the conductor.
given in [26] as ks = 1 for rigid conductors.
In a similar manner, the proximity effect factor is calculated using equation 3.2.8 from
[26] for two single-core cables.
2
x4p dc
yp = 4
2.9 (3.2.8)
192 + 0.8 xp s
where,
8 f
x2p = 107 kp
RDC
dc is the diameter of the conductor in mm, s the distance between conductor axes and
kp is once more related to the conductor rigidity, the value kp = 1 is taken according to
[26].
For three single-core cables (case of three-phase systems for example), the formula is
modified as shown in equation 3.2.9 from [26].

2 2
x4p

dc dc 1.18
yp = 0.312 + (3.2.9)

192 + 0.8 x4p s s x4p

+ 0.27
192 + 0.8x4p
Calculations were performed for two arrangements of three three conductors: 1) a
configuration with 2 cables, 2) a configuration with 3 cables in a flat arrangement (geom-
etry explained in figure 3.2.2a, 3) a configuration with 3 cables in a trefoil arrangement
(geometry explained in figure 3.2.2b.
The complete results for 2 cables are in table B.2.1, while the tables B.2.2 and B.2.3
shows the calculation results for 3 cables configurations.
A summarized view of the results is displayed in figures 3.2.3a and 3.2.3b. As 2 and
3 cables arrangements are not intended for the same usage, they are distinguished:

(a) Flat (b) Trefoil
Figure 3.2.2 Two possible conductor arrangement for 3 cables [26]
2 cables the sum ys + yp does not go over 5 105 . If we introduce the definition of ys
and yp in the resistive losses, we have in equation 3.2.10.
PJoule,AC = RAC I 2
= (1 + ys + yp ) RDC I 2
= (1 + ys + yp ) PJoule,DC (3.2.10)
This means that skin and proximity effects in simple one-phase household configu-
ration do not increase the losses by more than 5 103 %.
3 cables no difference appears between the trefoil and flat configuration. The sum ys +yp
is larger than above, as shown in figure 3.2.3b the proximity coefficient yp is the one
making the difference. This is due to the three-conductors of a three-phase system.
The sum of the two factors is less than 1 102 of losses increase up to 120mm2 .
But this is already a large cross-section area allowing to transmit up to 120kW
under 230V for a three-phase system. For comparison, typical cross-section area of
70mm2 [2] are used in distribution systems. Still, at such a level, 2.46 102 kW are
dissipated as resistive losses at full load. At the price of the french regulated power
market 0.115e/kWh this corresponds to around 24e per year assuming the
cable is at full load all the year. This is to be compared with the 120 000e that
could be retrieved for the selling of the whole cable capacity. With that hypothesis
favourable to the DC case, the economical difference is not significant enough at
the scale of the distribution grid to finance the shift from AC to DC.
3.2.3.3 Conclusion on the skin and proximity effects

From those calculations it appears that the skin and proximity effects are not signifi-
cant for single-phase systems with small cross-section area. But the influence becomes
significant when the cross-section area increases as well as the number of conductors.
Considering a typical 50Hz-transformer with 98% efficiency, the 2% of losses in the trans-
former are in the same order of magnitude as the 1% losses of a 120mm2 three-phases
distribution system.

Pierre Waeckerl
3.2 Cables under LVDC conditions

June 29, 2011
(a) 2 conductors
Master thesis
(b) 3 conductors
29
Figure 3.2.3 Chart representation of ys + yp for 2 and 3 conductors configurations
3.3 Low Voltage DC layouts comparison

3.3.1 Comparison generalities
The comparison of different layouts depends on what is to be compared. In our study, the
interest is to determine which configuration is the most interesting on existing power
lines:
Household lines, from the distribution grid feeder to the loads within a house.
All over the world single-phase AC systems are used as displayed in figure 3.3.1a.
Distribution lines, from MV/LV transformers to the household feeders. In Eu-
rope, the most common layout is a three-phase system with return conductor. Four
cables are used in such grids and would be available for DC layouts. But in a three-
phase AC grid, only one return conductor with same cross-section is added to
carry the unbalanced power. With a similar thinking, only one return conductor
is necessary for bipolar DC (see section 3.3.2 for a technical explanation of the
similarities). The figure 3.3.2 describes how the cables are distributed and how the
lines are connected.
In the perspective to reuse the existing grid and just shifting from AC to DC, an
interesting aspect is to know if it will be able to supply the same load or a higher load
at the same distance from the MV/LV power feeder. Therefore, the transmissible power
has been chosen as the comparison factor.
At each step of the comparison, we will differentiate the household configurations from
the distribution configurations. In each case, different LVDC layouts are possible:
1. Household power grid:
AC single-phase (configuration 1, figure 3.3.1a)
DC unipolar configuration with return conductor (configuration 2, figure 3.3.1b)
2. Distribution power grid:
AC three-phase with return conductor (configuration 3, figure 3.3.2a)
DC unipolar with 2 return conductors (configuration 4, figure 3.3.2b)
DC bipolar with 2 return conductors (configuration 5, figure 3.3.2c)
The following sections will first present the theoretical calculations of transmissible
power for each configuration and then apply the theory to the case study.
3.3.2 Transmissible power

The voltage fed to every load of the grid must be within 5% of the nominal voltage.
But the transmissible power is also limited by the cable ampacity. The transmissible
power is the maximal value satisfying to both ampacity and voltage limitations.
For both household and distribution grids, we consider the configurations described
in section 3.3.1 with a single load at its extremities.

3.3 LVDC layouts 31
I1 I1
Z1 R1
U1 +U
N N
I1 I1
(a) AC single-phase (b) DC unipolar
Figure 3.3.1 Possible grid layouts at household scale
I1 Z1
P1
I2 Z2
V2 P2
I3 Z3
V1 P3
V3
return conductor N
I1 + I2 + I3
(a) AC three-phase with return conductor
R1
I1 R1
I1
+U
+U +U
+U
I1 + I2 return conductor N I1 + I2
return conductor
N
+U U
+U U
I2 I2
R2 R2
(b) DC Unipolar (c) DC Bipolar
Figure 3.3.2 Possible grid layouts at distribution scale

3.3.2.1 Household power grid

In a household typical power installation, only phase and neutral conductors are used.
The chosen model is depicted in figure 3.3.3.
Our interest is only the voltage drop in the
L cable. As any appliance in a single-phased system
is fed by a phase and neutral conductor, a 2L cable
Feeder Zcable length will be considered for an appliance distant
I
of L of the power feeder. The cable resistance is
Unom U (L) calculated in equation 3.3.1.
Zcable 2L
R(L) = (3.3.1)
S
Figure 3.3.3 A simple scheme of a load
fed by a single-phase system where R is the cable resistance in , the specific
resistivity at 80 C in m, L the cable length
in m and S the cable cross-section area in m. As
demonstrated in section 3.2, the cable resistance is not much changed by the AC varying
magnetic field. But in AC-fed system, cables have a certain reactance causing voltage
drop. The reactance X is calculated according to equation 3.3.2, where L is the cable
length, the power pulsation and ` the linear inductance. From literature ` = 1 mH/km
[2].
X(L) = 2L ` (3.3.2)
The voltage along the line UAC (L) will vary from the nominal voltage UAC,0 according
to equation 3.3.3.
q
UAC (L) = [UAC,0 (L) R(L) I]2 [X(L) I]2 (3.3.3)
The maximal power Pmax,V a load at distance L can consume with respect to the
5% voltage drop limitation is calculated in equation 3.3.4 for an AC single-phase system.
2
0.05 UAC (L)
PV,1 (L) =
|Zcable |
2
0.05 UAC (L)
=p (3.3.4)
R(L)2 + X(L)2
The second limitation in transmissible power Pmax,1 arise from the cable ampacity
Imax,1 . Equation 3.3.5 shows how to calculate Pmax,1 .
Pmax,1 (L) = UAC (L) Imax,1 cos (3.3.5)
where cos is the power factor.

The maximal transmissible power for configuration 1 is calculated in equation 3.3.6.
Ptrans,1 = min (Pmax,1 , PV,1 ) (3.3.6)

3.3 LVDC layouts 33
In configuration 2, the same calculations steps for household DC system are performed
without the reactive impedance of the cable.
The limitation Pmax,2 associated with the cable ampacity Imax,2 is know from equation
3.3.7.
Pmax,2 = UDC Imax,2 (3.3.7)
The voltage level at distance L from the load is given in equation 3.3.8 with UDC,0
the nominal voltage at feeding point.
UDC (L) = UDC,0 (L) R(L) I (3.3.8)
The maximal current the cable can carry with respect to the voltage drop condition
is IV,2 , calculated in equation 3.3.9.
0.05 UDC (L)

IV,2 = (3.3.9)
R(L)
From those values, the maximal power a load can consume at a distance L from the
power source without exceeding the 5% voltage drop condition is PV,2 , calculated in
equation 3.3.10.
PV,2 = UDC (L) IV,2

0.05 S UDC (L)2
= (3.3.10)
2L
And the transmissible power Ptrans,2 configuration 2 is:
Ptrans,2 = min (Pmax,2 , PV,2 ) (3.3.11)
3.3.2.2 Distribution power layout

In European distribution power grids, the transmission lines contains 4 conductors: 1
for each of the 3 phases plus a neutral conductor (configuration 3, figure 3.3.2a). The
ampacity Imax,3 gives the maximum transmissible power in equation 3.3.12.

Pmax,3 (L) = 3 UAC (L) Imax,3 cos
= 3 VAC (L) Imax,3 cos (3.3.12)
where VAC is the line-to-neutral voltage, UAC the line-to-line voltage and cos the power
factor. In order to compare AC and DC layouts, the line-to-neutral voltage will be used.
Due to the line impedance, the voltage drops along the line. The voltage at distance L
from the load for an equilibrated three-phase systems is calculated according to equation
3.3.13.
q
VAC (L) = [VAC,0 (L) R(L) I]2 [X(L) I]2 (3.3.13)

The line impedance Zcable,3 is defined in equation 3.3.14.
Zcable,3 (L) = R3 (L) + j X3 (L) (3.3.14)
where the real part of Zcable,3 , R3 (L) is defined in equation 3.3.15 as the resistance of 3
conductors with a cross-section area S for each conductor for a length L. We consider
an equilibrated three-phase system i.e. no current in the return conductor.
L
R3 (L) = 3 (3.3.15)
S
For a short power line L < 50 km the reactance can be defined as in equation
3.3.16. is the power pulsation, ` the line linear reactance and L the line length.
X3 (L) = 3 ` L (3.3.16)
From equations 3.3.15 and 3.3.16, the line impedance Zcable,3 can be calculated in equation
3.3.17.

Z3 = 3 L + j ` (3.3.17)
S
The maximum current flowing in the line with respect to the voltage drop limitation
I V,3 is defined in equation 3.3.18.
V AC
I V,3 = 5% (3.3.18)
Z
The maximum complex power S V,3 that can be transmitted is calculated in equation
3.3.19.

S V,3 = 3 V AC (L) I V,3
5% VAC (L) ej
= 3 VAC
Z
3 5%
= VAC (L)2 ej (3.3.19)
Z
This gives in equation 3.3.20 the maximum real transmissible power with respect to
voltage drop limitation PV,3 .

PV,3 = < S V,3
3 5%
= VAC (L)2 cos
|Z|
5%
= r VAC (L)2 cos (3.3.20)
2
L + ( L)2
S

3.3 LVDC layouts 35
The transmissible power Ptrans,3 is given in equation 3.3.21.
Ptrans,3 = min {Pmax,3 , PV,3 } (3.3.21)
For DC systems, we consider unipolar and bipolar layouts. A simplified scheme is

displayed in figures 3.3.2b and 3.3.2c. First, a unipolar system configuration 1 is
considered with 4 conductors (using the classical 3 phase and 1 neutral layout in Europe).
Out of those 4 conductors, 2 will serve at voltage +U and the 2 remaining as return
conductor. This configuration, which is far less efficient than three-phase AC and DC
Bipolar, is presented because less costly than DC Bipolar. In DC Unipolar, conductor
insulations only have to be designed for a voltage drop of UDC while in a DC Bipolar
system, the insulation must be designed for the full voltage 2 UDC .
In DC system a voltage UDC (L) is fed to the load. From the cable properties, the
ampacity Imax,4 of one cable is known. The maximal power related to ampacity calculation
is calculated in equation 3.3.22.
Pmax,4 = UDC (L) (2Imax,4 ) (3.3.22)
The voltage drop limitation can be calculated with equation 3.3.23 where is the
conductor resistivity in m, L the load distance in one way in m and S the cable
cross-section area in m2 .
0.05 UDC (L)2

PV,4 (L) = S (3.3.23)
2L
Equations 3.3.22 and 3.3.23 give in equation 3.3.24 the transmissible power at length
L for a DC unipolar scheme.
Ptrans,4 (L) = min (Pmax,4 , PV,4 ) (3.3.24)
For configuration 5 the layout is described in figure 3.3.2c. It uses 3 conductors: 1 at

+U , 1 at U and 1 ground conductor. One conductor of the original AC scheme is saved.
As for the AC three-phase system, an equilibrated system under operation conditions is
considered. Applying that hypothesis yields:
R1 = R2 = I2 = I1 I1 + I2 = 0
With that hypothesis, the return conductor has a similar usage as the neutral conduc-
tor of AC three-phase systems as it carries imbalanced power. In a DC Bipolar scheme,
the ampacity is not modified and so does Pmax,5 in equation 3.3.25.
Pmax,5 = UDC (L) (2Imax,5 ) (3.3.25)

But the absence of current in the return path of an ideal bipolar system reduces
the voltage drop by half. The maximal transmissible power according to voltage drop
conditions can be calculated with equation 3.3.26.
0.05 UDC (L)2

PV,5 (L) = S (3.3.26)
L
The transmissible power in configuration 5 Ptrans,5 is calculated according to equation
3.3.27.
Ptrans,5 (L) = min (Pmax,5 , PV,5 ) (3.3.27)
3.3.3 Results and analysis

3.3.3.1 Household power grids
The calculation was detailed in section 3.3.2. As the matter is building cables, 1.5 mm2
and 2.5 mm2 conductors were considered. The table B.3.1 shows the complete results of
the calculation and figure 3.3.4 synthesises the results.
In the light of those results, it is obvious that Extremely Low Voltage (ELV) are not
suitable for power installation even in houses. Therefore, at least 120V is necessary to
use the existing installations with conductors typically of 1.5, 2.5 and exceptionally 6
mm2 . In order to exploit the full benefit of DC systems, 326V-systems appear the most
interesting.
3.3.3.2 Distribution power grids

For the distribution layout comparison, the figure 3.3.5 shows the evolution with length
of the transmissible power for the three configurations 3, 4 and 5. As this is difficult
to represent different Voltage/Cross-section area couples on the same graph, the turning
point defined as the length at which the limiting condition changes is considered.
From figure 3.3.6 the voltage drop in a DC layout is much lower that in an AC one.
This is the illustration of the effect of reactance in AC. On the other hand the figure
3.3.5 shows that AC three-phase systems carries more power over short distances. This is
the illustration of the 3 phases available to carry power in a AC three-phase layout while
only 2 are available in a DC unipolar or bipolar one.
The bipolar scheme does not improve the maximum transmissible power but enhance
the voltage drop problems. Using a bipolar scheme seems therefore the most beneficial
solution to replace a three-phase AC system.

Pierre Waeckerl
3.3 LVDC layouts

June 29, 2011
Master thesis
37
Figure 3.3.4 Synthesis of the power limitation capacity (in kW) for a single-phase building installation
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon
38
AC and DC comparison
EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
Figure 3.3.5 Transmissible power versus load distance for the three distribution configurations with 120mm2 conductors under 500V
Pierre Waeckerl
3.3 LVDC layouts

June 29, 2011
Master thesis
Figure 3.3.6 Transmissible power limitation change for the three configurations with single conductors of 400mm2 cross-section area
39
3.4 Energy consumption comparison for AC and DC

systems
Another claim in favour of DC grids is the savings of conversion stages it might provide. In
section 1.2, from the angle of appliances technologies, the problem has been demonstrated
not to be that simple. Section 3.4 is to gain knowledge on the matter through a simple
Monte Carlo simulation of the power consumption of households.
3.4.1 Methodology
The expected outcome is a difference of consumption of power for a representative set of
households.
The study will start by sorting the appliances of importance in the comparison. Then,
the way to model the power consumption is defined in the light of the available data. This
is the only necessary data and decisions to make to design the Monte Carlo simulation.
But in order to get results, the power consumption of each appliance in AC and DC
is requested.
3.4.2 Monte Carlo simulation theory

Monte Carlo is a system simulation class of methods based on random samples study [27].
It is especially interesting to use Monte Carlo methods when the system is too complex
to be described by an explicit function1 or the model has too many inputs or outputs.
A simplified layout of a Monte Carlo simulation is shown in 3.4.1. Whatever the
complexity of a simulation, the following are always performed:
1. Generate a set of inputs the probability distribution must be known for each
input,
2. Run the model and get the outputs,
3. Run those first two steps as many times as needed depending on the accuracy for
example,
4. Sample the results.
Figure 3.4.1 The layout of a basic Monte Carlo simulation called simple sampling
Some improvements are available to increase the efficiency or the accuracy of the
simulation. Most of those improvements apply on the randomization of the inputs [28,
29, 30, 31, 32].
1
In an explicit function, the value of the outputs can be related to the inputs with a mathematical
function

3.4 Energy consumption comparison 41
3.4.3 Simulation model and hypothesis

The starting point in the design of the Monte Carlo simulation is the objective. Our
interest is to compare the consumption of typical AC-fed and DC-fed households. There-
fore the electrical consumption of households when fed with AC or DC power will be
simulated. But the concern is only on appliances making a difference between AC and
DC. Power consumption of electrical heating, for example, as not been accounted in the
study.
The simulation model is a household with a certain electrical equipment and a way to
use that equipment named usage patterns. The available data from INSEE are a) the
repartition of households by types, b) the equipment rate2 for each types of household,
c) the way each category of household uses its appliances.
The inputs are by category:
1. A household, picked in the types of household from table 3.4.1. In order to sta-
tistically describe the household input, different possibilities are available in the
National Databases of INSEE [15]: a) type of household (couple with child, cou-
ple without child, ...), b) age of the representative member c) job type. As the
consumption is likely to be more dependent on the size of the household, they are
described by type in the simulation (table 3.4.1). The type of household is the input
UD .
Household type Share in %

D1- Single person 31.00
D2- Mono-parental family 7.40
D3- Couple without child 24.80
D4- Couple with child 31.50
D5- Others 5.30
Table 3.4.1 Different household types, France, INSEE 1999 [15]
2. A set of equipments, picked in table C.3.1. This makes a possible set of 13

appliances. For each one, the input is a binary number stating if yes (= 1) or no
(= 0) the household is equipped with that kind of appliance. The inputs will be
named {UEi }i{1,...7} .
3. The usage patterns, is differently described depending on the appliance. Three

different descriptions have been considered:
Weekly Duration, the consumption is defined as the time length usage

per week;
Daily Duration, the consumption is defined as the time length usage per
day;
Weekly Cycle, the consumption is defined as a number of cycle per week.
2
share of households equipped with the appliance

The table 3.4.2 shows the choice for each appliance represented by 13 inputs {UP i }{i1...13} .
Appliance Frequency Period

Vacuum-cleaner Weekly Duration
Refrigerator Daily Duration
Freezer Daily Duration
Dishwasher Weekly Cycle
Microwave Daily Duration
Washing machine Weekly Cycle
Dryer Weekly Cycle
TV Weekly Duration
Landline phone Daily Duration
Cellphone Daily Duration
Internet modem Weekly Duration
Desktop computer Weekly Duration
Laptop Weekly Duration
Table 3.4.2 Usage description of each appliance by household type, extracted from table C.4.1, INSEE
2006 [33]
The outputs are the AC and DC consumption when used in on- or standby- mode
(see section 3.4.4).
The presented model is highly simplified. The following simplifications have been
made:
The approach of household equipment is much simplified. Only the household type
is considered.
The appliance usage has also been simply described. This is related to simplifica-
tions on the energy consumption described in section 3.4.4.
Concerning the variance reduction techniques, the following ones have been chosen:
Correlated sampling is used as the objective is to compare two systems with the
same inputs [31].
Stratified sampling was implemented using the 5 different household types as

strata. Using batch allocation [32], stratified sampling is an ideal method to adjust
the number of picked households to their statistical distribution. Some additional
theory is given in appendix C.1 about stratified sampling and in C.2 about batch
allocation i.e. the way to efficiently allocate samples in a stratified sampling method-
ology.
Regarding the calculation accuracy, a stopping rule based on relative tolerance was
implemented [29]. With losses of conversion estimated at 2.5% per step [22], an accuracy
of 0.1% seemed necessary to exploit the results.

3.4.4 Energy consumption of appliances

The aim is to describe the consumption of appliances to compare AC and DC systems.
As this is a comparison, only appliances making a difference of consumption between AC
and DC are included. The process to estimate the usage of each appliance was detailed
in 3.4.3.
For each appliance, the consumption in standby- and on- mode are separated. Standby
consumption is a difficult matter as this is not related directly to AC and DC systems
but to where is the switch. If all appliances in the existing AC system could be shut down
ahead of the power converter, lots of standby consumption could be simply avoided. In
this simulation we assume there are no standby consumption in DC systems thanks to
the use of a DC/DC converter without transformer.
The set of chosen appliances is detailed in table C.3.1. In section 1.1 appliances were
ranked in 2 categories:
Pure AC appliances require AC power to work. For the sake of simplicity, only
variable drives appliances are accounted as they are the more widespread.
In an AC system, the power conversion of the appliances is considered to be

constituted of a rectifier(rectif ier = 95%) and an inverter (inverter = 97%) [1],
as shown in figure 3.4.2a,
In a DC system, the power conversion of the appliances is constituted of a
buck chopper (buck = 98%) and an inverter (inverter = 97%) as shown in
figure 3.4.2b.
(a) AC-fed system
(b) DC-fed system
Figure 3.4.2 Power conversion at the input of pure AC appliances if fed with AC or DC power
Pure DC appliances require DC power. From [1], the power conversion can be
considered as:
In AC system, the power conversion is ensured by a SMPS defined in section

1.1 (overall efficiency pureDC,AC = 86%) [1]. A schematic view is shown in
figure 3.4.3a.
In DC system, the power conversion is ensured by a DC/DC converter with
pureDC,DC = 94% [1]. The chosen conversion unit has a much higher efficiency

Appliance type AC-system DC-system

Pure AC pure AC,AC = 92% pure AC,DC = 95%
Pure DC pure DC,AC = 86% pure DC,DC = 94%
Table 3.4.3 Summary of the conversion efficiencies [1]
in DC than in AC. This choice is made considering that no shifting from AC to

DC will occur if conversion technologies is not much more efficient in DC. The
whole SMPS conversion unit is replaced with a compact DC/DC converter
with high efficiency. A view of that layout is shown in figure 3.4.3b.
(a) AC-fed system
(b) DC-fed system
Figure 3.4.3 Power conversion at the input of pure DC appliances if fed with AC or DC power
The resulting efficiencies are summarized in table 3.4.3 by type of appliance and type of
feeding power type.
The conversion efficiency for each appliance is summed up in table C.5.1. This table
also include consumption approximation taken from typical appliance on sale in general
stores and INSEE statistics [33].
3.4.5 Simulation workflow

All the details of the simulation have been described above. We can look from the running
calculation point of view. As shown in figure 3.4.4, the inputs to the model are:
A household
A set of equipments
Usage patterns
The equipment consumption
With all those inputs, we can calculate the yearly consumption of each appliance for
the household, this is the role of the model.
Then, the outputs described in figure 3.4.4 are:
the consumption difference between AC- and DC- fed systems in on-mode of appli-
ances

Figure 3.4.4 Monte Carlo simulation workflow
the consumption difference between AC- and DC- fed systems in standby mode of
appliances.
The expected value of the collected outputs are the results of the simulation.
3.4.6 Simulation results

The Matlab scripts are included in Appendix C.6. The tables 3.4.4 and 3.4.5 shows the
result of a simulation of an overall 1077 samples one sample is one household. The
following symbols are used:
Nh , number of samples in strata h a strata is a type of household,

h , weight of strata h,
E [PAC,on ], expected value of the power consumed in on-mode and AC-fed system,
E [PAC,standby ], expected value of the power consumed in standby-mode and AC-fed
system,
E [PAC,on ], expected value of the power consumed in on-mode and DC-fed system,
E [PAC,standby ], expected value of the power consumed in standby-mode and DC-fed
system.
E [Pon ], expected value of the difference of power consumed in on-mode between
AC- and DC- fed systems,
E [Pstandby ], expected value of the difference of power consumed in standby-mode
between AC- and DC-fed systems,
on , standard deviation of Pon ,
standby , standard deviation of Pstandby .

46
E [PAC,on ] E [PAC,standby ] E [PDC,on ] E [PDC,standby ]
Household type h Nh
kWh
D1 - Single person 0.31 318 948.62 110.23 898.77 70.16
D2 - Mono-parental family 0.074 98 1354.33 142.97 1278.25 87.15
D3 - Couple without child 0.248 265 1256.21 141.77 1195.91 85.87
D4 - Couple with child 0.315 350 1531.81 204.19 1450.48 119.91
D5 - Others 0.053 46 1194.18 179.34 1132.01 93.40
Overall 1 1077 1251.64 153.74 1186.70 92.22
Table 3.4.4 Yearly consumption by type of household, sorted by standby-, on-, AC- and DC-mode
E [Pon ] on E [Pstandby ] standby

Household type h Nh
kWh
D1 - Single person 0.31 318 -49.85 13.12 -40.07 38.38
AC and DC comparison
D2 - Mono-parental family 0.074 98 -76.08 20.30 -55.81 41.38
D3 - Couple without child 0.248 265 -60.30 12.83 -55.90 42.11

D4 - Couple with child 0.315 350 -81.32 17.05 -84.88 34.62
D5 - Others 0.053 46 -62.17 11.49 -85.94 30.48
Overall 1 1077 -64.95 7.62 -61.52 19.53
Table 3.4.5 Yearly consumption difference for each household type sorted by standby and on-mode
Before analysing those results, it must be noted that they only concern the real power
consumption. This means that the following concerns are ignored:
The reactive power in AC mode because the end-users pay for the active power,
The power conversion, which might be at household or neighbourhood scale. As for

reactive power, the consumers does not pay for the losses at neighbourhood scale.
In terms of consumption, DC systems show an advantage. An all DC scheme would

save around 5% in on-mode, 5% in standby and 9% on overall compared to overall AC
consumption for an average dwelling. Those improvements are the result of two different
simulation hypotheses: a) the savings in standby mode are the result of assuming that
the power can be shut down in DC thanks to a better location of the power switch and
removal of transformers. This is not an advantage of DC but a consideration that might
come along with LVDC systems, b) the 5% improvement in on-mode is the result of
the savings in the number of conversion stages. Even though power conversions are not
completely removed, the conversion losses are reduced. Considering the regulated power
price of 0.115 e/kWh, the mean difference in power consumption yields a mean saving
of around 7.50e per year on average per household.
This result is moderated by the value dispersion from table 3.4.5 represented graph-
ically in figure 3.4.5. The interest of figure 3.4.5 present the percent of savings in a
DC-house compared to the same house, with the same patterns of consumption, fed with
AC power. The length of error bars displays the standard deviation for all the sampled
results. The standard deviation for standby consumption is higher than for on-mode con-
sumption. Those differences are directly related to the Internet modem. The equipment
rate for such appliances is quite low (from 10 to 45% according to table C.3.1). But the
consumption in standby-mode is almost as high as on-mode consumption. Therefore, if
a household is equipped or not with an Internet connection makes a huge difference.
The outcome from the simulation can also be considered from the point of view of
the types appliances. The initial hypothesis assumes that A DC/DC power converter is
much more efficient than an AC/DC power converter. The result of the simulation also
expresses the part of the overall consumption that is DC. If we consider the figure 1.4.1,
the sales of ICT appliances more than tripled since 2000. This means that the share of
Pure DC appliances increases compared to pure AC ones.

Chapter 3 compared AC and DC systems on three different aspects: 1) the resistive
losses in similar cables, used in an AC or DC system, 2) the possible layouts to ensure
grid distribution, 3) the real power consumption of end-users.
From this comparison it arise that DC systems present some advantages over AC
systems: a) the increase of pure DC components, either to produce or consume power is
in favour of DC grids as using DC would save on conversion steps and hence on conversion
losses, this was demonstrated in section 3.4.4 by the Monte Carlo simulation, b) the length

Figure 3.4.5 Graph of the results from table 3.4.5, the length of error bars is the standard deviation
of cables is favourable to the DC layouts as the transmissible power reduces slower in DC

than in AC. .
Those advantages are moderated by the following: a) for cables used in distribution
grids, DC systems would make a difference of resistive losses of 1% above cross-section
area of 70mm2 .This means that resistive losses are increased by 1%. As the resistive
losses represent 5% of the transmitted power in France [34], using DC would reduce the
losses down to 5 (1 1% = 4.95% 5%. This is a very insignificant reduction of the
resistive losses, b) the most favourable DC distribution layout Bipolar DC cannot
carry as much power as three-phase AC over short distances, c) the simulation assesses
the availability of power conversion units much more efficient in DC that in AC.

Chapter 4
Conclusion
This work approached various aspects of the distribution power grids and especially the
comparison between existing well-known AC grids and promising DC ones.
Chapter 1 gave an insight on advantages, drawbacks and limitations of AC and DC
systems. The omnipresence of DC power in every common appliance was demonstrated.
While power grids rely on AC power, all the appliances listed as the most common
ones rely on DC power either to power them or just as a step in the power conversion
process [15]. Another key component of low voltage private distribution grids, protection
systems designed for all-DC systems already exists, but they are not available on the
shelf as DC systems are not as common as AC ones.
Chapter 2 completed the literature review with a special look at electrical ageing of
cables. The comparison of the levels of electric field in the insulation with the ranking
of the ageing phenomena pointed out the possible breakdown phenomena. The study
shows no difference of possible electrical ageing phenomena between AC and DC ageing
for low voltage building cables. The degradation of cables is more likely to be a result of
chemical ageing than of electrical ageing.
Chapter 3 ran a technical comparison between AC and DC grids with the will to
provide reliable figures in the trade-off. Our first interest was to pay attention to resistive
losses in the cable. This especially meant to compare skin and proximity effects. The
result was to show no major difference between AC and DC for low voltage distribution
systems. In common configurations 2 or 3 phases the effective resistance of the set
of cables is increased by 1% in AC compared to DC, which is an insignificant reduction
in favour of DC. It would only be in very intricate configurations with cable bunches
that proximity effects might become disturbing enough to favour DC. From the point
of view of possible distribution layouts, DC showed some advantages. The voltage drop
in cables under DC conditions is much lower than in AC. Finally, a comparison of the
power consumption of end users concluded to the absence of significant power savings
when using DC instead of AC. Despite hypotheses favourable to power conversion in DC
systems (see section 3.4.4), the simulation concluded to only 5% of power savings for
appliances making a difference between AC and DC i.e. the heating was not included in
the power consumption, for a typical consumption of 3000kWh per year and per household
(including every possible consumptions), the saving for using DC decreases to 2%. The
power is saved on the power rectification that occurs at each appliance input when used
in AC grid. Approximately the same savings 5% can be obtained by a smart design
of appliances i.e. by putting the switch on the good side of the power conversion unit.
49
50 Conclusion
4.1 Discussion
The major hypothesis for the Monte Carlo simulation is the existence of more efficient
power conversion units for a DC system than for an AC one. The hypothesis reflects
the idea that shifting to DC systems will not happen while power conversion is not more
efficient. In the light of that hypothesis, the expected result has to be in favour of DC.
But the result did not show a significant improvement of the energy efficiency despite
that hypothesis.
4.2 Future work

This subject is very broad and lots of aspects have not been considered during the project:
the consumption model developed here is simplified. A more detailed one would be
necessary to integrate more complex consideration like hour precision to account for
price variation, electric vehicle loading or unloading to shave power peaks, renewable
energy sources, etc,
the cost aspect has been considered in a simple manner in the study because of
its complexity: material savings on conversion technologies, investment postponed
thanks to the avoided reactive power, etc. The investment costs are the main topic
to oppose to power savings. If the economical gain in losses of active power is not
higher than the cost for AC/DC central converters, then the DC technology is not
feasible for grid operators. But the economical trade-off is a more complicated topic.
Many different points of view should be considered: the end-user, the grid owner,
the grid operator, the cable manufacturer, the appliance producer, the authorities,
etc.

Appendix A
Ageing phenomena complements

A.1 Electric field calculation
An electric field is defined as the spatial variation
of the electrical potential in space as expressed in
equation A.1.1, with E ~ the electric field and V the
electrical potential.
~ =
E

V (A.1.1)
In a cable modelled by the 2D-view in figure

A.1.1, the only changing space parameter is the ra-
dius in polar coordinates. A cable is a cylindrical
capacitor with the external layer of the insulation
at ground potential and contact area between con-
Figure A.1.1 2D-view of a building ca- ductor and insulation at conductor area. With the
ble with conductor and insulation symbols used in equation A.1.1 and figure A.1.1,
the electric field can be defined as a function of the
radius r in equation A.1.2.
V
E(r) = (A.1.2)
R2
r ln
R1
A.2 Electric field results
51
52 Ageing phenomena complements
Voltage Section R1 R2 R1 E(R1) E(R2)

V mm2 mm mm V /mm V /mm
1.5 0.69 0.6 27.78 14.87
2.5 0.89 0.7 23.22 13.01
12 4 1.13 0.8 19.84 11.61
6 1.38 0.8 19.01 12.04
10 1.78 1 15.11 9.69
1.5 0.69 0.6 55.57 29.74
2.5 0.89 0.7 46.45 26.02
24 4 1.13 0.8 39.69 23.22
6 1.38 0.8 38.02 24.08
10 1.78 1 30.23 19.37
1.5 0.69 0.6 111.14 59.49
2.5 0.89 0.7 92.89 52.05
48 4 1.13 0.8 79.38 46.45
6 1.38 0.8 76.05 48.17
10 1.78 1 60.46 38.74
1.5 0.69 0.6 254.69 136.32
2.5 0.89 0.7 212.88 119.28
110 4 1.13 0.8 181.91 106.44
6 1.38 0.8 174.28 110.38
10 1.78 1 138.55 88.78
1.5 0.69 0.6 532.54 285.03
2.5 0.89 0.7 445.11 249.4
230 4 1.13 0.8 380.36 222.56
6 1.38 0.8 364.4 230.8
10 1.78 1 289.69 185.64
1.5 0.69 0.6 754.81 404.01
2.5 0.89 0.7 630.89 353.5
326 4 1.13 0.8 539.11 315.46
6 1.38 0.8 516.5 327.13
10 1.78 1 410.61 263.13
1.5 0.69 0.6 2315.37 1239.28
2.5 0.89 0.7 1935.26 1084.36
1000 4 1.13 0.8 1653.72 967.67
6 1.38 0.8 1584.36 1003.47
10 1.78 1 1259.53 807.13
Table A.2.1 Electric field for a set of typical building cables under different voltages

Appendix B
Analytical results
B.1 Skin depth calculation
SDC d SAC
mm2 mm mm2
1.5 1.38 1.5
2.5 1.78 2.5
4 2.26 4
6 2.76 6
10 3.57 10
16 4.51 16
25 5.64 25
35 6.68 35
50 7.98 50
9.23
70 9.44 70
95 11.00 95
120 12.36 120
150 13.82 150
185 15.35 185
240 17.48 240
300 19.54 299
400 22.57 387
500 25.23 464
Table B.1.1 Comparison between the conductor diameter and the skin depth in AC, from equation
3.2.2
53
54
Analytical results
Figure B.1.1 Synthesis of the skin effect impact on effective resistance in AC and DC, from table B.1.1
B.2 Skin and proximity coefficients 55
B.2 Skin and proximity coefficients according to stan-

dards
Cross-section
ys yp yp + ys
mm2
1.5 4.35E-07 3.61E-07 7.96E-07
2.5 1.21E-06 1.10E-06 2.31E-06
4 3.09E-06 3.07E-06 6.16E-06
6 6.96E-06 8.09E-06 1.51E-05
10 1.93E-05 2.30E-05 4.23E-05
16 4.95E-05 6.89E-05 1.18E-04
Table B.2.1 Skin and proximity coefficients for 2 conductors [26]
Cross-section
ys yp yp + ys
mm2
1.5 4.35E-07 4.14E-07 8.49E-07
2.5 1.21E-06 1.50E-06 2.70E-06
4 3.09E-06 3.87E-06 6.97E-06
6 6.96E-06 1.05E-05 1.74E-05
10 1.93E-05 3.57E-05 5.50E-05
16 4.95E-05 1.07E-04 1.57E-04
25 1.21E-04 2.69E-04 3.90E-04
35 2.37E-04 5.81E-04 8.18E-04
50 4.83E-04 1.20E-03 1.68E-03
70 9.46E-04 2.56E-03 3.50E-03
95 1.74E-03 4.73E-03 6.48E-03
120 2.78E-03 7.92E-03 1.07E-02
150 4.33E-03 1.23E-02 1.66E-02
185 6.58E-03 1.85E-02 2.51E-02
240 1.10E-02 3.10E-02 4.20E-02
300 1.72E-02 4.77E-02 6.48E-02
400 3.02E-02 8.25E-02 1.13E-01
Table B.2.2 Skin and proximity coefficients for 3 conductors with a trefoil shape [26]

56 Analytical results
Cross-section
ys yp yp + ys
mm2
1.5 4.35E-07 4.14E-07 8.49E-07
2.5 1.21E-06 1.50E-06 2.70E-06
4 3.09E-06 3.87E-06 6.97E-06
6 6.96E-06 1.05E-05 1.74E-05
10 1.93E-05 3.57E-05 5.50E-05
16 4.95E-05 1.07E-04 1.57E-04
25 1.21E-04 2.69E-04 3.90E-04
35 2.37E-04 5.81E-04 8.18E-04
50 4.83E-04 1.20E-03 1.68E-03
70 9.46E-04 2.56E-03 3.50E-03
95 1.74E-03 4.73E-03 6.48E-03
120 2.78E-03 7.92E-03 1.07E-02
150 4.33E-03 1.23E-02 1.66E-02
185 6.58E-03 1.85E-02 2.51E-02
240 1.10E-02 3.10E-02 4.20E-02
300 1.72E-02 4.77E-02 6.48E-02
400 3.02E-02 8.25E-02 1.13E-01
Table B.2.3 Skin and proximity coefficients for 3 conductors with a plane distribution [26]

Pierre Waeckerl
B.3 Voltage drop limitation calculation

B.3 Voltage drop limitation calculation
Voltage level
12V 24V 48V 120V 230V 326V
V
Cross-section
1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5
mm2
Maximum current
21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77
A
1m 0.256 0.345 0.511 0.690 1.023 1.381 2.557 3.4519 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
2m 0.131 0.218 0.511 0.690 1.023 1.381 2.557 3.452 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
5m 0.052 0.087 0.209 0.349 0.838 1.3807 2.557 3.451 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
10m 0.026 0.044 0.105 0.175 0.419 0.698 2.557 3.452 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
June 29, 2011
20m 0.013 0.022 0.052 0.087 0.209 0.349 1.309 2.181 4.808 6.616 6.946 9.378
50m 0.005 0.009 0.021 0.035 0.084 0.140 0.524 0.873 1.923 3.206 3.864 6.440
100m 0.003 0.004 0.011 0.018 0.042 0.070 0.262 0.436 0.962 1.603 1.932 3.220
Table B.3.1 Transmissible power with respect to ampacity and voltage drop conditions in function of the appliance distance
Master thesis
57
Appendix C
Monte Carlo complements

C.1 Stratified sampling theory
The basic Monte Carlo simulation uses simple sampling as explained in section 3.4.2. In
simple sampling, all samples have the same statistical weight [29]. But some samples
might be more important than others to improve the simulation accuracy.
For example, lets assume we want to simulate a simple system with one input and
one output. If a major amount of inputs gives the same output, it is interesting to pick
some input values outside that amount. One way to do so is stratified sampling [32].
To make use of the stratified sampling method, the inputs are divided in groups
called strata and denoted h . The optimal strata distribution is to be decided ac-
cording
hP to the simulation
i accuracy. The equation C.1.1 shows the output variance
h=1 h MXh with L the number of strata, h the strata weight and MXh the
L
Var
strata expectation value [32].
" L
# L
X X
Var h MXh = h2 Var [MXh ] (C.1.1)
h=1 h=1
In order to reduce the variance, the strata should all be homogeneous Var [MXh ].
This means that the output of all the elements of the strata is the same. Stratified
sampling might as well reduce the accuracy if the samples are not properly selected. The
strata can be chosen and defined with the help of a strata tree [32].
Once the strata are chosen, the sample allocation optimization is a question to be
solved. A possibility is to use the Neyman allocation nh to minimize the variance. The
formula, displayed in equation C.1.2.
h Xh
n h = n PL (C.1.2)
k=1 k Xk
and n is the total number of samples
p
where, Xk = Var [Xk ]
They are different problems with the Neyman allocation method. The expectation
value E[Xh ] and the standard deviation Xh might not be known for example. A sample
allocation method running simulation in successive batches exists and is therefore named
batch allocation method.
58
C.2 Batch allocation method 59
C.2 Batch allocation method

We consider a simulation where n samples were already per-
formed and nb samples will be collected during the next
batch. The figure C.2.1 illustrates the 6 steps in a batch
allocation Monte Carlo simulation:
Preliminary step: this step is used to get knowl-

edge on the outputs. Typically, a fixed number of
samples for each category is sampled.
Step 1. Compromise allocation: at this step, we only

use Neyman allocation from equation C.1.2 to cal-
culate the number nh of samples of strata h to be
collected in a P
simulation with a total of n + nb sam-
ples so that h=1 nh = n + nb . A compromise
L
must be done to account for multiple outputs. The

average of Neyman allocation is a good approxima-
tion. This first step cannot be used directly to gen-
erate new scenarios as some strata might already
have too many samples compared to that alloca-
tion. This is the purpose of steps 2 and 3.
Step 2. Comparison calculation: this second step lists

and sums up the wanted and unwanted samples by
comparing the number of samples with the com-
promise allocation. The number of samples for next
batch according to compromise allocation is refered
0
as nh,b . We can name H+ the set of strata in need
for more samples, n+ the number of wanted sam-
ples, H the set of strata in excess of samples and
n the number of unwanted samples. Figure C.2.1 Scheme of a
Monte Carlo simulation with
Step 3. Batch allocation: in that third step, the num- batch allocation
ber of samples for next batch in strata h, nh,b is
calculated according to equation C.2.1.
(
0 h H
nh,b =

0 (C.2.1)
1 nn+ nh,b h H+

60 Monte Carlo complements
C.3 Appliances equipment rate
Equipment rate by household type

Appliance
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
E1 - Vacuum-cleaner 83.33% 87.76% 92.75% 94.40% 84.44%
E2 - Refrigerator 96.41% 97.85% 97.34% 98.43% 97.67%
E3 - Freezer 32.99% 41.96% 63.43% 67.11% 65.60%
E4 - Dishwasher 22.18% 32.20% 52.17% 63.83% 39.47%
E5 - Microwave 63.44% 81.36% 76.21% 90.38% 83.30%
E6 - Washing machine 80.11% 93.83% 94.87% 97.32% 92.48%
E7 - Dryer 10.16% 26.12% 25.34% 49.72% 29.13%
E8 - TV 94.33% 94.00% 97.00% 97.66% 100.00%
E9 - Landline phone 82.10% 78.30% 93.50% 92.80% 88.90%
E10 - Cellphone 72.33% 95.00% 84.66% 97.00% 99.00%
E11 - Internet modem 13.02% 27.53% 19.36% 41.38% 23.10%
E12 - Desktop computer 37.66% 57.00% 47.66% 78.66% 79.00%
E13 - Laptop 23.33% 17.00% 26.66% 34.33% 40.00%
Table C.3.1 Appliance equipment rate by type of household, France, INSEE 2006 and [33]

Pierre Waeckerl
C.4 Appliances usage description

C.4 Appliances usage description
Utilisation description by household type

Appliance Frequency Period D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
min max min max min max min max min max
E1 - Vacuum-cleaner Weekly Duration 0.5 2 1 4 1 4 1 5 1 4
E2 - Refrigerator Daily Duration 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
E3 - Freezer Daily Duration 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
E4 - Dishwasher Weekly Cycle 2 5 1 5 1 5 4 7 2 4
E5 - Microwave Daily Duration 0.25 0.5 0.5 1.5 0.25 0.5 0.5 1.5 0.25 0.75
E6 - Washing machine Weekly Cycle 1 3 2 6 1 4 5 7 4 7
E7 - Dryer Weekly Cycle 1 3 2 6 1 4 5 7 4 7
June 29, 2011
E8 - TV Weekly Duration 3 40 7 41 10 32 0 30 0 25
E9 - Landline phone Daily Duration 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
E10 - Cellphone Daily Duration 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
E11 - Internet modem Weekly Duration 0 30 0 23 0 22 0 20 0 26
E12 - Desktop computer Weekly Duration 0 30 0 23 0 22 0 20 0 26
E13 - Laptop Weekly Duration 0 30 0 23 0 22 0 20 0 26
Table C.4.1 Usage description of each appliance by household type, INSEE 2006 [33]
Master thesis
61
62
C.5 Appliances consumption
PAC PDC
AC DC
Appliance Category On Standby On Standby
% kW or kWh
E1 - Vacuum-cleaner Pure AC 92 95 1.5 0 1.45 0
E2 - Refrigerator Pure AC 92 95 0.035 0 0.034 0
E3 - Freezer Pure AC 92 95 0.04 0 0.039 0
E4 - Dishwasher Pure AC 92 95 1 0 0.97 0
E5 - Microwave Pure DC 86 94 1 1 103 0.91 1 103
E6 - Washing machine Pure AC 92 95 1.5 0 1.45 0
E7 - Dryer Pure AC 92 95 2 0 1.94 0
E8 - TV Pure DC 86 94 0.15 0.5 103 0.137 0
E9 - Landline phone Pure DC 86 94 0 7 103 0 6.4 103
E10 - Cellphone Pure DC 86 94 0.01 0 0.009 0
E12 - Internet modem Pure DC 86 94 0.021 0.018 0.019 0.017
E13 - Desktop computer Pure DC 86 94 0.205 0.01 0.187 0
E14 - Laptop Pure DC 86 94 0.01 2 103 0.009 0
Table C.5.1 Power consumption of the set of appliances [2]
Monte Carlo complements

C.6 Matlab scripts 63
C.6 Matlab scripts
C.6.1 Main code program
1 %%%%%%%%%%
2 % EnEff_ACDC.m file for Monte Carlo simulation
3 %%%%%%%%%%
4 % This is the main file for the Monte Carlo simulation of AC
5 % and DC consumption for various dwellings type.
6 % Nexans Research Center 2011, Pierre Waeckerl
7 % pierre.waeckerleext@nexans.com
8 %
9 %
10 % This file loads the appropriate data
11 % from MonteCarlo_data.xlsx and run the corresponding macros
12 % in the following process:
13 % Choosing dwelling types
14 % For each dwelling, define the appliances
15 % For each appliance, define the utilisation
16 % For each appliance, calculate the yearly consumption
17 % For the whole data sample, reshape data to exhibit
18 % the interesting characteristics.
19 %
20 % This process intends to compare AC and DC consumption.
21 % This model is therefore limited to
22 % that and only that purpose.
23 %
24 % The Monte Carlo simulation uses stratified sampling with
25 % Neyman batch allocation and correlated sampling
26 % for the consumption comparison. The expected result is
27 % not an absolute value but a difference between the AC and DC
28 % dwellings.
29 %
30 %
31 % The following functions are used in the program
32 %(see their own documentation for more information):
33 % Create_Dwelling
34 % Dwelling_simul
35 % batch_alloc
36 % rule_stop
37
38 clear all
39
40 %%%%%%%%%%
41 % Data import
42 % From MonteCarlo_data.xlsx
43
44 % Import the dwelling categories :
45 % their statistical repartition.
46 % The Excel file details which number is
47 % associated with each dwelling constitution type.

48
49 % Not cumulated data, this corresponds to strata weight
50 Dwellings_repart = xlsread('MonteCarlo_data.xlsx',...
51 'Dwelling','J3:J7');
52
53 n_dwtype=size(Dwellings_repart,1);
54 % Number of types of dwellings
55
56 % The summary of the values in each strata to decide
57 % the batch allocation for the following loop.
58 Batch_state=zeros(n_dwtype,15);
59
60 Batch_state(:,1)=Dwellings_repart;
61
62 Results=[];% Detailed register of results for
63 % each individual dwelling
64
65 % Import dwellings equipment rates, appliance types (Ex)
66 % in rows, dwelling type in column.
67
68 Equipment_rate = xlsread('MonteCarlo_data.xlsx',...
69 'Equipment','D3:H15');
70
71 n_equip = size(Equipment_rate,1);
72
73 % Import the consumption patterns order as follow:
74 % Calculation code / AC standby power / AC consumption /
75 % DC standby power / DC consumption /
76 % Utilisation description (min/max for each 5 dwelling types)
77
78 Consumption_def = xlsread('MonteCarlo_data.xlsx','Usage',...
79 'D4:R16');
80
81 %%%%%%%%%%
82 % Create the starting batch of 100 dwellings
83 % (20 dwellings per strata)
84
85 N_start = 20; % Starting number of dwelling per strata
86 Batch_state(:,2)=N_start*ones(n_dwtype,1);
87
88 Results = Create_Dwelling(Results,Batch_state(:,2),n_dwtype);
89
90 % For each dwelling, define their equipment,
91 % define the equipment utilisation,
92 % calculate the consumption and store the results in 'Results'
93
94 for i=1:size(Results,1)
95 [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on, E_stby, E_on]=...
96 Dwelling_simul(Results(i,1), n_equip,...
97 Equipment_rate, Consumption_def);
98
99 Results(i,2:7)=[E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on,...
100 E_stby, E_on];
101

102 % Update the batch states

103 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8)=...
104 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8) + Results(i,2:7);
105 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14)=...
106 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14) +...
107 Results(i,2:7).^2;
108 end
109
110 line_stop = i; % last calculated line of the Results matrix
111
112
113 %%%%%%%%%%
114 % Batch allocation
115 % Up to the stopping rule in the rule_stop function
116
117 n_samp_batch = 100; % Samples per batch
118 n_samp_tot = 1000; % Lowest number of samples
119 tolerance = 0.01;
120
121 while rule_stop(Batch_state, n_samp_tot, tolerance) == 0
122 Batch_state(:,15) = ...
123 batch_alloc(Batch_state, n_samp_batch);
124 % Returns the optimal sample allocation for next batch
125
126 Results =...
127 Create_Dwelling(Results,Batch_state(:,15),n_dwtype);
128
129 for i=line_stop+1:size(Results,1)
130 [E_ac_stby,E_ac_on,E_dc_stby,E_dc_on,...
131 E_stby,E_on]=...
132 Dwelling_simul(Results(i,1), n_equip,...
133 Equipment_rate, Consumption_def);
134
135 Results(i,2:7)=...
136 [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on,...
137 E_stby, E_on];
138
139 % Update the batch states
140 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8) = ...
141 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8) + Results(i,2:7);
142 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14) = ...
143 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14) +...
144 Results(i,2:7).^2;
145 Batch_state(Results(i,1),2) = ...
146 Batch_state(Results(i,1),2) +1;
147 end
148
149 line_stop = size(Results,1);
150 end
151
152 %%%%%%%%%%
153 % Results exploitation
154 % Work with the Batch_state matrix, returns global and
155 % per strata results

156
157 Synthesis = zeros(6,14);
158 % Synthesis contains: Strata weight // Samples number //
159 % 6 x Mean (for each output) // 6 x Variance
160
161 Synthesis(1:5,1:2) = Batch_state(1:5,1:2);

162 Synthesis(6,1:2) = sum(Synthesis(1:5,1:2),1);
163
164 for i = 3:8
165 Synthesis(1:5,i) =...
166 Batch_state(:,i)./Batch_state(:,2);
167 % Estimated mean value
168 Synthesis(6,i) =...
169 sum(Synthesis(1:5,1).*Synthesis(1:5,i),1);
170 end
171
172 for i=9:14

173 Synthesis(1:5,i) =...
174 Batch_state(:,i)./Batch_state(:,2)...
175 Synthesis(1:5,i6).^2;
176 Synthesis(6,i) =...
177 sum((Synthesis(1:5,1).^2).*...
178 Synthesis(1:5,i) ,1);
179 end
180
181 xlswrite('Synthesis.xlsx',Synthesis,'B2:O7');
C.6.2 Household creation

Create the appropriate types of household in the results list, before the simulation of each
household.
1 %% Create_dwelling.m
2 % Add dwellings to the result matrix,
3 % Add_description is a column vector of
4 % 5 elements containing the number of dwellings
5 % to create per type
6
7 function Results =...
8 Create_Dwelling(Results, Add_description, n_dwtype)
9
10 k=size(Results,1)+1;
11
12 if k == 1
13 Results = zeros(1,7);%If Results is an empty vector,
14 % build the 5 columns
15 end
16
17 for i=1:n_dwtype
18 for j=1:Add_description(i)
19 Results(k,1)=i;

20 k=k+1;
21 end
22 end
C.6.3 Household simulation

For each household, create the set of appliances, randomize the corresponding usage de-
scriptions and return the consumptions
1 %% Dwelling_simul.m
2 % Simulate the yearly consumption for a given dwelling type.
3 % [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on, E_stby, E_on
4 % ]=Dwelling_simul(Dw_type, n_equip, Equipment_rate,
5 % Consumption_def)
6 %
7 % Based on simple Monte Carlo process
8 % Uses the following subfunctions:
9 % rand_equip
10 % rand_conso
11 %
12 % Returns the following:
13 % E_ac_stby: Yearly consumption of appliances
14 % in standby AC mode
15 % E_ac_on: Yearly consumption of appliances
16 % in working AC mode
17 % E_dc_stby: Yearly consumption of appliances
18 % in standby DC mode
19 % E_dc_on: Yearly consumption of appliances
20 % in working DC mode
21 % E_stby: Yearly consumption difference between
22 % AC and DC working consumption
23 % E_on: Yearly consumption difference between
24 % AC and DC working consumption
25
26
27 function [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on,...
28 E_stby, E_on ]=Dwelling_simul(Dw_type, n_equip,..
29 Equipment_rate, Consumption_def)
30
31 Equipments=zeros(n_equip,7);
32 Equipments(:,1)=Consumption_def(:,1);
33
34 for i=1:n_equip
35 Equipments(i,2)=rand_equip(Equipment_rate(i,Dw_type));
36
37 if Equipments(i,2) == 1
38 Equipments(i,3)=rand_conso(i, Dw_type,...
39 Consumption_def);
40 [Equipments(i,4), Equipments(i,5),...
41 Equipments(i,6), Equipments(i,7)] =...
42 calc_conso(Equipments(i,1), Equipments(i,3),...

43 i, Consumption_def) ;
44
45 end
46 end
47
48 E_ac_stby = sum(Equipments(:,4));
49 E_ac_on = sum(Equipments(:,5));
50 E_dc_stby = sum(Equipments(:,6));
51 E_dc_on = sum(Equipments(:,7));
52
53 E_stby = E_dc_stby E_ac_stby;
54 E_on = E_dc_on E_ac_on;
55
56 end
C.6.4 Set of equipments
1 %% rand_equip.m
2 % Simplified inverse transform method
3 % for duogenous populations
4 % (to be later optimized with Dagger sampling)
5 % Take the equipment rate in arguments
6 % Randomize and convert a U(0,1)distributed number
7 % into the existence or not of the given equipment
8
9 function YoN_equip = rand_equip(Equip_rate);
10
11 U=rand(1);
12
13 if U < Equip_rate
14 YoN_equip = 1;
15 else
16 YoN_equip = 0;
17 end
C.6.5 Consumption patterns
1 %% rand_conso.m
2 % Returns the consumption description (time or cycle)
3 %
4 % Considering that the utilisation is described
5 % by a uniform distribution
6 % between a minimal and maximal value
7 % contained in Consumption_def
8
9
10 function conso_descript = rand_conso(ref_app, Dw_type,...
11 Consumption_def)

12
13 U = rand(1);
14 t_min = Consumption_def(ref_app,4+2*Dw_type);
15 % Look for the minimum usage value
16 % of the appliance ref_app for the
17 % dwelling category Dw_type
18
19 t_max = Consumption_def(ref_app,5+2*Dw_type);
20 % Look for the maximum usage value
21 % of the appliance ref_app for the
22 % dwelling category Dw_type
23
24 conso_descript = U*(t_max t_min) + t_min;
25
26 end
C.6.6 Consumption calculation

Sub-program to calculate the consumption of an appliance referred to by his usage type
given the usage description.
1 %% calc_conso.m
2 %
3 % Yearly consumption calculation
4 % Returns On and Standby consumption, in AC and DC mode
5 % for a given type of usage description
6 % coded 11, 12 and 20 see xlsx file
7 %
8 % Nexans 2011 Pierre Waeckerl
9 %
10
11 function [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on] =...
12 calc_conso(conso_code, conso_descript,...
13 ref_app, Consumption_def)
14
15 if conso_code == 11
16
17 % Weekly Duration description
18 E_ac_stby = 52*(7*24conso_descript)*...
19 Consumption_def(ref_app, 2);
20 E_ac_on = 52*conso_descript*...
22
23 E_dc_stby = 52*(7*24conso_descript)*...
25 E_dc_on = 52*conso_descript*...
27
28
29 elseif conso_code == 12
30

31 % Daily Duration description

32 E_ac_stby = 365*(24 conso_descript) *...
34 E_ac_on = 365*conso_descript*Consumption_def(ref_app, 3);
35
36 E_dc_stby = 365*(24conso_descript)*...
38 E_dc_on = 365*conso_descript*Consumption_def(ref_app, 5);
39
40 elseif conso_code == 20
41
42 % Weekly Cycle description

43 E_ac_stby = 52*7*24*Consumption_def(ref_app, 2);
44 E_ac_on = 52*Consumption_def(ref_app, 3);
45
46 E_dc_stby = 52*7*24*Consumption_def(ref_app, 4);
47 E_dc_on = 52*Consumption_def(ref_app, 5);
48
49
50 end
C.6.7 Calculation stopping rule

Stopping rule on the differences.
1 %% rule_stop.m
2 % Returns 1 when the simulation can be stopped, 0 else
3
4 function Stop = rule_stop(Batch_state, n_samp_tot, tolerance)
5
6 Stop = 1;
7 if sum(Batch_state(:,2),1) < n_samp_tot
8 Stop = 0;
9 return
10 end
11
12 temp = zeros(5,2);
13
14 for i = 1:2
15 for j = 1:5
16 temp(j,i)=...
17 abs(sqrt(Batch_state(j,i+12)/Batch_state(j,2)...
18 (Batch_state(j,i+6)/Batch_state(j,2))^2)/...
19 (Batch_state(j,i+6)*sqrt(Batch_state(j,2))));
20 end
21 end
22
23 for i = 1:2
24 for j=1:5
25 if temp(j,i) > tolerance
26 Stop = 0;
27 return

28 end
29 end
30 end
31
32
33
34 end
C.6.8 Batch allocation
1 %% batch_alloc.m
2 % Calculated the best sample allocation for the next batch
3 % Based on difference values
4
5 function Next_Batch = batch_alloc(Batch_state, n_samp_batch)
6
7 %%%%%%%%%%
8 %%% Data Preparation
9 %%%%%%%%%%
10
11 % Calculate the estimated mean value (C34)
12 % and standard deviation (C56)
13 % in temp_batch for each of the 2 outputs (E_stby and E_on)
14 % Include also the strata weight (C1)
15 % and the number of samples already
16 % calculated for the strata (C2)
17 % This temporary matrix is the calculation memory database.
18 % It will also store:
19 % Neyman batch allocation for output 1 (C7)
20 % Neyman batch allocation for output 2 (C8)
21 % Mean of Neyman allocation for the set of 2 outputs (C9)
22 % Preliminary batch (C10)
23
24 temp_batch = zeros(5,10);
25
26 temp_batch(:,1) = Batch_state(:,1);
27 temp_batch(:,2) = Batch_state(:,2);
28
29 for i=3:4
30 temp_batch(:,i) = Batch_state(:,i+4)./Batch_state(:,2);
31 % Estimated mean value
32 end
33
34 for i=5:6
35 temp_batch(:,i) =...
36 sqrt(Batch_state(:,i+8)./Batch_state(:,2) ...
37 temp_batch(:,i2).^2);
38 end
39
40 %%%%%%%%%%
41 %%% Step 1: Compromise allocation Neyman

42 %%%%%%%%%%
43
44 n = sum(temp_batch(:,2),1) + n_samp_batch;
45 % Total number of samples after that batch
46
47 part_calc = zeros(2,1);
48
49 for i=1:2
50 part_calc(i) = sum(temp_batch(:,1).*...
51 temp_batch(:,i+4));
52 temp_batch(:,i+6) = n.*temp_batch(:,1).*...
53 temp_batch(:,i+4)/part_calc(i);
54 end
55
56 temp_batch(:,9) = mean(temp_batch(:,7:8),2);
57
58 %%%%%%%%%%
59 %%% Step 2: Preliminary batch
60 %%%%%%%%%%
61
62 temp_batch(:,10) = temp_batch(:,9) temp_batch(:,2);
63
64 %%%%%%%%%%
65 %%% Step 36: Strata differentiation
66 %%%%%%%%%%
67
68 H_plus= temp_batch(:,10)>0;
69 % Indices of strata needing more samples
70 H_minus=temp_batch(:,10)<=0;
71 % Indices of strata needing less samples
72 n_plus=sum(temp_batch(H_plus,10));
73 n_minus=sum(temp_batch(H_minus,10));
74
75 %%%%%%%%%%
76 %%%% Step 7: Batch allocation
77 %%%%%%%%%%
78
79 Next_Batch = zeros(size(Batch_state,1),1);
80 Next_Batch(H_plus)=floor((1n_minus/n_plus)*...
81 temp_batch(H_plus,10));

Glossary
AC Alternating Current. iii, 1, 2, 14, 17, 21, 22, 28, 41
ampacity is the maximum amount of current a conductor can carry before sustaining
immediate or progressive deterioration, also called current rating. 25, 30, 32, 33, 35, 57
DC Direct Current. ii, iii, 2, 16, 17, 22, 28, 41

distribution power grid concerns the LV/MV portion of the grid, which is the final
stage of power delivery to end users. 22, 30, 33, 49
distribution configuration 30
distribution layout 22, 36
distribution network 1, 18
distribution system 21, 24
ELV Extremely Low Voltage. 36
HFFR Halogen Free Fire Resistant. 18

household power grid refers to the low voltage power grid of final users such as house-
holds and offices. 30
household configuration 30
HV High Voltage. 2
HVDC High Voltage Direct Current. 1, 3, 5
ICT Information and Communications Technology. 14, 15, 47

IEC International Electro-technical Commission. 8
IGBT Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor. 5
INSEE Institut National de la Statistique et des tudes conomiques, french national
statistics office. 10, 11, 14, 15, 41, 42, 44, 60, 61
LV Low Voltage. 1, 18, 22, 26

LVAC Low Voltage Alternative Current. ii, iii, 1, 20, 22
LVDC Low Voltage Direct Current. ii, iii, 1, 2, 20, 22, 30, 47
Monte Carlo is a simulation method calculating the result of repeated random sampling.
Monte Carlo methods are employed when deterministic calculation is not possible. 22,
40, 41, 58, 59
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 16
PV Photo-voltaic. 15, 16, 18

PVC Polyvinyl chloride. 18
SMPS Switched-Mode Power Supply. 8, 43, 44
XLPE reticulated polyethylene. 18
73
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Current in local distribution network to

Master thesis report

KTH supervisor: KTH examiner:

Master student: Nexans supervisor:

June 29, 2011

I also carried that project in connection with my supervisor Lars Abrahamsson

List of figures viii

1 Literature review on LV systems 2

2 Cable ageing in LVDC 18

A Ageing phenomena complements 51

Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm

C Monte Carlo complements 58

Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis

2.1.1 Breakdown and degradation phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.2.1 Geometry parameters of the cable section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

A.1.1Parameters of a building cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

B.1.1Skin effect impact on resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

C.2.1Scheme of a Monte Carlo simulation with batch allocation . . . . . . . . 59

3.4.1 Household types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

A.2.1Values of electric field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

C.3.1Appliance equipment rate by type of household . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Literature review on Low Voltage distri-

1.1 Conversion technologies

1.1.1.2 Un-commanded rectification

Figure 1.1.1 Three different schemes of rectifiers

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Figure 1.1.2 Graph of the voltage rectification from three-phase system

1.1.1.3 Commanded rectification

Thyristors and transistors gives two different commanded conversion technologies:

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Figure 1.1.3 Power Wave Modulation example

1.1.3.2 Linear converter

1.1.3.3 Switched-mode converters

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components (capacitors) and to release it at another voltage. The efficiency of such

Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis

1.1.5 Switched-mode power supply

Galvanic insulation is necessary to ensure a good users safety. The International

(a) Class 1 (b) Class 2 (c) Class 3

Figure 1.1.5 Appliances safety classes

Controlled voltage is another constraint for sensitive loads such as electronics.

Power quality is essential for sensitive loads. Harmonics are to be avoided as

Weight and bulk must be as low as possible.

Energy efficiency should be maximized to save on thermal dissipation elements

As described in [5, 13], the following progression of conversion can be observed, as

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2. High-frequency inverter: the rectified power is inverted to AC power at high

3. Transformer: the high frequency AC current is levelled to the desired output

Figure 1.1.6 Switched-mode power supply principle

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1.2 Typical household and office appliances and their

Magnetron creates microwaves with the ability to warm up food in micro-waves

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Apparatus Equipment rate (%) Operation principle

1.3 Users and apparatus protection in AC and DC

1.3.2 Electrical fault, as seen from the grid

Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis

1.3.3 Protection mechanisms for users and components in AC

Magnetic tripping consists in a conducting solenoid winded up around an actu-

Thermal tripping consists in a conducting bi-metal plate. Due to the different

Residual-current device or differential circuit breaker consists in a magnetic