Design of a master power factor controller for an industrial plant with solar photovoltaic system and electric vehicle chargers

• Main Author: Affiq A Ghani
• Format: text::Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Design of a master power factor controller for an industrial plant with solar photovoltaic system and electric vehicle chargers

The world is experiencing climate change due to the massive greenhouse gasses (GHG) emission from fossil-fuel based power generation activities and the transportation sector. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports, industrial facilities and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) are the top factors causing the increase in the intensity of GHG in the atmosphere. Fortunately, renewable energy sources (RES) and electric vehicle (EV) technologies are lowering the emission rate of GHG. This research focused on a Malaysian medium voltage on-grid industrial system integrated with a solar photovoltaic (PV) system and an EV charging system. An industrial system is typically an inductive power load with a lagging power factor of below 0.85 lagging. The Malaysian Distribution Code has regulated that the power factor of the industrial system must be above 0.85 lagging to maintain system efficiency and avoid penalty. The industrial system’s long-term low power factor will reduce the lifespan of related electrical power equipment. Usually, the industrial load’s power factor is rectified by installing a capacitor bank with a control system since it is more reliable and cost-effective than the other reactive power compensators. The connection of the solar PV system functioning at unity power factor and the EV charging system will further decrease and alter the industry’s power factor. Traditional reactive power management schemes such as synchronous condenser, VAr compensator (SVC), and static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) have complex circuitry and are not cost-effective. Therefore, this study proposed a simple and reliable design of a master power factor controller to regulate the industry’s power factor using a single pre-set reference throughout its operation. An industry-grade system consisting of an industrial load with a power factor-controlled capacitor bank, a power factor-controlled solar PV system, a current-controlled EV fast-charging system based on CHAdeMO 1.1 standard charging protocol, and a proposed master power factor controller were designed using the Matrix Laboratory/Simulink software. Besides, the mathematical formulas for sizing the DC-link capacitor and LC filter of the designed solar PV system and EV system are included in this thesis. The DC-link capacitor and LC filter were utilised to provide reactive power support and smoothen the AC signal output of the DC/AC converter, respectively. Furthermore, the design details and the simulation results are provided to validate the robustness of each designed power equipment. The simulation results verified that every designed equipment performed well, and the proposed master power factor controller successfully regulated the power factor of the designed industrial system, i.e. higher than 0.85 lagging throughout its operation and even under critical cases.