Impact of Lightning Impulse on the Performance of Microgrid and Low-voltage AC Distribution Network

A photovoltaic (PV) generator integrated low voltage (LV) distribution system may be affected by lightning strikes due to thunderstorms. In this paper, a PV generatorintegrated LV distribution network is considered to analyse the effect of lightning causing the generation of a travelling wave. The lightning impulse is modelled and simulated at various locations of the proposed model. The voltage and current profiles due to the injection of lightning impulse have been analysed. The variations in frequency causing changes in impedance are also observed in the proposed model simulated using MATLAB-Simulink software. In addition, it is observed that the nominal voltage and current waveforms at different buses are affected by the lightning impulse voltage, and the impact of lightning voltage gradually decreases as the distance of the line from the point of lightning increases. This kind of simulation work of lightning impulse and its effect on power systems will be beneficial for the power system engineers/researchers at the level of research and development of protection systems of AC distribution networks/microgrids. The proposed methodology is reproducible for the analysis of lightning effects on grid-connected LV microgrid systems for any other models, irrespective of the nature of resources and their geographical locations.