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Optimal Relay Location In A Microgrid Using Optimization Techniques, Benjamin J. Reimer

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This thesis paper proposes an optimal relay placement approach for microgrids. The algorithm separately calculates the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) of a microgrid in both grid-connected and islanded microgrid modes. The objective is to find the optimal relay locations such that the microgrid overall SAIFI is minimized. The power electronics interfaces associated with distributed energy resources may be classified as grid following or grid forming. As opposed to grid-following distributed energy resources (DERs) such as typical solar inverters, grid-forming inverters can control the microgrid voltage and frequency at the point of their interconnection. Therefore, these DERs can facilitate …