A convex approximation for optimal DER scheduling on unbalanced power distribution networks

The increase of solar photovoltaic penetration poses several challenges for distribution network operation, mainly because such high penetration might cause reliability problems like protection malfunctioning, accelerated decay of voltage regulators and voltage violations. Existing solutions based on mathematical programming solve a 3-phase ACOPF to optimally exploit the available energy, however, this might increase all reliability problems above if done carelessly. As a solution to optimally exploit DERs (like local photovoltaic and storage systems) without compromising the network reliability, this paper presents a novel algorithm to solve the 3-phase ACOPF as a sequence of convex Quadratically Constrained Quadratic Programs. Results show that this solution has a lower voltage unbalance and computation time than its non-linear counterpart, furthermore, it converges to a primal feasible point for the non-linear formulation without major sacrifices on optimal DER active power injections.