An Active Power Sink to Emulate Residential Loads in Secondary Distribution System

A home contains a variety of active/passive and linear/non-linear loads. The measured data from several rural and semi-urban homes show that a contemporary home draws a wide range of harmonics from the secondary distribution grid. These harmonics are significant in magnitude. To study its impact on the existing secondary distribution system, a home is emulated using power electronics module, which is capable of drawing a wide range of harmonics. This module is connected to a distribution system test bed to study its impact in the laboratory. A hysteretic current controlled current fed rectifier is adopted as a power electronics module. Modelling and analysis of this module, in the presence of harmonics, are investigated and various operating constraints are also discussed. Its extensive ability is verified experimentally on a 110 V, 200 VA prototype.