For nearly 20 years, the Test Feeder Working Group of the Distribution System Analysis Subcommittee has been developing openly available distribution test feeders for use by researchers. The purpose of these test feeders is to provide models of distribution systems that reflect the wide diversity in design and their various analytic challenges. Because of their utility and accessibility, the test feeders have been used for a wide range of research, some of which has been outside the original scope of intended uses. This paper provides an overview of the existing distribution feeder models and clarifies the specific analytic challenges that they were originally designed to examine. Additionally, this paper will provide guidance on which feeders are best suited for various types of analysis. The purpose of this paper is to provide the original intent of the Working Group and to provide the information necessary so that researchers may make an informed decision on which of the test feeders are most appropriate for their work.

With the transition toward a smart grid, the power system has become strongly intertwined with the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. The interdependency of both domains requires a combined analysis of physical and ICT processes, but simulating these together is a major challenge due to the fundamentally different modeling and simulation concepts. After outlining these challenges, such as time synchronization and event handling, this paper presents an overview of state-of-the-art solutions to interface power system and ICT simulators. Due to their prominence in recent research, a special focus is set on co-simulation approaches and their challenges and potentials. Further, two case studies analyzing the impact of ICT on applications in power system operation illustrate the necessity of a holistic approach and show the capabilities of state-of-the-art co-simulation platforms.

This paper proposes a Multi-task Logistic Low-Ranked Dirty Model (MT-LLRDM) for fault detection in power distribution networks by using the distribution Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) data. The MT-LLRDM improves the fault detection accuracy by utilizing the similarities in the fault data streams among multiple locations across a power distribution network. The captured similarities supplement the information to the task of fault detection at a location of interest, creating a multi-task learning framework and thereby improving the learning accuracy. The algorithm is validated with real-time PMU streams from a hardware-in-the-loop testbed that emulates real field communication and monitoring conditions in distribution networks. The results showed that the MT-LLRDM outperforms other state-of-the-art classification methods using actual synchrophasor data achieved from a power hardware-in-the-loop testbed.

Open source solutions will enable the acceptance and usage of open standards for smart grid applications. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the possible usage of a distributed automation system for controlling electrical power systems with Distributed Energy Resources (DER). The control approach is based on the IEC 61499 reference model for distributed control system and its open source solution 4DIAC whereas the power system is simulated with the open source software PSAT. In addition, a freely available stack implementation of the IEC 61850 standard for substation automation is used for monitoring the process variables. As an example the coordinated voltage control of an Under-Load Tap Changer (ULTC) is implemented as IEC 61499 control application in the 4DIAC framework and the ULTC model together with a model of the distribution network are simulated in the GNU Octave/PSAT environment.

With the advent of Distribution Phasor Measurement Units (D-PMUs) and Micro-Synchrophasors (Micro-PMUs), the situational awareness in power distribution systems is going to the next level using time-synchronization. However, designing, analyzing, and testing of such accurate measurement devices are still challenging. Due to the lack of available knowledge and sufficient history for synchrophasors’ applications at the power distribution level, the realistic simulation, and validation environments are essential for D-PMU development and deployment. This paper presents a vendor agnostic PMU real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-Loop (PMU-RTS-HIL) testbed, which helps in multiple PMUs validation and studies. The network of real and virtual PMUs was built in a full time-synchronized environment for PMU applications’ validation. The proposed testbed also includes an emulated communication network (CNS) layer to replicate bandwidth, packet loss and collisions conditions inherent to the PMUs data streams’ issues. Experimental results demonstrate the flexibility and scalability of the developed PMU-RTS-HIL testbed by producing large amounts of measurements under typical normal and abnormal distribution grid operation conditions.