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.. But they are of specic type. For PV farms, cables are designed
to sustain severe outdoor constraints especially UV ageing. In telecommunications, the
extra low voltage in use, 48V, cannot be compared with the 230V of distribution grids.
The scope of the study are the LV cables used in distribution networks and buildings
with voltages up to 1kV. Three types of insulations are of interest: Polyvinyl chloride
(PVC), Halogen Free Fire Resistant (HFFR) or reticulated polyethylene (XLPE).
2.1 Description of ageing phenomena
Electrical ageing phenomena are the results of physical and chemical processes accelerated
or driven by an electric eld [21]. The theory for calculating electric eld in a cable is
detailled in A.1.
The phenomena leading to partial or complete deterioration of an insulation can
be ranked either in degradation or breakdown phenomena. The dierence is the time
to breakdown: up to around 1000 hours for breakdown mechanisms while degradation
occurs above 1000 hours. A schematic view of the dierent phenomena on a Voltage-time
referential is given in 2.1.1, they are [21]:
Breakdown
Thermal breakdown when the heat produced by resistive heating in the
cable is not balanced by heat losses, the temperature of every components
increases up to thermal breakdown,
Electrical breakdown avalanche breakdown when small currents are multi-
plied by an increase in the number of charge carriers at very high elds.
Electromechanical breakdown is due to electrostatic attraction compressing
the insulation and thus decreasing its width. The width variation is related to
the Young modulus of insulation polymers,
Partial discharge happens in the gaseous content of micro-voids
1
, above a
certain voltage. The electrical discharges erode the internal surfaces and help
electrical trees to grow,
1
small inclusions of gas in the insulation during the manufacturing process
18
2.1 Description of ageing phenomena 19
Degradation
Electrical tree is the result of partial discharges. This is the resulting
degradation phenomenon provoked by the partial discharges breakdown phe-
nomenon,
Water tree occurs when the insulation is in contact with an aqueous elec-
trolyte. Some chemicals reactions happen under the electrical eld that grad-
ually lead to the insulation breakdown.
Figure 2.1.1 is a general overview of the possible phenomena either in AC or DC.
Figure 2.1.1 Breakdown and degradation phenomena sorted by electric eld and time to breakdown
[21]
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
20 Cable ageing in LVDC
2.2 Basic calculations of some ageing phenomena
From the theory shown in section 2.1 and appendix A.1, a basic calculation of ageing
phenomena is performed. The rst step is to assess the electric eld magnitude. According
to equation A.1.2, the calculation results are shown in table A.2.1 for dierent voltages
and typical building cables.
Those results shows that the insulation thickness is around 1mm. We can dene an
equivalent thickness s
eq
calculated in 2.2.1, which represents the thickness of a plate of
insulating material reproducing the same electric eld constraint.
s
eq
= R
2
ln
_
R
2
R
1
_
(2.2.1)
If s is the real insulation thickness, we have R
2
= R
1
+ s and s 1 mm. Thus the
radius ratio can be rewritten in equation 2.2.2.
R
2
R
1
= 1 +
s
R
1
(2.2.2)
As s R
1
(see table A.2.1) in our case study, we can simplify s
eq
using Taylor series
in equation 2.2.3.
s
eq
= R
2
ln
_
R
2
R
1
_
= R
2
ln
_
1 +
s
R
1
_
sR
1
(R
1
+ s)
s
R
1
sR
1
s +
s
2
R
1
sR
1
s (2.2.3)
We can assume that s
eq
1mm, which allows to assume that the electric eld in the
insulation is proportional to the voltage with unit V/mm.
From the point of view of breakdown phenomena, we are in the range 0 to 1 kV/mm
or 0 to 1 10
6
V/m. Comparing this value with the inventory of breakdown and
degradation phenomena from gure 2.1.1, there might only be thermal breakdown and
water treeing leading to breakdown.
2.3 Conclusion of the chapter
The aim of that part was to get an insight on potential reduction of cable lifetime under
LVDC conditions compared to LVAC.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
2.3 Conclusion of the chapter 21
The calculations showed that risks of breakdown or degradation are very low. Ther-
mal breakdown and water treeing degradation were identied as the two possible causes
for breakdown. The rst phenomenon thermal breakdown can be limited or avoided
through a good thermal design of the cable or suciently high safety coecients to ac-
count for possible hazardous electrical installations. There is nothing dierent compared
to AC cables. The second phenomenon water treeing may occur in presence of an
aqueous liquid in contact with the cable insulation. This might be easily avoided with
appropriate electrical installations.
That calculation was only a simplied approach of the complex problem of breakdown.
As any simplication, it means some phenomena may not be considered in the study.
Still, from the point of view of normal operation, existing low voltage building cables for
AC distribution systems are suitable for future DC ones. The primary function of hte
insulation is more likely to be a protection against chemical threats.
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
Chapter 3
Technical comparison of AC and DC sys-
tems
The review of LV networks lead to a mixed conclusion about the potential of LVDC to
eciently replace LVAC. Chapter 3 aims to run a technical comparison between LVAC
and LVDC.
The dierent components of a distribution power grids can be ranked under the 4
following categories:
Cables they were studied in terms of ageing in chapter 2 and they will be studied in
terms of eciency in section 3.2,
Conversion power conversion is present at every stage of the transport and distribu-
tion and especially when considering DC in the actual all-AC distribution power
grid. The conversion will be estimated from articles to perform a consumption
comparison,
Protection this is specic to low-voltage grids with appropriate protection systems.
Section 1.3.3 showed that appropriate components exists but are not yet on the shelf.
The protection components will not be considered in the technical comparison,
Appliances the appliances are the reason of the distribution power grid. The rise of
pure DC technologies is also a reason for the questions around LVDC. The power
consumption of appliances will be compared in AC and DC systems.
Chapter 3 starts with a literature review of the advantages of AC versus DC grids
in section 3.1. Section 3.2 continues with a comparison of the cable losses, to assess if
there is a loss reduction when switching from AC to DC. Section 3.3 considers dierent
distribution layout and assess their eciency in terms of transmissible power. Finally, a
consumption comparison is carried out in section 3.4.4 using a Monte Carlo simulation
at a multi-household scale.
3.1 General comparison of AC and DC advantages
From [22, 23] a general overview of AC and DC systems pros and cons can be drawn.
Those advantages extracted from the literature will be quantied in the other sections of
chapter 3.
3.1.1 AC advantages over DC
Stepping voltage up and down through transformers is easy, ecient and reliable. His-
torically, this is a determining advantage in favour of AC systems [3].
22
3.1 AC versus DC in literature 23
Safety of users and components is ensured by fuses or circuit-breakers fuses are now
forbidden for private installations. Those components were described in section
1.3.3. The safety is a big advantage for AC, mostly thanks to a century of research,
developments and installations.
Voltage control of the overall system. While reactive power is an issue as it reduces the
power-carrying capacity of a given cable, it presents the huge advantage to allow for
a separate control of voltage without modifying the active power as in DC systems.
Knowledge and experience are obvious advantages for AC systems. With over a
century of operation, an extended knowledge of system sizing, construction and
operation has been built.
3.1.2 DC advantages over AC
Distributed generation is often producing DC power or using DC power in its conver-
sion steps. Using a direct current grid would reduce the necessary conversion steps
saving an inverter in the case of generation units but not the entire power con-
version. According to [22], we can assume that removing a conversion step represent
an 2.5% increase in eciency.
Storage and Uninterrupted Power Supply are provided thanks to batteries relying
on DC power. Using a DC grid would reduce the conversion steps but not completely
remove the power conversion unit.
Electronics represent an increasing load both in households and oces as explained in
section 1.2.
Variable speed drives are similar to wind turbine with a reversed power conversion
process. Using DC grid would save conversion steps but not entirely remove the
power conversion unit.
Voltage control is also an issue in DC systems, especially when combined with AC ones.
DC systems oers more choice and thus increase the need for further calculations.
On the other hand, a combination of AC and DC might - if correctly piloted -
increase the voltage stability thanks to the capacity of AC-DC converter to either
consume or produce reactive power at interfaces [9, 22, 24].
Power quality could also be improved through DC grids. Even though AC-DC con-
version is a major source of power harmonics, using centralized AC-DC conversion
station would allow a better control over the ltering practice, thus limiting the
undesired harmonics in the systems.
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
24 AC and DC comparison
3.2 Power cables eciency under Low Voltage Direct
Current conditions
Cables are an obvious part of the power distribution system. Inserted in-between each
conversion step, cables can consume a signicant amount of energy in losses. A frequent
assertion is that using DC may save cable losses. For a cable manufacturer as Nexans,
reduced losses means that the same copper cross-section area could carry more power in
DC than AC and lead to less copper sales which in turns means less benets.
3.2.1 Methodology
When talking about cable eciency, we want to compare the amount of losses. For a
cable, the losses are closely related to the impedance.
The assessment of the cable eciency is presented in two steps:
1. Theory for the calculation of energy losses in cables,
2. Analytical calculations for simplied models to have order of magnitudes,
3.2.2 Energy losses in cables
Three types of phenomena can lead to power losses:
Magnetic losses are related to hysteresis cycles of materials. In short, hystere-
sis is the property of a material to follow a dierent magnetic path whether it is
loaded or unloaded. The area resulting of the cycle dierence are the magnetic
losses. But, a) in AC systems the materials used in cables all can be considered
non-magnetic. This means that magnetic elds have a low eect on the mate-
rial properties b) in DC systems there is no oscillating phenomena and thus no
hysteresis cycle. Therefore, we neglect the magnetic losses in the cable eciency
comparison.
Resistive losses is the phenomena of heating of a conductor when driven by a
current. This is described by the Joules rst law in equation 3.2.1, where P
joule
is
the dissipated power in W, R the resistivity in and I the current in A.
P
joule
= R |I|
2
(3.2.1)
The resistance R of a given cable depends of the a) conducting material resistivity
, b) environment characteristics, c) electromagnetical phenomena modifying the
current density repartition. From the perspective of a comparison between AC
and DC, we consider the same conductor (copper) in the same environment. The
dierence between AC and DC may arise from the uctuating behaviour of AC
magnetic elds.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3.2 Cables under LVDC conditions 25
The electromagnetic inuences arise from the changing magnetic eld in an AC
layout. By denition, when a conductor is in varying magnetic eld, electromo-
tive forces are generated. Therefore, due to that potential dierence applied on a
resistive material, a current named Eddy, Induced or Foucault appears.
According to Lenz law, An induced current is always in such a direction as to oppose
the motion or change causing it. Those induced currents move the charge carriers
electrons in cable conductors and increases the eective resistivity as the conductor
cross area is not uniformly used. Two eects issuing from that phenomena are:
Skin eect is caused by the time varying magnetic eld of the conductor. It
is thus an auto-induction phenomena. It is characterized by the skin depth
dened for good conductors in equation 3.2.2, where is the conductor
resistivity, the current angular frequency ( = 2 f) and =
0
r
the
absolute magnetic permeability of the conductor.
=
_
2
(3.2.2)
Proximity eect is caused by the time varying magnetic eld of external
close conductors. This eect typically appears in cable bundles. Proximity
and skin eect combine itself in cables which gives complex current density
proles.
To assess those two eects standards dene the AC eective resistance R
AC
as the
DC resistance R
DC
increased of y
s
by the skin eect and y
p
by proximity eect.
Dielectric losses are losses related to the dielectric nature of the cable (insulation
and conductor). Standards [25] states that the dielectric losses can be neglected at
low voltage.
Due to those dierent losses, the cable resistivity will be modied. The cable will have
to dissipate the heat generated by Joule heating in the conductor. That heat transfer,
precisely dened in [25], will lead to an increase of the temperature of each component of
the cable. When one of the components reaches its limit temperature, the current carried
by the cable is named the ampacity.
3.2.3 Analytical calculations
The analytical calculations are a rst step in the assessment of an order of magnitude of
the phenomena. Due to the complex nature of cables and electromagnetic interactions,
the analytical approach uses simplied models. The following calculations will be per-
formed: a) simple calculation of the skin eect for a single cable, b) simplied calculation
according to standards [25].
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
26 AC and DC comparison
3.2.3.1 Simple calculation of the skin eect for a single cable
For this simplied calculation, we consider a single cable fed with 50Hz-AC power. The
skin depth is given in equation 3.2.2. The geometric layout of a simple cross-section is
shown in gure 3.2.1.
d
(3.2.4)
From gure 3.2.1, the three following cases can be distinguished:
d < 2 ,the skin eect is out of concern as the penetration depth exceeds the diam-
eter,
d = 2 , the skin eect still does not impact the AC eective resistance but this is
the key point,
d > 2 , the skin eect increases the eective resistance.
The eective conducting section S
AC
is given in equation 3.2.5.
S
AC
=
_
(d ) if d > 2
d
2
4
if d 2
(3.2.5)
The skin eect is eective at f = 50Hz if and only if S
AC
< S
DC
. This corresponds to
d
lim
= 18.45mm or S
AC
= S
DC
= 267.38mm
2
. The table B.1.1 and gure B.1.1 shows a
synthesized view of the impact of the skin eect on a circular cross-section eective area.
The results of that rst simplied approach shows the low impact of the skin eect
for LV installations. The low frequency employed in those installations combined with
the low value of magnetic elds generates very low Eddy currents. In the light of that
calculation, we can conclude that in our eld of interest skin eect can be neglected.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3.2 Cables under LVDC conditions 27
3.2.3.2 Calculation of skin and proximity coecients according to standards
The IEC 60287 standard [26] describes how to estimate the skin and proximity eects.
Their inuence on the cable resistivity is calculated with help of two factors y
s
and y
p
dened as the increase of DC resistance R
DC
when the cable conguration is used in AC:
R
AC
= (1 + y
s
+ y
p
) R
DC
(3.2.6)
The skin eect factor is calculated thanks to equation 3.2.7 from [26]:
y
s
=
x
4
s
192 + 0.8 x
4
s
(3.2.7)
where,
x
s
=
8 f
R
DC
10
7
k
s
f is the power frequency and k
s
a coecient related to the rigidity of the conductor.
given in [26] as k
s
= 1 for rigid conductors.
In a similar manner, the proximity eect factor is calculated using equation 3.2.8 from
[26] for two single-core cables.
y
p
=
x
4
p
192 + 0.8 x
4
p
_
d
c
s
_
2
2.9 (3.2.8)
where,
x
2
p
=
8 f
R
DC
10
7
k
p
d
c
is the diameter of the conductor in mm, s the distance between conductor axes and
k
p
is once more related to the conductor rigidity, the value k
p
= 1 is taken according to
[26].
For three single-core cables (case of three-phase systems for example), the formula is
modied as shown in equation 3.2.9 from [26].
y
p
=
x
4
p
192 + 0.8 x
4
p
_
d
c
s
_
2
_
_
0.312
_
d
c
s
_
2
+
1.18
x
4
p
192 + 0.8x
4
p
+ 0.27
_
_
(3.2.9)
Calculations were performed for two arrangements of three three conductors: 1) a
conguration with 2 cables, 2) a conguration with 3 cables in a at arrangement (geom-
etry explained in gure 3.2.2a, 3) a conguration with 3 cables in a trefoil arrangement
(geometry explained in gure 3.2.2b.
The complete results for 2 cables are in table B.2.1, while the tables B.2.2 and B.2.3
shows the calculation results for 3 cables congurations.
A summarized view of the results is displayed in gures 3.2.3a and 3.2.3b. As 2 and
3 cables arrangements are not intended for the same usage, they are distinguished:
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
28 AC and DC comparison
(a) Flat (b) Trefoil
Figure 3.2.2 Two possible conductor arrangement for 3 cables [26]
2 cables the sum y
s
+ y
p
does not go over 5 10
5
. If we introduce the denition of y
s
and y
p
in the resistive losses, we have in equation 3.2.10.
P
Joule,AC
= R
AC
I
2
= (1 + y
s
+ y
p
) R
DC
I
2
= (1 + y
s
+ y
p
) P
Joule,DC
(3.2.10)
This means that skin and proximity eects in simple one-phase household congu-
ration do not increase the losses by more than 5 10
3
%.
3 cables no dierence appears between the trefoil and at conguration. The sum y
s
+y
p
is larger than above, as shown in gure 3.2.3b the proximity coecient y
p
is the one
making the dierence. This is due to the three-conductors of a three-phase system.
The sum of the two factors is less than 1 10
2
of losses increase up to 120mm
2
.
But this is already a large cross-section area allowing to transmit up to 120kW
under 230V for a three-phase system. For comparison, typical cross-section area of
70mm
2
[2] are used in distribution systems. Still, at such a level, 2.46 10
2
kW are
dissipated as resistive losses at full load. At the price of the french regulated power
market 0.115e/kWh this corresponds to around 24e per year assuming the
cable is at full load all the year. This is to be compared with the 120 000e that
could be retrieved for the selling of the whole cable capacity. With that hypothesis
favourable to the DC case, the economical dierence is not signicant enough at
the scale of the distribution grid to nance the shift from AC to DC.
3.2.3.3 Conclusion on the skin and proximity eects
From those calculations it appears that the skin and proximity eects are not signi-
cant for single-phase systems with small cross-section area. But the inuence becomes
signicant when the cross-section area increases as well as the number of conductors.
Considering a typical 50Hz-transformer with 98% eciency, the 2% of losses in the trans-
former are in the same order of magnitude as the 1% losses of a 120mm
2
three-phases
distribution system.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3
.
2
C
a
b
l
e
s
u
n
d
e
r
L
V
D
C
c
o
n
d
i
t
i
o
n
s
2
9
(a) 2 conductors
(b) 3 conductors
Figure 3.2.3 Chart representation of y
s
+y
p
for 2 and 3 conductors congurations
P
i
e
r
r
e
W
a
e
c
k
e
r
l
J
u
n
e
2
9
,
2
0
1
1
M
a
s
t
e
r
t
h
e
s
i
s
30 AC and DC comparison
3.3 Low Voltage DC layouts comparison
3.3.1 Comparison generalities
The comparison of dierent layouts depends on what is to be compared. In our study, the
interest is to determine which conguration is the most interesting on existing power
lines:
Household lines, from the distribution grid feeder to the loads within a house.
All over the world single-phase AC systems are used as displayed in gure 3.3.1a.
Distribution lines, from MV/LV transformers to the household feeders. In Eu-
rope, the most common layout is a three-phase system with return conductor. Four
cables are used in such grids and would be available for DC layouts. But in a three-
phase AC grid, only one return conductor with same cross-section is added to
carry the unbalanced power. With a similar thinking, only one return conductor
is necessary for bipolar DC (see section 3.3.2 for a technical explanation of the
similarities). The gure 3.3.2 describes how the cables are distributed and how the
lines are connected.
In the perspective to reuse the existing grid and just shifting from AC to DC, an
interesting aspect is to know if it will be able to supply the same load or a higher load
at the same distance from the MV/LV power feeder. Therefore, the transmissible power
has been chosen as the comparison factor.
At each step of the comparison, we will dierentiate the household congurations from
the distribution congurations. In each case, dierent LVDC layouts are possible:
1. Household power grid:
AC single-phase (conguration 1, gure 3.3.1a)
DC unipolar conguration with return conductor (conguration 2, gure 3.3.1b)
2. Distribution power grid:
AC three-phase with return conductor (conguration 3, gure 3.3.2a)
DC unipolar with 2 return conductors (conguration 4, gure 3.3.2b)
DC bipolar with 2 return conductors (conguration 5, gure 3.3.2c)
The following sections will rst present the theoretical calculations of transmissible
power for each conguration and then apply the theory to the case study.
3.3.2 Transmissible power
The voltage fed to every load of the grid must be within 5% of the nominal voltage.
But the transmissible power is also limited by the cable ampacity. The transmissible
power is the maximal value satisfying to both ampacity and voltage limitations.
For both household and distribution grids, we consider the congurations described
in section 3.3.1 with a single load at its extremities.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3.3 LVDC layouts 31
N
U
1
I
1
I
1
Z
1
(a) AC single-phase
+U
N
R
1
I
1
I
1
(b) DC unipolar
Figure 3.3.1 Possible grid layouts at household scale
P
1
P
2
P
3
N
Z
1
Z
2
Z
3
I
1
I
3
I
1
+ I
2
+ I
3
I
2
V
2
V
3
V
1
return conductor
(a) AC three-phase with return conductor
+U
R
1
R
2
I
1
I
2
+U
I
1
+ I
2
+U
+U
N return conductor
(b) DC Unipolar
+U
U
R
1
R
2
I
1
I
2
+U
U
I
1
+ I
2
N
return conductor
(c) DC Bipolar
Figure 3.3.2 Possible grid layouts at distribution scale
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
32 AC and DC comparison
3.3.2.1 Household power grid
In a household typical power installation, only phase and neutral conductors are used.
The chosen model is depicted in gure 3.3.3.
L
Z
cable
Z
cable
I
Feeder
U
nom
U (L)
Figure 3.3.3 A simple scheme of a load
fed by a single-phase system
Our interest is only the voltage drop in the
cable. As any appliance in a single-phased system
is fed by a phase and neutral conductor, a 2L cable
length will be considered for an appliance distant
of L of the power feeder. The cable resistance is
calculated in equation 3.3.1.
R(L) =
2L
S
(3.3.1)
where R is the cable resistance in , the specic
resistivity at 80
3 U
AC
(L) I
max,3
cos
= 3 V
AC
(L) I
max,3
cos (3.3.12)
where V
AC
is the line-to-neutral voltage, U
AC
the line-to-line voltage and cos the power
factor. In order to compare AC and DC layouts, the line-to-neutral voltage will be used.
Due to the line impedance, the voltage drops along the line. The voltage at distance L
from the load for an equilibrated three-phase systems is calculated according to equation
3.3.13.
V
AC
(L) =
_
[V
AC,0
(L) R(L) I]
2
[X(L) I]
2
(3.3.13)
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
34 AC and DC comparison
The line impedance Z
cable,3
is dened in equation 3.3.14.
Z
cable,3
(L) = R
3
(L) + j X
3
(L) (3.3.14)
where the real part of Z
cable,3
, R
3
(L) is dened in equation 3.3.15 as the resistance of 3
conductors with a cross-section area S for each conductor for a length L. We consider
an equilibrated three-phase system i.e. no current in the return conductor.
R
3
(L) = 3
L
S
(3.3.15)
For a short power line L < 50 km the reactance can be dened as in equation
3.3.16. is the power pulsation, the line linear reactance and L the line length.
X
3
(L) = 3 L (3.3.16)
From equations 3.3.15 and 3.3.16, the line impedance Z
cable,3
can be calculated in equation
3.3.17.
Z
3
= 3 L
_
S
+ j
_
(3.3.17)
The maximum current owing in the line with respect to the voltage drop limitation
I
V,3
is dened in equation 3.3.18.
I
V,3
= 5%
V
AC
Z
(3.3.18)
The maximum complex power S
V,3
that can be transmitted is calculated in equation
3.3.19.
S
V,3
= 3 V
AC
(L) I
V,3
= 3 V
AC
5%V
AC
(L) e
j
Z
=
3 5%
Z
V
AC
(L)
2
e
j
(3.3.19)
This gives in equation 3.3.20 the maximum real transmissible power with respect to
voltage drop limitation P
V,3
.
P
V,3
=
_
S
V,3
_
=
3 5%
|Z|
V
AC
(L)
2
cos
=
5%
L
_
_
S
_
2
+ ( L)
2
V
AC
(L)
2
cos (3.3.20)
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3.3 LVDC layouts 35
The transmissible power P
trans,3
is given in equation 3.3.21.
P
trans,3
= min {P
max,3
, P
V,3
} (3.3.21)
For DC systems, we consider unipolar and bipolar layouts. A simplied scheme is
displayed in gures 3.3.2b and 3.3.2c. First, a unipolar system conguration 1 is
considered with 4 conductors (using the classical 3 phase and 1 neutral layout in Europe).
Out of those 4 conductors, 2 will serve at voltage +U and the 2 remaining as return
conductor. This conguration, which is far less ecient than three-phase AC and DC
Bipolar, is presented because less costly than DC Bipolar. In DC Unipolar, conductor
insulations only have to be designed for a voltage drop of U
DC
while in a DC Bipolar
system, the insulation must be designed for the full voltage 2 U
DC
.
In DC system a voltage U
DC
(L) is fed to the load. From the cable properties, the
ampacity I
max,4
of one cable is known. The maximal power related to ampacity calculation
is calculated in equation 3.3.22.
P
max,4
= U
DC
(L) (2I
max,4
) (3.3.22)
The voltage drop limitation can be calculated with equation 3.3.23 where is the
conductor resistivity in m, L the load distance in one way in m and S the cable
cross-section area in m
2
.
P
V,4
(L) =
0.05 U
DC
(L)
2
2 L
S (3.3.23)
Equations 3.3.22 and 3.3.23 give in equation 3.3.24 the transmissible power at length
L for a DC unipolar scheme.
P
trans,4
(L) = min(P
max,4
, P
V,4
) (3.3.24)
For conguration 5 the layout is described in gure 3.3.2c. It uses 3 conductors: 1 at
+U, 1 at U and 1 ground conductor. One conductor of the original AC scheme is saved.
As for the AC three-phase system, an equilibrated system under operation conditions is
considered. Applying that hypothesis yields:
R
1
= R
2
=I
2
= I
1
I
1
+ I
2
= 0
With that hypothesis, the return conductor has a similar usage as the neutral conduc-
tor of AC three-phase systems as it carries imbalanced power. In a DC Bipolar scheme,
the ampacity is not modied and so does P
max,5
in equation 3.3.25.
P
max,5
= U
DC
(L) (2I
max,5
) (3.3.25)
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
36 AC and DC comparison
But the absence of current in the return path of an ideal bipolar system reduces
the voltage drop by half. The maximal transmissible power according to voltage drop
conditions can be calculated with equation 3.3.26.
P
V,5
(L) =
0.05 U
DC
(L)
2
L
S (3.3.26)
The transmissible power in conguration 5 P
trans,5
is calculated according to equation
3.3.27.
P
trans,5
(L) = min(P
max,5
, P
V,5
) (3.3.27)
3.3.3 Results and analysis
3.3.3.1 Household power grids
The calculation was detailed in section 3.3.2. As the matter is building cables, 1.5 mm
2
and 2.5 mm
2
conductors were considered. The table B.3.1 shows the complete results of
the calculation and gure 3.3.4 synthesises the results.
In the light of those results, it is obvious that Extremely Low Voltage (ELV) are not
suitable for power installation even in houses. Therefore, at least 120V is necessary to
use the existing installations with conductors typically of 1.5, 2.5 and exceptionally 6
mm
2
. In order to exploit the full benet of DC systems, 326V-systems appear the most
interesting.
3.3.3.2 Distribution power grids
For the distribution layout comparison, the gure 3.3.5 shows the evolution with length
of the transmissible power for the three congurations 3, 4 and 5. As this is dicult
to represent dierent Voltage/Cross-section area couples on the same graph, the turning
point dened as the length at which the limiting condition changes is considered.
From gure 3.3.6 the voltage drop in a DC layout is much lower that in an AC one.
This is the illustration of the eect of reactance in AC. On the other hand the gure
3.3.5 shows that AC three-phase systems carries more power over short distances. This is
the illustration of the 3 phases available to carry power in a AC three-phase layout while
only 2 are available in a DC unipolar or bipolar one.
The bipolar scheme does not improve the maximum transmissible power but enhance
the voltage drop problems. Using a bipolar scheme seems therefore the most benecial
solution to replace a three-phase AC system.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3
.
3
L
V
D
C
l
a
y
o
u
t
s
3
7 Figure 3.3.4 Synthesis of the power limitation capacity (in kW) for a single-phase building installation
P
i
e
r
r
e
W
a
e
c
k
e
r
l
J
u
n
e
2
9
,
2
0
1
1
M
a
s
t
e
r
t
h
e
s
i
s
3
8
A
C
a
n
d
D
C
c
o
m
p
a
r
i
s
o
n
Figure 3.3.5 Transmissible power versus load distance for the three distribution congurations with 120mm
2
conductors under 500V
N
e
x
a
n
s
R
e
s
e
a
r
c
h
C
e
n
t
e
r
,
N
e
x
a
n
s
,
L
y
o
n
E
P
S
l
a
b
,
K
T
H
,
S
t
o
c
k
h
o
l
m
3
.
3
L
V
D
C
l
a
y
o
u
t
s
3
9 Figure 3.3.6 Transmissible power limitation change for the three congurations with single conductors of 400mm
2
cross-section area
P
i
e
r
r
e
W
a
e
c
k
e
r
l
J
u
n
e
2
9
,
2
0
1
1
M
a
s
t
e
r
t
h
e
s
i
s
40 AC and DC comparison
3.4 Energy consumption comparison for AC and DC
systems
Another claim in favour of DC grids is the savings of conversion stages it might provide. In
section 1.2, from the angle of appliances technologies, the problem has been demonstrated
not to be that simple. Section 3.4 is to gain knowledge on the matter through a simple
Monte Carlo simulation of the power consumption of households.
3.4.1 Methodology
The expected outcome is a dierence of consumption of power for a representative set of
households.
The study will start by sorting the appliances of importance in the comparison. Then,
the way to model the power consumption is dened in the light of the available data. This
is the only necessary data and decisions to make to design the Monte Carlo simulation.
But in order to get results, the power consumption of each appliance in AC and DC
is requested.
3.4.2 Monte Carlo simulation theory
Monte Carlo is a system simulation class of methods based on random samples study [27].
It is especially interesting to use Monte Carlo methods when the system is too complex
to be described by an explicit function
1
or the model has too many inputs or outputs.
A simplied layout of a Monte Carlo simulation is shown in 3.4.1. Whatever the
complexity of a simulation, the following are always performed:
1. Generate a set of inputs the probability distribution must be known for each
input,
2. Run the model and get the outputs,
3. Run those rst two steps as many times as needed depending on the accuracy for
example,
4. Sample the results.
Figure 3.4.1 The layout of a basic Monte Carlo simulation called simple sampling
Some improvements are available to increase the eciency or the accuracy of the
simulation. Most of those improvements apply on the randomization of the inputs [28,
29, 30, 31, 32].
1
In an explicit function, the value of the outputs can be related to the inputs with a mathematical
function
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3.4 Energy consumption comparison 41
3.4.3 Simulation model and hypothesis
The starting point in the design of the Monte Carlo simulation is the objective. Our
interest is to compare the consumption of typical AC-fed and DC-fed households. There-
fore the electrical consumption of households when fed with AC or DC power will be
simulated. But the concern is only on appliances making a dierence between AC and
DC. Power consumption of electrical heating, for example, as not been accounted in the
study.
The simulation model is a household with a certain electrical equipment and a way to
use that equipment named usage patterns. The available data from INSEE are a) the
repartition of households by types, b) the equipment rate
2
for each types of household,
c) the way each category of household uses its appliances.
The inputs are by category:
1. A household, picked in the types of household from table 3.4.1. In order to sta-
tistically describe the household input, dierent possibilities are available in the
National Databases of INSEE [15]: a) type of household (couple with child, cou-
ple without child, ...), b) age of the representative member c) job type. As the
consumption is likely to be more dependent on the size of the household, they are
described by type in the simulation (table 3.4.1). The type of household is the input
U
D
.
Household type Share in %
D1- Single person 31.00
D2- Mono-parental family 7.40
D3- Couple without child 24.80
D4- Couple with child 31.50
D5- Others 5.30
Table 3.4.1 Dierent household types, France, INSEE 1999 [15]
2. A set of equipments, picked in table C.3.1. This makes a possible set of 13
appliances. For each one, the input is a binary number stating if yes (= 1) or no
(= 0) the household is equipped with that kind of appliance. The inputs will be
named {U
Ei
}
i{1,...7}
.
3. The usage patterns, is dierently described depending on the appliance. Three
dierent descriptions have been considered:
Weekly Duration, the consumption is dened as the time length usage
per week;
Daily Duration, the consumption is dened as the time length usage per
day;
Weekly Cycle, the consumption is dened as a number of cycle per week.
2
share of households equipped with the appliance
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
42 AC and DC comparison
The table 3.4.2 shows the choice for each appliance represented by 13 inputs {U
Pi
}
{i1...13}
.
Appliance Frequency Period
Vacuum-cleaner Weekly Duration
Refrigerator Daily Duration
Freezer Daily Duration
Dishwasher Weekly Cycle
Microwave Daily Duration
Washing machine Weekly Cycle
Dryer Weekly Cycle
TV Weekly Duration
Landline phone Daily Duration
Cellphone Daily Duration
Internet modem Weekly Duration
Desktop computer Weekly Duration
Laptop Weekly Duration
Table 3.4.2 Usage description of each appliance by household type, extracted from table C.4.1, INSEE
2006 [33]
The outputs are the AC and DC consumption when used in on- or standby- mode
(see section 3.4.4).
The presented model is highly simplied. The following simplications have been
made:
The approach of household equipment is much simplied. Only the household type
is considered.
The appliance usage has also been simply described. This is related to simplica-
tions on the energy consumption described in section 3.4.4.
Concerning the variance reduction techniques, the following ones have been chosen:
Correlated sampling is used as the objective is to compare two systems with the
same inputs [31].
Stratied sampling was implemented using the 5 dierent household types as
strata. Using batch allocation [32], stratied sampling is an ideal method to adjust
the number of picked households to their statistical distribution. Some additional
theory is given in appendix C.1 about stratied sampling and in C.2 about batch
allocation i.e. the way to eciently allocate samples in a stratied sampling method-
ology.
Regarding the calculation accuracy, a stopping rule based on relative tolerance was
implemented [29]. With losses of conversion estimated at 2.5% per step [22], an accuracy
of 0.1% seemed necessary to exploit the results.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3.4 Energy consumption comparison 43
3.4.4 Energy consumption of appliances
The aim is to describe the consumption of appliances to compare AC and DC systems.
As this is a comparison, only appliances making a dierence of consumption between AC
and DC are included. The process to estimate the usage of each appliance was detailed
in 3.4.3.
For each appliance, the consumption in standby- and on- mode are separated. Standby
consumption is a dicult matter as this is not related directly to AC and DC systems
but to where is the switch. If all appliances in the existing AC system could be shut down
ahead of the power converter, lots of standby consumption could be simply avoided. In
this simulation we assume there are no standby consumption in DC systems thanks to
the use of a DC/DC converter without transformer.
The set of chosen appliances is detailed in table C.3.1. In section 1.1 appliances were
ranked in 2 categories:
Pure AC appliances require AC power to work. For the sake of simplicity, only
variable drives appliances are accounted as they are the more widespread.
In an AC system, the power conversion of the appliances is considered to be
constituted of a rectier(
rectifier
= 95%) and an inverter (
inverter
= 97%) [1],
as shown in gure 3.4.2a,
In a DC system, the power conversion of the appliances is constituted of a
buck chopper (
buck
= 98%) and an inverter (
inverter
= 97%) as shown in
gure 3.4.2b.
(a) AC-fed system
(b) DC-fed system
Figure 3.4.2 Power conversion at the input of pure AC appliances if fed with AC or DC power
Pure DC appliances require DC power. From [1], the power conversion can be
considered as:
In AC system, the power conversion is ensured by a SMPS dened in section
1.1 (overall eciency
pureDC,AC
= 86%) [1]. A schematic view is shown in
gure 3.4.3a.
In DC system, the power conversion is ensured by a DC/DC converter with
pureDC,DC
= 94% [1]. The chosen conversion unit has a much higher eciency
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
44 AC and DC comparison
Appliance type AC-system DC-system
Pure AC
pure AC,AC
= 92%
pure AC,DC
= 95%
Pure DC
pure DC,AC
= 86%
pure DC,DC
= 94%
Table 3.4.3 Summary of the conversion eciencies [1]
in DC than in AC. This choice is made considering that no shifting from AC to
DC will occur if conversion technologies is not much more ecient in DC. The
whole SMPS conversion unit is replaced with a compact DC/DC converter
with high eciency. A view of that layout is shown in gure 3.4.3b.
(a) AC-fed system
(b) DC-fed system
Figure 3.4.3 Power conversion at the input of pure DC appliances if fed with AC or DC power
The resulting eciencies are summarized in table 3.4.3 by type of appliance and type of
feeding power type.
The conversion eciency for each appliance is summed up in table C.5.1. This table
also include consumption approximation taken from typical appliance on sale in general
stores and INSEE statistics [33].
3.4.5 Simulation workow
All the details of the simulation have been described above. We can look from the running
calculation point of view. As shown in gure 3.4.4, the inputs to the model are:
A household
A set of equipments
Usage patterns
The equipment consumption
With all those inputs, we can calculate the yearly consumption of each appliance for
the household, this is the role of the model.
Then, the outputs described in gure 3.4.4 are:
the consumption dierence between AC- and DC- fed systems in on-mode of appli-
ances
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
3.4 Energy consumption comparison 45
Figure 3.4.4 Monte Carlo simulation workow
the consumption dierence between AC- and DC- fed systems in standby mode of
appliances.
The expected value of the collected outputs are the results of the simulation.
3.4.6 Simulation results
The Matlab scripts are included in Appendix C.6. The tables 3.4.4 and 3.4.5 shows the
result of a simulation of an overall 1077 samples one sample is one household. The
following symbols are used:
N
h
, number of samples in strata h a strata is a type of household,
h
, weight of strata h,
E [P
AC,on
], expected value of the power consumed in on-mode and AC-fed system,
E [P
AC,standby
], expected value of the power consumed in standby-mode and AC-fed
system,
E [P
AC,on
], expected value of the power consumed in on-mode and DC-fed system,
E [P
AC,standby
], expected value of the power consumed in standby-mode and DC-fed
system.
E [P
on
], expected value of the dierence of power consumed in on-mode between
AC- and DC- fed systems,
E [P
standby
], expected value of the dierence of power consumed in standby-mode
between AC- and DC-fed systems,
on
, standard deviation of P
on
,
standby
, standard deviation of P
standby
.
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
4
6
A
C
a
n
d
D
C
c
o
m
p
a
r
i
s
o
n
Household type
h
N
h
E [P
AC,on
] E [P
AC,standby
] E [P
DC,on
] E [P
DC,standby
]
kWh
D1 - Single person 0.31 318 948.62 110.23 898.77 70.16
D2 - Mono-parental family 0.074 98 1354.33 142.97 1278.25 87.15
D3 - Couple without child 0.248 265 1256.21 141.77 1195.91 85.87
D4 - Couple with child 0.315 350 1531.81 204.19 1450.48 119.91
D5 - Others 0.053 46 1194.18 179.34 1132.01 93.40
Overall 1 1077 1251.64 153.74 1186.70 92.22
Table 3.4.4 Yearly consumption by type of household, sorted by standby-, on-, AC- and DC-mode
Household type
h
N
h
E [P
on
]
on
E [P
standby
]
standby
kWh
D1 - Single person 0.31 318 -49.85 13.12 -40.07 38.38
D2 - Mono-parental family 0.074 98 -76.08 20.30 -55.81 41.38
D3 - Couple without child 0.248 265 -60.30 12.83 -55.90 42.11
D4 - Couple with child 0.315 350 -81.32 17.05 -84.88 34.62
D5 - Others 0.053 46 -62.17 11.49 -85.94 30.48
Overall 1 1077 -64.95 7.62 -61.52 19.53
Table 3.4.5 Yearly consumption dierence for each household type sorted by standby and on-mode
N
e
x
a
n
s
R
e
s
e
a
r
c
h
C
e
n
t
e
r
,
N
e
x
a
n
s
,
L
y
o
n
E
P
S
l
a
b
,
K
T
H
,
S
t
o
c
k
h
o
l
m
3.5 Conclusion of the chapter 47
Before analysing those results, it must be noted that they only concern the real power
consumption. This means that the following concerns are ignored:
The reactive power in AC mode because the end-users pay for the active power,
The power conversion, which might be at household or neighbourhood scale. As for
reactive power, the consumers does not pay for the losses at neighbourhood scale.
In terms of consumption, DC systems show an advantage. An all DC scheme would
save around 5% in on-mode, 5% in standby and 9% on overall compared to overall AC
consumption for an average dwelling. Those improvements are the result of two dierent
simulation hypotheses: a) the savings in standby mode are the result of assuming that
the power can be shut down in DC thanks to a better location of the power switch and
removal of transformers. This is not an advantage of DC but a consideration that might
come along with LVDC systems, b) the 5% improvement in on-mode is the result of
the savings in the number of conversion stages. Even though power conversions are not
completely removed, the conversion losses are reduced. Considering the regulated power
price of 0.115 e/kWh, the mean dierence in power consumption yields a mean saving
of around 7.50e per year on average per household.
This result is moderated by the value dispersion from table 3.4.5 represented graph-
ically in gure 3.4.5. The interest of gure 3.4.5 present the percent of savings in a
DC-house compared to the same house, with the same patterns of consumption, fed with
AC power. The length of error bars displays the standard deviation for all the sampled
results. The standard deviation for standby consumption is higher than for on-mode con-
sumption. Those dierences are directly related to the Internet modem. The equipment
rate for such appliances is quite low (from 10 to 45% according to table C.3.1). But the
consumption in standby-mode is almost as high as on-mode consumption. Therefore, if
a household is equipped or not with an Internet connection makes a huge dierence.
The outcome from the simulation can also be considered from the point of view of
the types appliances. The initial hypothesis assumes that A DC/DC power converter is
much more ecient than an AC/DC power converter. The result of the simulation also
expresses the part of the overall consumption that is DC. If we consider the gure 1.4.1,
the sales of ICT appliances more than tripled since 2000. This means that the share of
Pure DC appliances increases compared to pure AC ones.
3.5 Conclusion of the chapter
Chapter 3 compared AC and DC systems on three dierent aspects: 1) the resistive
losses in similar cables, used in an AC or DC system, 2) the possible layouts to ensure
grid distribution, 3) the real power consumption of end-users.
From this comparison it arise that DC systems present some advantages over AC
systems: a) the increase of pure DC components, either to produce or consume power is
in favour of DC grids as using DC would save on conversion steps and hence on conversion
losses, this was demonstrated in section 3.4.4 by the Monte Carlo simulation, b) the length
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
48 AC and DC comparison
Figure 3.4.5 Graph of the results from table 3.4.5, the length of error bars is the standard deviation
of cables is favourable to the DC layouts as the transmissible power reduces slower in DC
than in AC. .
Those advantages are moderated by the following: a) for cables used in distribution
grids, DC systems would make a dierence of resistive losses of 1% above cross-section
area of 70mm
2
.This means that resistive losses are increased by 1%. As the resistive
losses represent 5% of the transmitted power in France [34], using DC would reduce the
losses down to 5 (1 1% = 4.95% 5%. This is a very insignicant reduction of the
resistive losses, b) the most favourable DC distribution layout Bipolar DC cannot
carry as much power as three-phase AC over short distances, c) the simulation assesses
the availability of power conversion units much more ecient in DC that in AC.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
Chapter 4
Conclusion
This work approached various aspects of the distribution power grids and especially the
comparison between existing well-known AC grids and promising DC ones.
Chapter 1 gave an insight on advantages, drawbacks and limitations of AC and DC
systems. The omnipresence of DC power in every common appliance was demonstrated.
While power grids rely on AC power, all the appliances listed as the most common
ones rely on DC power either to power them or just as a step in the power conversion
process [15]. Another key component of low voltage private distribution grids, protection
systems designed for all-DC systems already exists, but they are not available on the
shelf as DC systems are not as common as AC ones.
Chapter 2 completed the literature review with a special look at electrical ageing of
cables. The comparison of the levels of electric eld in the insulation with the ranking
of the ageing phenomena pointed out the possible breakdown phenomena. The study
shows no dierence of possible electrical ageing phenomena between AC and DC ageing
for low voltage building cables. The degradation of cables is more likely to be a result of
chemical ageing than of electrical ageing.
Chapter 3 ran a technical comparison between AC and DC grids with the will to
provide reliable gures in the trade-o. Our rst interest was to pay attention to resistive
losses in the cable. This especially meant to compare skin and proximity eects. The
result was to show no major dierence between AC and DC for low voltage distribution
systems. In common congurations 2 or 3 phases the eective resistance of the set
of cables is increased by 1% in AC compared to DC, which is an insignicant reduction
in favour of DC. It would only be in very intricate congurations with cable bunches
that proximity eects might become disturbing enough to favour DC. From the point
of view of possible distribution layouts, DC showed some advantages. The voltage drop
in cables under DC conditions is much lower than in AC. Finally, a comparison of the
power consumption of end users concluded to the absence of signicant power savings
when using DC instead of AC. Despite hypotheses favourable to power conversion in DC
systems (see section 3.4.4), the simulation concluded to only 5% of power savings for
appliances making a dierence between AC and DC i.e. the heating was not included in
the power consumption, for a typical consumption of 3000kWh per year and per household
(including every possible consumptions), the saving for using DC decreases to 2%. The
power is saved on the power rectication that occurs at each appliance input when used
in AC grid. Approximately the same savings 5% can be obtained by a smart design
of appliances i.e. by putting the switch on the good side of the power conversion unit.
49
50 Conclusion
4.1 Discussion
The major hypothesis for the Monte Carlo simulation is the existence of more ecient
power conversion units for a DC system than for an AC one. The hypothesis reects
the idea that shifting to DC systems will not happen while power conversion is not more
ecient. In the light of that hypothesis, the expected result has to be in favour of DC.
But the result did not show a signicant improvement of the energy eciency despite
that hypothesis.
4.2 Future work
This subject is very broad and lots of aspects have not been considered during the project:
the consumption model developed here is simplied. A more detailed one would be
necessary to integrate more complex consideration like hour precision to account for
price variation, electric vehicle loading or unloading to shave power peaks, renewable
energy sources, etc,
the cost aspect has been considered in a simple manner in the study because of
its complexity: material savings on conversion technologies, investment postponed
thanks to the avoided reactive power, etc. The investment costs are the main topic
to oppose to power savings. If the economical gain in losses of active power is not
higher than the cost for AC/DC central converters, then the DC technology is not
feasible for grid operators. But the economical trade-o is a more complicated topic.
Many dierent points of view should be considered: the end-user, the grid owner,
the grid operator, the cable manufacturer, the appliance producer, the authorities,
etc.
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
Appendix A
Ageing phenomena complements
A.1 Electric eld calculation
Figure A.1.1 2D-view of a building ca-
ble with conductor and insulation
An electric eld is dened as the spatial variation
of the electrical potential in space as expressed in
equation A.1.1, with
E the electric eld and V the
electrical potential.
E =
V (A.1.1)
In a cable modelled by the 2D-view in gure
A.1.1, the only changing space parameter is the ra-
dius in polar coordinates. A cable is a cylindrical
capacitor with the external layer of the insulation
at ground potential and contact area between con-
ductor and insulation at conductor area. With the
symbols used in equation A.1.1 and gure A.1.1,
the electric eld can be dened as a function of the
radius r in equation A.1.2.
E(r) =
V
r ln
R
2
R
1
(A.1.2)
A.2 Electric eld results
51
52 Ageing phenomena complements
Voltage Section R
1
R
2
R
1
E(R1) E(R2)
V mm
2
mm mm V/mm V/mm
12
1.5 0.69 0.6 27.78 14.87
2.5 0.89 0.7 23.22 13.01
4 1.13 0.8 19.84 11.61
6 1.38 0.8 19.01 12.04
10 1.78 1 15.11 9.69
24
1.5 0.69 0.6 55.57 29.74
2.5 0.89 0.7 46.45 26.02
4 1.13 0.8 39.69 23.22
6 1.38 0.8 38.02 24.08
10 1.78 1 30.23 19.37
48
1.5 0.69 0.6 111.14 59.49
2.5 0.89 0.7 92.89 52.05
4 1.13 0.8 79.38 46.45
6 1.38 0.8 76.05 48.17
10 1.78 1 60.46 38.74
110
1.5 0.69 0.6 254.69 136.32
2.5 0.89 0.7 212.88 119.28
4 1.13 0.8 181.91 106.44
6 1.38 0.8 174.28 110.38
10 1.78 1 138.55 88.78
230
1.5 0.69 0.6 532.54 285.03
2.5 0.89 0.7 445.11 249.4
4 1.13 0.8 380.36 222.56
6 1.38 0.8 364.4 230.8
10 1.78 1 289.69 185.64
326
1.5 0.69 0.6 754.81 404.01
2.5 0.89 0.7 630.89 353.5
4 1.13 0.8 539.11 315.46
6 1.38 0.8 516.5 327.13
10 1.78 1 410.61 263.13
1000
1.5 0.69 0.6 2315.37 1239.28
2.5 0.89 0.7 1935.26 1084.36
4 1.13 0.8 1653.72 967.67
6 1.38 0.8 1584.36 1003.47
10 1.78 1 1259.53 807.13
Table A.2.1 Electric eld for a set of typical building cables under dierent voltages
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
Appendix B
Analytical results
B.1 Skin depth calculation
S
DC
d S
AC
mm
2
mm mm
2
1.5 1.38
9.23
1.5
2.5 1.78 2.5
4 2.26 4
6 2.76 6
10 3.57 10
16 4.51 16
25 5.64 25
35 6.68 35
50 7.98 50
70 9.44 70
95 11.00 95
120 12.36 120
150 13.82 150
185 15.35 185
240 17.48 240
300 19.54 299
400 22.57 387
500 25.23 464
Table B.1.1 Comparison between the conductor diameter and the skin depth in AC, from equation
3.2.2
53
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s Figure B.1.1 Synthesis of the skin eect impact on eective resistance in AC and DC, from table B.1.1
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B.2 Skin and proximity coecients 55
B.2 Skin and proximity coecients according to stan-
dards
Cross-section
y
s
y
p
y
p
+ y
s
mm
2
1.5 4.35E-07 3.61E-07 7.96E-07
2.5 1.21E-06 1.10E-06 2.31E-06
4 3.09E-06 3.07E-06 6.16E-06
6 6.96E-06 8.09E-06 1.51E-05
10 1.93E-05 2.30E-05 4.23E-05
16 4.95E-05 6.89E-05 1.18E-04
Table B.2.1 Skin and proximity coecients for 2 conductors [26]
Cross-section
y
s
y
p
y
p
+ y
s
mm
2
1.5 4.35E-07 4.14E-07 8.49E-07
2.5 1.21E-06 1.50E-06 2.70E-06
4 3.09E-06 3.87E-06 6.97E-06
6 6.96E-06 1.05E-05 1.74E-05
10 1.93E-05 3.57E-05 5.50E-05
16 4.95E-05 1.07E-04 1.57E-04
25 1.21E-04 2.69E-04 3.90E-04
35 2.37E-04 5.81E-04 8.18E-04
50 4.83E-04 1.20E-03 1.68E-03
70 9.46E-04 2.56E-03 3.50E-03
95 1.74E-03 4.73E-03 6.48E-03
120 2.78E-03 7.92E-03 1.07E-02
150 4.33E-03 1.23E-02 1.66E-02
185 6.58E-03 1.85E-02 2.51E-02
240 1.10E-02 3.10E-02 4.20E-02
300 1.72E-02 4.77E-02 6.48E-02
400 3.02E-02 8.25E-02 1.13E-01
Table B.2.2 Skin and proximity coecients for 3 conductors with a trefoil shape [26]
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
56 Analytical results
Cross-section
y
s
y
p
y
p
+ y
s
mm
2
1.5 4.35E-07 4.14E-07 8.49E-07
2.5 1.21E-06 1.50E-06 2.70E-06
4 3.09E-06 3.87E-06 6.97E-06
6 6.96E-06 1.05E-05 1.74E-05
10 1.93E-05 3.57E-05 5.50E-05
16 4.95E-05 1.07E-04 1.57E-04
25 1.21E-04 2.69E-04 3.90E-04
35 2.37E-04 5.81E-04 8.18E-04
50 4.83E-04 1.20E-03 1.68E-03
70 9.46E-04 2.56E-03 3.50E-03
95 1.74E-03 4.73E-03 6.48E-03
120 2.78E-03 7.92E-03 1.07E-02
150 4.33E-03 1.23E-02 1.66E-02
185 6.58E-03 1.85E-02 2.51E-02
240 1.10E-02 3.10E-02 4.20E-02
300 1.72E-02 4.77E-02 6.48E-02
400 3.02E-02 8.25E-02 1.13E-01
Table B.2.3 Skin and proximity coecients for 3 conductors with a plane distribution [26]
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
B
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B.3 Voltage drop limitation calculation
Voltage level
V
12V 24V 48V 120V 230V 326V
Cross-section
mm
2
1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5
Maximum current
A
21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77 21.31 28.77
1m 0.256 0.345 0.511 0.690 1.023 1.381 2.557 3.4519 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
2m 0.131 0.218 0.511 0.690 1.023 1.381 2.557 3.452 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
5m 0.052 0.087 0.209 0.349 0.838 1.3807 2.557 3.451 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
10m 0.026 0.044 0.105 0.175 0.419 0.698 2.557 3.452 4.900 6.616 6.946 9.378
20m 0.013 0.022 0.052 0.087 0.209 0.349 1.309 2.181 4.808 6.616 6.946 9.378
50m 0.005 0.009 0.021 0.035 0.084 0.140 0.524 0.873 1.923 3.206 3.864 6.440
100m 0.003 0.004 0.011 0.018 0.042 0.070 0.262 0.436 0.962 1.603 1.932 3.220
Table B.3.1 Transmissible power with respect to ampacity and voltage drop conditions in function of the appliance distance
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Appendix C
Monte Carlo complements
C.1 Stratied sampling theory
The basic Monte Carlo simulation uses simple sampling as explained in section 3.4.2. In
simple sampling, all samples have the same statistical weight [29]. But some samples
might be more important than others to improve the simulation accuracy.
For example, lets assume we want to simulate a simple system with one input and
one output. If a major amount of inputs gives the same output, it is interesting to pick
some input values outside that amount. One way to do so is stratied sampling [32].
To make use of the stratied sampling method, the inputs are divided in groups
called strata and denoted
h
. The optimal strata distribution is to be decided ac-
cording to the simulation accuracy. The equation C.1.1 shows the output variance
Var
_
L
h=1
h
M
Xh
_
with L the number of strata,
h
the strata weight and M
Xh
the
strata expectation value [32].
Var
_
L
h=1
h
M
Xh
_
=
L
h=1
2
h
Var [M
Xh
] (C.1.1)
In order to reduce the variance, the strata should all be homogeneous Var [M
Xh
].
This means that the output of all the elements of the strata is the same. Stratied
sampling might as well reduce the accuracy if the samples are not properly selected. The
strata can be chosen and dened with the help of a strata tree [32].
Once the strata are chosen, the sample allocation optimization is a question to be
solved. A possibility is to use the Neyman allocation n
h
to minimize the variance. The
formula, displayed in equation C.1.2.
n
h
= n
h
Xh
L
k=1
Xk
(C.1.2)
where,
Xk
=
_
Var [X
k
] and n is the total number of samples
They are dierent problems with the Neyman allocation method. The expectation
value E[X
h
] and the standard deviation
Xh
might not be known for example. A sample
allocation method running simulation in successive batches exists and is therefore named
batch allocation method.
58
C.2 Batch allocation method 59
C.2 Batch allocation method
Figure C.2.1 Scheme of a
Monte Carlo simulation with
batch allocation
We consider a simulation where n samples were already per-
formed and n
b
samples will be collected during the next
batch. The gure C.2.1 illustrates the 6 steps in a batch
allocation Monte Carlo simulation:
Preliminary step: this step is used to get knowl-
edge on the outputs. Typically, a xed number of
samples for each category is sampled.
Step 1. Compromise allocation: at this step, we only
use Neyman allocation from equation C.1.2 to cal-
culate the number n
h
of samples of strata h to be
collected in a simulation with a total of n+n
b
sam-
ples so that
L
h=1
n
h
= n + n
b
. A compromise
must be done to account for multiple outputs. The
average of Neyman allocation is a good approxima-
tion. This rst step cannot be used directly to gen-
erate new scenarios as some strata might already
have too many samples compared to that alloca-
tion. This is the purpose of steps 2 and 3.
Step 2. Comparison calculation: this second step lists
and sums up the wanted and unwanted samples by
comparing the number of samples with the com-
promise allocation. The number of samples for next
batch according to compromise allocation is refered
as n
h,b
. We can name H
+
the set of strata in need
for more samples, n
+
the number of wanted sam-
ples, H
_
1
n
n
+
_
n
h,b
h H
+
(C.2.1)
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
60 Monte Carlo complements
C.3 Appliances equipment rate
Appliance
Equipment rate by household type
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
E1 - Vacuum-cleaner 83.33% 87.76% 92.75% 94.40% 84.44%
E2 - Refrigerator 96.41% 97.85% 97.34% 98.43% 97.67%
E3 - Freezer 32.99% 41.96% 63.43% 67.11% 65.60%
E4 - Dishwasher 22.18% 32.20% 52.17% 63.83% 39.47%
E5 - Microwave 63.44% 81.36% 76.21% 90.38% 83.30%
E6 - Washing machine 80.11% 93.83% 94.87% 97.32% 92.48%
E7 - Dryer 10.16% 26.12% 25.34% 49.72% 29.13%
E8 - TV 94.33% 94.00% 97.00% 97.66% 100.00%
E9 - Landline phone 82.10% 78.30% 93.50% 92.80% 88.90%
E10 - Cellphone 72.33% 95.00% 84.66% 97.00% 99.00%
E11 - Internet modem 13.02% 27.53% 19.36% 41.38% 23.10%
E12 - Desktop computer 37.66% 57.00% 47.66% 78.66% 79.00%
E13 - Laptop 23.33% 17.00% 26.66% 34.33% 40.00%
Table C.3.1 Appliance equipment rate by type of household, France, INSEE 2006 and [33]
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
C
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1
C.4 Appliances usage description
Appliance Frequency Period
Utilisation description by household type
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
min max min max min max min max min max
E1 - Vacuum-cleaner Weekly Duration 0.5 2 1 4 1 4 1 5 1 4
E2 - Refrigerator Daily Duration 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
E3 - Freezer Daily Duration 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
E4 - Dishwasher Weekly Cycle 2 5 1 5 1 5 4 7 2 4
E5 - Microwave Daily Duration 0.25 0.5 0.5 1.5 0.25 0.5 0.5 1.5 0.25 0.75
E6 - Washing machine Weekly Cycle 1 3 2 6 1 4 5 7 4 7
E7 - Dryer Weekly Cycle 1 3 2 6 1 4 5 7 4 7
E8 - TV Weekly Duration 3 40 7 41 10 32 0 30 0 25
E9 - Landline phone Daily Duration 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
E10 - Cellphone Daily Duration 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
E11 - Internet modem Weekly Duration 0 30 0 23 0 22 0 20 0 26
E12 - Desktop computer Weekly Duration 0 30 0 23 0 22 0 20 0 26
E13 - Laptop Weekly Duration 0 30 0 23 0 22 0 20 0 26
Table C.4.1 Usage description of each appliance by household type, INSEE 2006 [33]
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C.5 Appliances consumption
Appliance Category
AC
DC
P
AC
P
DC
On Standby On Standby
% kW or kWh
E1 - Vacuum-cleaner Pure AC 92 95 1.5 0 1.45 0
E2 - Refrigerator Pure AC 92 95 0.035 0 0.034 0
E3 - Freezer Pure AC 92 95 0.04 0 0.039 0
E4 - Dishwasher Pure AC 92 95 1 0 0.97 0
E5 - Microwave Pure DC 86 94 1 1 10
3
0.91 1 10
3
E6 - Washing machine Pure AC 92 95 1.5 0 1.45 0
E7 - Dryer Pure AC 92 95 2 0 1.94 0
E8 - TV Pure DC 86 94 0.15 0.5 10
3
0.137 0
E9 - Landline phone Pure DC 86 94 0 7 10
3
0 6.4 10
3
E10 - Cellphone Pure DC 86 94 0.01 0 0.009 0
E12 - Internet modem Pure DC 86 94 0.021 0.018 0.019 0.017
E13 - Desktop computer Pure DC 86 94 0.205 0.01 0.187 0
E14 - Laptop Pure DC 86 94 0.01 2 10
3
0.009 0
Table C.5.1 Power consumption of the set of appliances [2]
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C.6 Matlab scripts 63
C.6 Matlab scripts
C.6.1 Main code program
1 %%%%%%%%%%
2 % EnEff_ACDC.m file for Monte Carlo simulation
3 %%%%%%%%%%
4 % This is the main file for the Monte Carlo simulation of AC
5 % and DC consumption for various dwellings type.
6 % Nexans Research Center 2011, Pierre Waeckerl
7 % pierre.waeckerleext@nexans.com
8 %
9 %
10 % This file loads the appropriate data
11 % from MonteCarlo_data.xlsx and run the corresponding macros
12 % in the following process:
13 % Choosing dwelling types
14 % For each dwelling, define the appliances
15 % For each appliance, define the utilisation
16 % For each appliance, calculate the yearly consumption
17 % For the whole data sample, reshape data to exhibit
18 % the interesting characteristics.
19 %
20 % This process intends to compare AC and DC consumption.
21 % This model is therefore limited to
22 % that and only that purpose.
23 %
24 % The Monte Carlo simulation uses stratified sampling with
25 % Neyman batch allocation and correlated sampling
26 % for the consumption comparison. The expected result is
27 % not an absolute value but a difference between the AC and DC
28 % dwellings.
29 %
30 %
31 % The following functions are used in the program
32 %(see their own documentation for more information):
33 % Create_Dwelling
34 % Dwelling_simul
35 % batch_alloc
36 % rule_stop
37
38 clear all
39
40 %%%%%%%%%%
41 % Data import
42 % From MonteCarlo_data.xlsx
43
44 % Import the dwelling categories :
45 % their statistical repartition.
46 % The Excel file details which number is
47 % associated with each dwelling constitution type.
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
64 Monte Carlo complements
48
49 % Not cumulated data, this corresponds to strata weight
50 Dwellings_repart = xlsread('MonteCarlo_data.xlsx',...
51 'Dwelling','J3:J7');
52
53 n_dwtype=size(Dwellings_repart,1);
54 % Number of types of dwellings
55
56 % The summary of the values in each strata to decide
57 % the batch allocation for the following loop.
58 Batch_state=zeros(n_dwtype,15);
59
60 Batch_state(:,1)=Dwellings_repart;
61
62 Results=[];% Detailed register of results for
63 % each individual dwelling
64
65 % Import dwellings equipment rates, appliance types (Ex)
66 % in rows, dwelling type in column.
67
68 Equipment_rate = xlsread('MonteCarlo_data.xlsx',...
69 'Equipment','D3:H15');
70
71 n_equip = size(Equipment_rate,1);
72
73 % Import the consumption patterns order as follow:
74 % Calculation code / AC standby power / AC consumption /
75 % DC standby power / DC consumption /
76 % Utilisation description (min/max for each 5 dwelling types)
77
78 Consumption_def = xlsread('MonteCarlo_data.xlsx','Usage',...
79 'D4:R16');
80
81 %%%%%%%%%%
82 % Create the starting batch of 100 dwellings
83 % (20 dwellings per strata)
84
85 N_start = 20; % Starting number of dwelling per strata
86 Batch_state(:,2)=N_start
*
ones(n_dwtype,1);
87
88 Results = Create_Dwelling(Results,Batch_state(:,2),n_dwtype);
89
90 % For each dwelling, define their equipment,
91 % define the equipment utilisation,
92 % calculate the consumption and store the results in 'Results'
93
94 for i=1:size(Results,1)
95 [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on, E_stby, E_on]=...
96 Dwelling_simul(Results(i,1), n_equip,...
97 Equipment_rate, Consumption_def);
98
99 Results(i,2:7)=[E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on,...
100 E_stby, E_on];
101
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
C.6 Matlab scripts 65
102 % Update the batch states
103 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8)=...
104 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8) + Results(i,2:7);
105 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14)=...
106 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14) +...
107 Results(i,2:7).^2;
108 end
109
110 line_stop = i; % last calculated line of the Results matrix
111
112
113 %%%%%%%%%%
114 % Batch allocation
115 % Up to the stopping rule in the rule_stop function
116
117 n_samp_batch = 100; % Samples per batch
118 n_samp_tot = 1000; % Lowest number of samples
119 tolerance = 0.01;
120
121 while rule_stop(Batch_state, n_samp_tot, tolerance) == 0
122 Batch_state(:,15) = ...
123 batch_alloc(Batch_state, n_samp_batch);
124 % Returns the optimal sample allocation for next batch
125
126 Results =...
127 Create_Dwelling(Results,Batch_state(:,15),n_dwtype);
128
129 for i=line_stop+1:size(Results,1)
130 [E_ac_stby,E_ac_on,E_dc_stby,E_dc_on,...
131 E_stby,E_on]=...
132 Dwelling_simul(Results(i,1), n_equip,...
133 Equipment_rate, Consumption_def);
134
135 Results(i,2:7)=...
136 [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on,...
137 E_stby, E_on];
138
139 % Update the batch states
140 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8) = ...
141 Batch_state(Results(i,1),3:8) + Results(i,2:7);
142 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14) = ...
143 Batch_state(Results(i,1),9:14) +...
144 Results(i,2:7).^2;
145 Batch_state(Results(i,1),2) = ...
146 Batch_state(Results(i,1),2) +1;
147 end
148
149 line_stop = size(Results,1);
150 end
151
152 %%%%%%%%%%
153 % Results exploitation
154 % Work with the Batch_state matrix, returns global and
155 % per strata results
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
66 Monte Carlo complements
156
157 Synthesis = zeros(6,14);
158 % Synthesis contains: Strata weight // Samples number //
159 % 6 x Mean (for each output) // 6 x Variance
160
161 Synthesis(1:5,1:2) = Batch_state(1:5,1:2);
162 Synthesis(6,1:2) = sum(Synthesis(1:5,1:2),1);
163
164 for i = 3:8
165 Synthesis(1:5,i) =...
166 Batch_state(:,i)./Batch_state(:,2);
167 % Estimated mean value
168 Synthesis(6,i) =...
169 sum(Synthesis(1:5,1).
*
Synthesis(1:5,i),1);
170 end
171
172 for i=9:14
173 Synthesis(1:5,i) =...
174 Batch_state(:,i)./Batch_state(:,2)...
175 Synthesis(1:5,i6).^2;
176 Synthesis(6,i) =...
177 sum((Synthesis(1:5,1).^2).
*
...
178 Synthesis(1:5,i) ,1);
179 end
180
181 xlswrite('Synthesis.xlsx',Synthesis,'B2:O7');
C.6.2 Household creation
Create the appropriate types of household in the results list, before the simulation of each
household.
1 %% Create_dwelling.m
2 % Add dwellings to the result matrix,
3 % Add_description is a column vector of
4 % 5 elements containing the number of dwellings
5 % to create per type
6
7 function Results =...
8 Create_Dwelling(Results, Add_description, n_dwtype)
9
10 k=size(Results,1)+1;
11
12 if k == 1
13 Results = zeros(1,7);%If Results is an empty vector,
14 % build the 5 columns
15 end
16
17 for i=1:n_dwtype
18 for j=1:Add_description(i)
19 Results(k,1)=i;
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
C.6 Matlab scripts 67
20 k=k+1;
21 end
22 end
C.6.3 Household simulation
For each household, create the set of appliances, randomize the corresponding usage de-
scriptions and return the consumptions
1 %% Dwelling_simul.m
2 % Simulate the yearly consumption for a given dwelling type.
3 % [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on, E_stby, E_on
4 % ]=Dwelling_simul(Dw_type, n_equip, Equipment_rate,
5 % Consumption_def)
6 %
7 % Based on simple Monte Carlo process
8 % Uses the following subfunctions:
9 % rand_equip
10 % rand_conso
11 %
12 % Returns the following:
13 % E_ac_stby: Yearly consumption of appliances
14 % in standby AC mode
15 % E_ac_on: Yearly consumption of appliances
16 % in working AC mode
17 % E_dc_stby: Yearly consumption of appliances
18 % in standby DC mode
19 % E_dc_on: Yearly consumption of appliances
20 % in working DC mode
21 % E_stby: Yearly consumption difference between
22 % AC and DC working consumption
23 % E_on: Yearly consumption difference between
24 % AC and DC working consumption
25
26
27 function [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on,...
28 E_stby, E_on ]=Dwelling_simul(Dw_type, n_equip,..
29 Equipment_rate, Consumption_def)
30
31 Equipments=zeros(n_equip,7);
32 Equipments(:,1)=Consumption_def(:,1);
33
34 for i=1:n_equip
35 Equipments(i,2)=rand_equip(Equipment_rate(i,Dw_type));
36
37 if Equipments(i,2) == 1
38 Equipments(i,3)=rand_conso(i, Dw_type,...
39 Consumption_def);
40 [Equipments(i,4), Equipments(i,5),...
41 Equipments(i,6), Equipments(i,7)] =...
42 calc_conso(Equipments(i,1), Equipments(i,3),...
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
68 Monte Carlo complements
43 i, Consumption_def) ;
44
45 end
46 end
47
48 E_ac_stby = sum(Equipments(:,4));
49 E_ac_on = sum(Equipments(:,5));
50 E_dc_stby = sum(Equipments(:,6));
51 E_dc_on = sum(Equipments(:,7));
52
53 E_stby = E_dc_stby E_ac_stby;
54 E_on = E_dc_on E_ac_on;
55
56 end
C.6.4 Set of equipments
1 %% rand_equip.m
2 % Simplified inverse transform method
3 % for duogenous populations
4 % (to be later optimized with Dagger sampling)
5 % Take the equipment rate in arguments
6 % Randomize and convert a U(0,1)distributed number
7 % into the existence or not of the given equipment
8
9 function YoN_equip = rand_equip(Equip_rate);
10
11 U=rand(1);
12
13 if U < Equip_rate
14 YoN_equip = 1;
15 else
16 YoN_equip = 0;
17 end
C.6.5 Consumption patterns
1 %% rand_conso.m
2 % Returns the consumption description (time or cycle)
3 %
4 % Considering that the utilisation is described
5 % by a uniform distribution
6 % between a minimal and maximal value
7 % contained in Consumption_def
8
9
10 function conso_descript = rand_conso(ref_app, Dw_type,...
11 Consumption_def)
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
C.6 Matlab scripts 69
12
13 U = rand(1);
14 t_min = Consumption_def(ref_app,4+2
*
Dw_type);
15 % Look for the minimum usage value
16 % of the appliance ref_app for the
17 % dwelling category Dw_type
18
19 t_max = Consumption_def(ref_app,5+2
*
Dw_type);
20 % Look for the maximum usage value
21 % of the appliance ref_app for the
22 % dwelling category Dw_type
23
24 conso_descript = U
*
(t_max t_min) + t_min;
25
26 end
C.6.6 Consumption calculation
Sub-program to calculate the consumption of an appliance referred to by his usage type
given the usage description.
1 %% calc_conso.m
2 %
3 % Yearly consumption calculation
4 % Returns On and Standby consumption, in AC and DC mode
5 % for a given type of usage description
6 % coded 11, 12 and 20 see xlsx file
7 %
8 % Nexans 2011 Pierre Waeckerl
9 %
10
11 function [E_ac_stby, E_ac_on, E_dc_stby, E_dc_on] =...
12 calc_conso(conso_code, conso_descript,...
13 ref_app, Consumption_def)
14
15 if conso_code == 11
16
17 % Weekly Duration description
18 E_ac_stby = 52
*
(7
*
24conso_descript)
*
...
19 Consumption_def(ref_app, 2);
20 E_ac_on = 52
*
conso_descript
*
...
21 Consumption_def(ref_app, 3);
22
23 E_dc_stby = 52
*
(7
*
24conso_descript)
*
...
24 Consumption_def(ref_app, 4);
25 E_dc_on = 52
*
conso_descript
*
...
26 Consumption_def(ref_app, 5);
27
28
29 elseif conso_code == 12
30
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
70 Monte Carlo complements
31 % Daily Duration description
32 E_ac_stby = 365
*
(24 conso_descript)
*
...
33 Consumption_def(ref_app, 2);
34 E_ac_on = 365
*
conso_descript
*
Consumption_def(ref_app, 3);
35
36 E_dc_stby = 365
*
(24conso_descript)
*
...
37 Consumption_def(ref_app, 4);
38 E_dc_on = 365
*
conso_descript
*
Consumption_def(ref_app, 5);
39
40 elseif conso_code == 20
41
42 % Weekly Cycle description
43 E_ac_stby = 52
*
7
*
24
*
Consumption_def(ref_app, 2);
44 E_ac_on = 52
*
Consumption_def(ref_app, 3);
45
46 E_dc_stby = 52
*
7
*
24
*
Consumption_def(ref_app, 4);
47 E_dc_on = 52
*
Consumption_def(ref_app, 5);
48
49
50 end
C.6.7 Calculation stopping rule
Stopping rule on the dierences.
1 %% rule_stop.m
2 % Returns 1 when the simulation can be stopped, 0 else
3
4 function Stop = rule_stop(Batch_state, n_samp_tot, tolerance)
5
6 Stop = 1;
7 if sum(Batch_state(:,2),1) < n_samp_tot
8 Stop = 0;
9 return
10 end
11
12 temp = zeros(5,2);
13
14 for i = 1:2
15 for j = 1:5
16 temp(j,i)=...
17 abs(sqrt(Batch_state(j,i+12)/Batch_state(j,2)...
18 (Batch_state(j,i+6)/Batch_state(j,2))^2)/...
19 (Batch_state(j,i+6)
*
sqrt(Batch_state(j,2))));
20 end
21 end
22
23 for i = 1:2
24 for j=1:5
25 if temp(j,i) > tolerance
26 Stop = 0;
27 return
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
C.6 Matlab scripts 71
28 end
29 end
30 end
31
32
33
34 end
C.6.8 Batch allocation
1 %% batch_alloc.m
2 % Calculated the best sample allocation for the next batch
3 % Based on difference values
4
5 function Next_Batch = batch_alloc(Batch_state, n_samp_batch)
6
7 %%%%%%%%%%
8 %%% Data Preparation
9 %%%%%%%%%%
10
11 % Calculate the estimated mean value (C34)
12 % and standard deviation (C56)
13 % in temp_batch for each of the 2 outputs (E_stby and E_on)
14 % Include also the strata weight (C1)
15 % and the number of samples already
16 % calculated for the strata (C2)
17 % This temporary matrix is the calculation memory database.
18 % It will also store:
19 % Neyman batch allocation for output 1 (C7)
20 % Neyman batch allocation for output 2 (C8)
21 % Mean of Neyman allocation for the set of 2 outputs (C9)
22 % Preliminary batch (C10)
23
24 temp_batch = zeros(5,10);
25
26 temp_batch(:,1) = Batch_state(:,1);
27 temp_batch(:,2) = Batch_state(:,2);
28
29 for i=3:4
30 temp_batch(:,i) = Batch_state(:,i+4)./Batch_state(:,2);
31 % Estimated mean value
32 end
33
34 for i=5:6
35 temp_batch(:,i) =...
36 sqrt(Batch_state(:,i+8)./Batch_state(:,2) ...
37 temp_batch(:,i2).^2);
38 end
39
40 %%%%%%%%%%
41 %%% Step 1: Compromise allocation Neyman
Pierre Waeckerl June 29, 2011 Master thesis
72 Monte Carlo complements
42 %%%%%%%%%%
43
44 n = sum(temp_batch(:,2),1) + n_samp_batch;
45 % Total number of samples after that batch
46
47 part_calc = zeros(2,1);
48
49 for i=1:2
50 part_calc(i) = sum(temp_batch(:,1).
*
...
51 temp_batch(:,i+4));
52 temp_batch(:,i+6) = n.
*
temp_batch(:,1).
*
...
53 temp_batch(:,i+4)/part_calc(i);
54 end
55
56 temp_batch(:,9) = mean(temp_batch(:,7:8),2);
57
58 %%%%%%%%%%
59 %%% Step 2: Preliminary batch
60 %%%%%%%%%%
61
62 temp_batch(:,10) = temp_batch(:,9) temp_batch(:,2);
63
64 %%%%%%%%%%
65 %%% Step 36: Strata differentiation
66 %%%%%%%%%%
67
68 H_plus= temp_batch(:,10)>0;
69 % Indices of strata needing more samples
70 H_minus=temp_batch(:,10)<=0;
71 % Indices of strata needing less samples
72 n_plus=sum(temp_batch(H_plus,10));
73 n_minus=sum(temp_batch(H_minus,10));
74
75 %%%%%%%%%%
76 %%%% Step 7: Batch allocation
77 %%%%%%%%%%
78
79 Next_Batch = zeros(size(Batch_state,1),1);
80 Next_Batch(H_plus)=floor((1n_minus/n_plus)
*
...
81 temp_batch(H_plus,10));
Nexans Research Center, Nexans, Lyon EPS lab, KTH, Stockholm
Glossary
AC Alternating Current. iii, 1, 2, 14, 17, 21, 22, 28, 41
ampacity is the maximum amount of current a conductor can carry before sustaining
immediate or progressive deterioration, also called current rating. 25, 30, 32, 33, 35, 57
DC Direct Current. ii, iii, 2, 16, 17, 22, 28, 41
distribution power grid concerns the LV/MV portion of the grid, which is the nal
stage of power delivery to end users. 22, 30, 33, 49
distribution conguration 30
distribution layout 22, 36
distribution network 1, 18
distribution system 21, 24
ELV Extremely Low Voltage. 36
HFFR Halogen Free Fire Resistant. 18
household power grid refers to the low voltage power grid of nal users such as house-
holds and oces. 30
household conguration 30
HV High Voltage. 2
HVDC High Voltage Direct Current. 1, 3, 5
ICT Information and Communications Technology. 14, 15, 47
IEC International Electro-technical Commission. 8
IGBT Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor. 5
INSEE Institut National de la Statistique et des tudes conomiques, french national
statistics oce. 10, 11, 14, 15, 41, 42, 44, 60, 61
LV Low Voltage. 1, 18, 22, 26
LVAC Low Voltage Alternative Current. ii, iii, 1, 20, 22
LVDC Low Voltage Direct Current. ii, iii, 1, 2, 20, 22, 30, 47
Monte Carlo is a simulation method calculating the result of repeated random sampling.
Monte Carlo methods are employed when deterministic calculation is not possible. 22,
40, 41, 58, 59
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 16
PV Photo-voltaic. 15, 16, 18
PVC Polyvinyl chloride. 18
SMPS Switched-Mode Power Supply. 8, 43, 44
XLPE reticulated polyethylene. 18
73
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