Protection Scheme for a Residential DC Microgrid

This paper presents a protection scheme for power distribution systems based on a DC Microgrid. The protection concept is applicable to a system architecture where energy storage resources are present in ALL the loads/prosumers served by the distribution network. The protection scheme operation is based on using the energy storage resources located at the prosumers to decouple the load and local generation transients from the power demanded by or supplied to the DC distribution line. Specific patterns for the current exchanged between the distribution line and the consumers are used so that it becomes easy to differentiate normal operation from fault conditions. The concept has been experimentally implemented and deployed at a DC microgrid demonstration in Albuquerque, New Mexico.