1

Study of Energy Management for Decreasing

Reverse Power Flow from Photovoltaic Power
Systems
Hiroyuki Hatta, Member, IEEE, Masahiro Asari, Member, IEEE, and Hiromu Kobayashi

 is expected to reduce the storage capacity. For a controllable

Abstract—When the volume of distributed generation (DG),
including photovoltaic (PV) power systems, is increased, reverse
power flow from DG may cause problems. To reduce the reverse
power flow from PV power systems, energy management by use
of storage batteries is expected to be a solution. In addition, the
combination with load control is expected to reduce the storage
capacity. In this study, energy management methods by use of the
Supply and Demand Interface (SDI), which is a device to control
DG, batteries and loads, are proposed and the effectiveness of the
methods are evaluated by simulation analyses. The simulation
results show that the amount of reverse power flow from PV
power systems is reduced by the proposed energy management
methods, and the load control is effective in reducing the reverse
power flow. The required storage capacity to prevent the reverse
power flow from the distribution line to the transmission line is
also shown.
Index Terms—Distributed power generation, Photovoltaic
power systems, Power distribution, Power electronics, Power
system control, Voltage control
I. INTRODUCTION
I N recent years, the volume of distributed generation
(DG), including renewable sources such as photovoltaic
(PV) power systems, is increasing in the distribution system.
Then, reverse power flow from the PV may cause problems in
the distribution system. One problem is the voltage rise at the
distribution line [1][2], and another problem is the reverse
power flow from the distribution line to the transmission line
through a substation because it is prohibited in Japan.
To limit the voltage rise, power conditioning subsystem of
the PV system has a grid over-voltage protection function and
regulates output power of the PV system [2], and the control
Central
devices such as static var compensators (SVC) can be used for System
distribution line voltage control [3][4][5]. However, reduction
of PV power output causes a significant amount of energy loss,
and the distribution line loss is increased by reactive power Substation
control of PV and SVC.
To reduce the reverse power flow without a large amount
of energy loss, energy management by use of storage battery is
expected to be a solution. But the cost of the storage battery is
relatively high. Therefore, the combination with load control Fig. 1. Distribution System with Supply and Demand Interface.
consumer loads, water heaters are appropriate because they
can store thermal energy [1][6].
In this work, the energy management methods by use of
batteries and heat pump water heaters are proposed and the
effectiveness of the methods are evaluated by simulation
analyses. The simulation results show that the amount of
reverse power flow is reduced by the proposed energy
management methods, and the load control is effective in
reducing the reverse power flow. The required storage
capacity to prevent the reverse power flow from the
distribution line to the transmission line is also shown.
II. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WITH SUPPLY AND DEMAND
INTERFACE
The Autonomous Demand Area Power System (ADAPS) is
proposed as a future distribution system to cope with the large
volume of DG by use of a communication network and
advanced power electronics [5][7]. Operation techniques of
the ADAPS using advanced power electronics and
communication technologies to maintain the voltage are
developed and demonstrated [8][9].
The Supply and Demand Interface (SDI) has been proposed
and developed as a component of the ADAPS for effective
operation and control of customer equipments. The
configuration of the distribution system with SDI is shown in
Fig. 1. The SDI is a device that is installed at each customer
site, and is connected to the central control system, which
controls voltage and power flow of distribution system by the
communication network.
Communication Network
SDI
SDI SDI
Customer Customer Customer

H. Hatta, M. Asari and H. Kobayashi are with System Engineering

Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry,
Tokyo, JAPAN (e-mail: hatta@criepi.denken.or.jp; asari@criepi.denken.or.jp;
hiromuk@criepi.denken.or.jp).
 2

Receiving Point
Supply & Demand Interface
Minimize Reverse Monitoring
• Communication
Power Flow
• Monitoring and Metering
• Controlling DGs, Loads and Batteries Customer
SDI
Fig. 2. Major Functions of Supply and Demand Interface.
Control
The major functions of the SDI are shown in Fig. 2. The
SDI monitors the customer equipments such as the DG system,
battery and loads. The SDI also exchanges information with
the central control system, which operates the whole DG Battery Load
distribution line through the use of the communication
network. Furthermore, the SDI controls customer equipments, Fig. 3. Concept of Local Control Method for Energy Management.
such as the DG system, battery and controllable loads.
SDI
III. ENERGY MANAGEMENT METHOD TO DECREASE REVERSE 1. Estimation
- PV output - PV output
POWER FLOW
- Load consumption - Load pattern
Energy management methods to decrease reverse power
flow from DG are proposed. The proposed methods are the <historical data> 2. Determination
- Maximal reverse power flow
local control method used at the customer site and the
centralized control method used in the distribution line. The 3. Control
Reverse power flow - PV output
SDI is used as a controller in both methods.
- Controllable Load
A. Local Control Method for Energy Management <monitoring data>
Figure 3 shows the concept of the local control method for Fig. 4. Procedure of Local Control Method using SDI.
energy management. To minimize the reverse power flow of B. Centralized Control Method for Energy Management
the customer, the SDI monitors the power flow at the
The concept of the centralized control method is shown in
receiving point of the customer and controls the battery and
Fig. 5. The central control system monitors the power flow of
loads at the customer site.
the distribution line, and determines the maximal reverse
Procedure of the local control method using the SDI is
power flow per customer to prevent reverse power flow from
shown in Fig.4. At first, the SDI estimates PV output and load
the distribution line to the upper transmission line. Then, the
pattern by use of the historical data. Then, a limit value of the
central control system sends the information to the SDI.
reverse power flow at the customer site is determined. The
The SDI operates storage batteries and controllable loads
maximal reverse power flow Pmax is decided according to (1)
according to the information from the central control system.
and (2), where Pr is the estimated reverse power flow at the
In this study, HPWHs are used as a controllable loads and are
customer site and S is the storage capacity of the battery.
operated before storage batteries. Storage batteries charge
­ Pr  Pmax : Pr ! Pmax
f (t ) ®
0 :P dP
1 surplus reverse power over the maximal reverse power flow at
the customer site.
¯ r max
S ³ f ( t ) dt 2  Substation Central Information
The SDI monitors the reverse power flow at the customer System
and operates the battery and loads to reduce the reverse power
flow under the limit value.
In this study, heat pump water heater (HPWH) is selected
as a controllable load. Daily operation patterns of HPWH are Prevent Reverse Customer
SDI
determined at previous night, and the HPWH is operated Power Flow
before batteries. Batteries are operated to charge electric Control
power when reverse power flow at the customer site exceeds
the limit value after the operation of the HPWH.
DG Battery Load

Fig. 5. Concept of Centralized Control Method for Energy Management.

 3

IV. SIMULATION ANALYSES

Simulation analyses using typical weather data of Japan 0.6
Fine (Jan. 3) Cloudy (Jun. 20)
were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed

Solar Radiation (kW/m )

2
0.5
energy management methods.
0.4
A. Simulation Conditions
0.3
In this study, the simulation analyses for one year are
carried out. In the analyses, the time interval is set to one hour. 0.2
The seasonal load patterns of a residential area are set as 0.1
shown in Fig. 6. Figure 6 shows the hourly load data of
seasons based on the distribution line capacity. Seasons are set 0
in the load pattern as follows: summer is from July to 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24

September, winter is between December and February, and the Time (hour)

other months are spring or autumn. Fig. 8. Examples of Solar Radiation Data.
As a distributed generation model, a photovoltaic (PV) B. Controllable Load
system model is used in the simulation analyses. The output
The typical household energy consumption in Japan is as
power of the PV system is calculated using the typical solar
follows. The percentage of lighting and motive loads is 37 %,
radiation data of the Tokyo area. Figure 7 shows quantity of
the percentage of hot water supply is 31 %, the percentage of
the solar radiation per month. Figure 8 shows examples of the
heating is 27 %, the percentage of cooking is 6 % and the
solar radiation data, one is the solar radiation data of fine day
percentage of cooling is 1 %. In this paper, heat pump water
and the other is that of cloudy day. The battery model is made
heaters (HPWHs) are selected as controllable loads because of
based on the lead acid battery. The depth of discharge and
the large energy consumption and flexibility of heat storage.
discharge efficiency are set to 50 % and 80 %, respectively.
The HPWHs are usually operated at night because the price of
Self-discharge of the battery is not considered in the analyses.
electricity is low. In this study, the HPWH is operated in the
daytime when the output power of PV system becomes large.
1.00 Annual household energy consumption for hot water
supply is 12078 MJ in Japan. If the coefficient of performance
0.80
Summer of the HPWH is set to 3.0, the annual electric power
consumption of the HPWH is 1120 kWh. Therefore, the daily
Load 䋨p.u.䋩

0.60
electric power consumption of the HPWH is about 3 kWh. In
Winter
the analyses, the rated power of the HPWH is set at 1 kW and
0.40
the maximal operation time of the HPWH is set at 3 hours.
Spring, Autumn
0.20 C. Reverse Power Flow at Customer
The effect of reducing the reverse power flow by the local
0.00
control method is calculated. The capacity of the PV system is
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
4 kW, and the storage capacity of the battery is 10 kWh. The
Time (hour)
operation pattern of the HPWH and the limit value of the
Fig. 6. Seasonal Load Patterns of Residential Area. reverse power flow, used for battery control, are determined
on the night of the previous day by use of the historical power
Monthly Solar Radiation (kWh/m2)

150
flow data. Figure 9 shows an example of the power flow at the
customer site. The reverse power flow is reduced by local
100
battery control, and load control by the HPWH is effective in
reducing the reverse power flow.
Figure 10 shows the maximum reverse power flow at
customer site when the HPWH is controlled with the storage
50
battery. The maximum reverse power flow without HPWH is
2.8 kW. The maximum reverse power flow is decreased with
the operation time of HPWH, and the maximum reverse power
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
flow becomes 2.3 kW when the HPWH is operated 3 hours in
the daytime.
The maximum reverse power flow obtained by the
Fig. 7. Monthly Solar Radiation Data.
simulation analyses are shown in Fig. 11. The maximum
reverse power flow is decreased 22 % by the battery control.
Furthermore, the maximum reverse power flow is decreased
another 19 % after the combination of load control by the
HPWH with the battery control.
 4

without Control with Battery Control with Battery and Load Control capacity of the battery is increased with the PV penetration
1 ⛎ḡེ
Water Battery Discharging ratio. If the HPWH is controlled with the battery, the capacity
䉕ㆇォ
Heater of the battery is reduced.
0 Figure 14 shows the required kWh storage capacity of
Power Flow䇭(kW)

battery per customer when the PV penetration ratio is 50 %. If

load control by HPWH is used with battery control, the
-1 Limit Value
Load Control
required battery kWh storage capacity is 48% smaller than that
without load control.
-2
Battery Charging
Reverse Power Flow 3

Battery kW Capacity [kW/Customer]

-3
without Load Control
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Time (hour)
2
Fig. 9. Example of Local Control at Customer Site.
with Load Control
3
Maximum Reverse Power Flow (kW)

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
1 PV Penetration Ratio [%]

Fig. 12. Battery kW Capacity per Customer.

40
Storage Capacity [kWh/Customer]

0
0 1 2 3 without Load Control
Operation Time of HPWH (hour) 30
Fig. 10. Operation Time of HPWH and Maximum Reverse Power Flow at
Customer Site. Storage Capacity
20 is reduced with Load Control
Maximum Reverse Power Flow (kW)

Decreased 10
3 22 %
Decreased
19 % 0
2 0 20 40 60 80 100
PV Penetration Ratio [%]

1 Fig. 13. Battery Storage Capacity per Customer.

20
Storage Capacity [kWh/Customer]

0
without Control with Battery Control with Battery and
15
Load Control

Fig. 11. Maximum Reverse Power Flow at Customer Site.

10 Decreased
D. Storage Capacity in Distribution System
48 %
The required battery storage capacity to prevent the reverse
power flow of the distribution line by the centralized control 5
method is calculated. The SDI and the storage battery are
installed at each customer site with the DG system. The
0
storage batteries absorb power equally on account of the without Load Control with Load Control
information from the central control system. When the load
Fig. 14. Battery Storage Capacity per Customer (PV penetration ratio is
control is used with battery control, the HPWH is operated for 50%).
3 hours.
Figure 12 and Figure 13 shows the kW capacity of battery
per customer and the kWh storage capacity of battery per
customer, respectively. If the PV penetration ratio is larger
than 20 %, the storage battery is necessary to prevent the
reverse power flow to the upper transmission system. The
 5

V. CONCLUSIONS VII. BIOGRAPHIES

Energy management methods by use of the SDI were
proposed, and the simulation analyses were carried out to
evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. The
purpose of the local control method is to minimize reverse
power flow at the customer site and that of the centralized
control method is to prevent reverse power flow from the
distribution system to the upper transmission system.
It was pointed out by the simulation analyses that load
control by the HPWH combined with battery control is
effective for each method. By use of the load control, the
maximum reverse power flow of the customer with the local
control method is reduced. The maximum reverse power flow
at customer site is decreased 19 % when the HPWH is
controlled with the storage battery. The required kW capacity
and kWh storage capacity of the battery storage for the
centralized control is also reduced by the load control using
HPWH. When the PV penetration ratio is 50 %, the required
kWh storage capacity of battery per customer becomes 48%
smaller by the load control using HPWH than that without
load control.
The output prediction of PV generation and the total
operation of the distribution system to control the reverse
power flow are issues for future studies.
Hiroyuki Hatta (S’2000, M’2004) was born in Japan, in 1976. He received
B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University
of Tokyo in 1998, 2000, and 2003 respectively. He joined the Central
Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) in 2003. He is now a
research scientist in System Engineering Research Lab. at CRIEPI. His
research interests are in the area of power system control and distributed
generations.
Masahiro Asari (M’1999) was born in Wakayama, Japan on February 27,
1966. He has received his B.E. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering
from Waseda University in 1988 and 1990, respectively. In 1990, he joined
Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo (Japan). Since
then, he has been engaging in the study on distributed power generation,
renewable energy, and distribution systems analysis.
Hiromu Kobayashi was born on December 28, 1956. He received his B.E.
and M.E. degrees in Electronic Engineering from Hokkaido University,
Sapporo, Japan in 1980, 1982, respectively. He received Dr. Eng. Degrees
from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan in
2001. In 1982, he joined CRIEPI. He was a visiting researcher in the
University of Texas at Arlington from 1995 through 1996. He has been
involved with development of PV system and grid interconnection technique
for distributed power generation.

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