Front Matter Free

In memory of my beloved wife Lea and my sweet daughter Maya

The content of this book is derived from the development, the changes, and the needs of the electric utility companies due to the restructuring orders imposed by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, in the late 1990s. The material, the order of the chapters, and the practice problems are also based on years of teaching experience including students' reaction during and after class and their knowledge acquisition.

The material of this book deals with the fundamentals of distributed generation systems and is relevant as a beginning graduate level course. The entire text can be covered in one academic semester (15 weeks). A prerequisite course on the fundamental of electric power systems analysis is required. Although reviews of technical material in appropriate chapters are included in the book, an advance knowledge of rotating machines and power electronics would be helpful to the reader. Examples with detailed solutions and drill problems are included in various chapters to provide a better grasp of the analysis and the performance features of major components of distributed generation systems.

The book is divided into three main parts:

Part I: Distributed Generation Sources—An Overview

Distributed generation systems are identified by their energy source technologies, such as wind farms, solar cell farms, microturbine systems, fuel cell plants, or gas turbine power generation. This part addresses briefly the principles of operation of six commonly used distributed generators: Fuel Cells, Solar Cells, Gas Turbines, Microturbines, Reciprocate Internal Combustion Engines, and Wind Turbines.

Part II: Major Electrical Components

This part addresses in detail three major electrical components that are used with distributed generation systems: two components, an induction generator and a synchronous generator, convert mechanical power into electrical power; and the third component, a static converter that can be used to control the flow of power and to convert DC power into AC power. Each component is reviewed analytically as related to the application, either as a stand-alone system or when connected to the utility line.

Part III: Interaction with the Utility Grid

This part addresses issues related to the proliferation of distributed small generators into the existing distribution networks, such as harmonic current distortion, stability of the grid voltage, reactive voltampere control, voltage regulation, and fault conditions that affect the original setting of relay protection systems.

Note: The manual of detailed solutions for all problems is available as online supplementary material.

Through years of developing and teaching the distributed generation course, I have received valuable help from many colleagues and would like to sincerely thank them all, especially Professors Enrico Levi, Leo Birenbaum, Dariusz Czarkowski, and George Vradis. A special thanks also to Professor Francisco de Leon of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at NYU for his invaluable technical help in the preparation of the manuscript for the textbook.

I also would like to thank AIP Publishing for their excellent work, especially Ms. Martine Felton and Ms. Simina Calin for their valuable support and help.

Two computer programs were extremely helpful in preparing the material for publication: LiveMath Maker, which is a computer algebra and graphing system, and Canvas X Draw, which is a graphic design software.