ECE 333

Renewable Energy Systems

Lecture 5: Transformers, Harmonics, Power
Industry History

Prof. Tom Overbye

Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
overbye@illinois.edu
Announcements

• Be reading Chapter 3 from the book

• Homework 2 is 2.16, 3.5, 3.8, 3.12, 3.13 It will be
covered by an in-class quiz on Thursday Feb 5
• Talk by Jana Sebestik, "Sparking Interest in Smart Grid
Stuff", Friday Feb 6 at 1pm in NCSA Auditorium

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Internships: San Diego Gas & Electric

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 In the News

• In a report released on Jan 29, 2015, the World

Resources Institute released a report stating that
Western governments made a mistake supporting
large-scale conversion of plants into fuel
• Key point is biofuels are so inefficient they are
unlikely to ever supply a substantial portion of global
energy demand
– Biofuel claims have been vastly exaggerated
– Inherent competition between using plants and land for
biofuels versus their use for food and carbon storage; 30 to
40% of US corn crop is currently converted to fuel
Source: NYTimes, "New Report Urges Western Governments to Reconsider Reliance on Biofuels," Jan 28, 2015
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US Corn Prices, Last Five Years

http://spendmatters.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Corn-CBOT.jpg (CBOT is Chicago Board of Trade)

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Transformers Overview

• Power systems are characterized by many different

voltage levels, ranging from 765 kV down to
240/120 volts.
• Transformers are used to transfer power between
different voltage levels.
• The ability to inexpensively change voltage levels
is a key advantage of ac systems over dc systems.
• In 333 we just introduce the ideal transformer, with
more details covered in 330 and 476.

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Distribution Transformer Picture

LTC
Radiators
W/Fans
115 – 35 kV distribution transformer
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Transmission Level Transformer

230 kV surge 115 kV surge

arrestors arrestors

Oil Cooler
Oil
Radiators
pump
W/Fans
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Ideal Transformer

• We’ll develop the voltage/current relationships for

an ideal transformer
– no real power losses
– magnetic core has infinite permeability
– no leakage flux
• We’ll define the “primary” side of the transformer
as the side that usually takes power, and the
secondary as the side that usually delivers power.
– primary is usually the side with the higher voltage, but
may be the low voltage side on a generator step-up
transformer.

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Ideal Transformer Relationships

Assume we have flux m in magnetic material. Then

1  N1m 2  N 2m
d 1 d m d 2 d m
v1   N1 v2   N2
dt dt dt dt
d m v1 v2 v1 N1
     a = turns ratio
dt N1 N2 v2 N2
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Current Relationships
To get the current relationships use ampere's law
mmf   H dL  N1i1  N 2i2'
H  length  N1i1  N 2i2'
B  length
 N1i1  N 2i2'

Assuming uniform flux density in the core
  length
 N1i1  N 2i2'
  area

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 Current/Voltage Relationships

If  is infinite then 0  N1i1  N 2i2' . Hence

i1 N2 i1 N2 1
'
  or  
i2 N1 i2 N1 a
Then
a 0  v
v1     2
i   1  
 1 0   i2 
 a

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Impedance Transformation Example

Example: Calculate the primary voltage and current

for an impedance load on the secondary
 a 0   v2 
 v1  
i   1   v2 
 1 0  
 a  Z

1 v2
v1  a v2 i1 
aZ
v1
 a2 Z
i1
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Real Transformers

• Real transformers
– have losses
– have leakage flux
– have finite permeability of magnetic core
• Also issues about how three phase transformers are
connected
• Details are covered in ECE 330 and 476

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Residential Distribution Transformers

Single phase transformers are commonly used in

residential distribution systems. Most distribution
systems are 4 wire, with a multi-grounded, common
neutral.

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Power System Harmonics

• So far class has talked about fundamental frequency

analysis. Many traditional loads only consume
power at the fundamental frequency. However,
some loads, mostly electronic-based, tend to draw
current in non-linear pulses, which gives rise to
harmonics.
– If current has half-wave-symmetry (values are equal and
opposite when separated by T/2) then there are no even
harmonics

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 Quick Review of Fourier Analysis

 a0 
f(t)   .   a1 cos t  a2 cos 2t  a3 cos3t 
2
 b1 sin t  b2 sin 2t  b3 sin 3t 
where   2 f  2 T ,
T
2
a n   f (t )cos nt dt , n  0,1,2,
T0
T
2
bn   f (t )sin nt dt , n  1,2,
T0
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 Quick Review of Fourier Analysis

 a0 
f(t)   .   a1 cos t  a2 cos 2t  a3 cos3t 
2
 b1 sin t  b2 sin 2t  b3 sin 3t 
where   2 f  2 T ,
T
2
a n   f (t )cos nt dt , n  0,1,2,
T0
T
2
bn   f (t )sin nt dt , n  1,2,
T0
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Switched-Mode Power Supply Current

Source: www.utterpower.com/commercial_grid.htm
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Harmonic Current Spectrum

The below figure shows the harmonic current

components for an 18-W, electronic-ballast compact
fluorescent lamp.

Source: Fig 2.34 of “Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems” by Masters, 1st edition 19
Current Waveform for CFL

i( A)  2  0.145cos t  0.140cos3t  0.132cos5t  0.155cos7t  

Figure 2.35

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 Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

I rms  (i )avg   2  I1 cos t  I 2 cos2t  I 3 cos3t   avg

2
2

But the square term is simplied by recognizing

( a  b  c  )2  ( a 2  b 2  c 2   2ab  2ac  2bc 
and noting that the average value of the product of two sinusoids
of differing frequency is zero. This leaves
 I12 I 22 I 32 
I rms  2       I12  I 22  I 32 
2 2 2 
A common metric for distortion is total harmonic distortion (THD)
I 22  I 32  I 42 
THD 
I1

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Key Problems with Harmonics

• A key problem with the third harmonic is neutral

current since the fundamental 120 degree phase shift
becomes 360 degrees for the third harmonic so the
third harmonic values do not cancel (also true for
other triplen harmonics)
– Delta-grounded wye transformers prevent triplen harmonic
currents from flowing into the power grid
• Harmonics cause transformer overheating since core
losses are proportional to frequency
• Harmonic resonance, particularly with shunt
capacitors (can be around 5th or 7th harmonic values)
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Power Supplies for AC to DC

• Two main types of power supplies: linear (simpler)

and switched-mode (more efficient)

Linear Switched-mode 23
 A Little Background on the Electric
Utility Industry
• First real practical uses of electricity began with the
telegraph (around the civil war) and then arc lighting in
the 1870’s (Broadway, the “Great White Way”).
• Central stations for lighting began with Edison in 1882,
using a dc system (safety was key), but transitioned to
ac within several years. Chicago World’s fair in 1893
was key demonstration of electricity
• High voltage ac started being used in the 1890’s with
the Niagara power plant transferring electricity to
Buffalo; also 30kV line in Germany
• Frequency standardized in the 1930’s
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 Regulation and Large Utilities

• Electric usage spread rapidly, particularly in urban areas.

Samuel Insull (originally Edison’s secretary, but later
from Chicago) played a major role in the development of
large electric utilities and their holding companies
– Insull was also instrumental in start of state regulation in 1890’s
• Public Utilities Holding Company Act (PUHCA) of 1935
essentially broke up inter-state holding companies
– This gave rise to electric utilities that only operated in one state
– PUHCA was repealed in 2005
• For most of the last century electric utilities operated as
vertical monopolies
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Vertical Monopolies
• Within a particular geographic market, the electric
utility had an exclusive franchise

In return for this exclusive

Generation
franchise, the utility had the
obligation to serve all
Transmission
existing and future customers
at rates determined jointly
Distribution by utility and regulators
Customer Service It was a “cost plus” business

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Vertical Monopolies

• Within its service territory each utility was the only

game in town
• Neighboring utilities functioned more as colleagues
than competitors
• Utilities gradually interconnected their systems so
by 1970 transmission lines crisscrossed North
America, with voltages up to 765 kV
• Economies of scale keep resulted in decreasing
rates, so most every one was happy

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History, cont’d -- 1970’s

• 1970’s brought inflation, increased fossil-fuel

prices, calls for conservation and growing
environmental concerns
• Increasing rates replaced decreasing ones
• As a result, U.S. Congress passed Public Utilities
Regulator Policies Act (PURPA) in 1978, which
mandated utilities must purchase power from
independent generators located in their service
territory (modified 2005)
• PURPA introduced some competition, but its
implementation varied greatly by state
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 PURPA and Renewables

• PURPA, through favorable contracts, caused the growth

of a large amount of renewable energy in the 1980’s
(about 12,000 MW of wind, geothermal, small scale
hydro, biomass, and solar thermal)
– These were known as “qualifying facilities” (QFs)
– California added about 6000 MW of QF capacity during the
1980’s, including 1600 MW of wind, 2700 MW of
geothermal, and 1200 MW of biomass
– By the 1990’s the ten-year QFs contracts written at rates of
$60/MWh in 1980’s, and they were no longer profitable at the
$30/MWh 1990 values so many sites were retired or
abandoned
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Abandoned Wind Farm Need South
Point in Hawaii

Source: Prof. Sanders

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Electricity Prices, 1960-2010

Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review, 2010, Figure 8.10 31

History, cont’d – 1990’s & 2000’s

• Major opening of industry to competition occurred

as a result of National Energy Policy Act of 1992
• This act mandated that utilities provide
“nondiscriminatory” access to the high voltage
transmission
• Goal was to set up true competition in generation
• Result over the last few years has been a dramatic
restructuring of electric utility industry (for better or
worse!)
• Energy Bill 2005 repealed PUHCA; modified
PURPA
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Historic State Variation
in Electric Rates

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The Goal: Customer Choice

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The Result for California in 2000/1

OFF

OFF

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 The California-Enron Effect
WA
MT ND VT ME
MN
OR NH
ID SD WI NY MA
WY MI RI

IA PA CT
NV NE NJ
IN OH DE
UT IL W MD
DC
CO VA VA
CA KS MO KY
AZ TN NC
OK
NM AR SC
MS AL GA
TX
LA
AK
FL
HI

electricity delayed suspended

no activity
restructuring restructuring restructuring
Source : http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_str/regmap.html
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August 14th, 2003 Blackout

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My Favorite 8/14/2003 Blackout
Cartoon!

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