2024 Volume 60 Issue 6 Pages 384-396
Recently, there has been a need to optimize the flow of electric power by appropriately integrating distributed power sources and conventional power distribution equipment. In regions with heavy snowfall, the living environment is becoming a serious problem due to heavy snow accumulation. To tackle these issues, this paper considers a power distribution system including road heating for snow melting. We first describe a mathematical model of the system by combining the nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) model with switching of heating cables, thermal diffusion equations, and equation for snow melting. As a main result, we propose a predictive switching control that achieves reduction of distribution loss, attenuation of voltage fluctuation, and efficient snow melting, simultaneously. We verify the efficiency of the proposed control through numerical simulation based on the actual time series data on active powers and weather conditions.
