International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems (IJPEDS)

Vol. 15, No. 1, March 2024, pp. 180~191

ISSN: 2088-8694, DOI: 10.11591/ijpeds.v15.i1.pp180-191  180

A flexible islanding identification technique for PV based

grid-tied systems

Praveen Raj Rajaswamy Sarojam1, Joseph Sarojini Savier2

1
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology, Nalanchira, India
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Trivandrum, India

Article Info ABSTRACT

Article history: The phenomenon of islanding, which occurs in grid integrated distributed
generators (DGs), poses significant challenges and potential risks for
Received Jul 7, 2023 customers, utility providers, and operational personnel. Detecting islanding
Revised Aug 25, 2023 quickly and accurately is crucial. The issues related to the conventional
Accepted Sep 14, 2023 islanding methods paved the way in developing a hybrid islanding
identification scheme. The developed method achieves accurate results
within a reduced time span of 30 ms. The hybrid technique combines the
Keywords: passive method of sliding window based moving average (SWMA) for faster
detection and the active method of asymmetrical bilateral reactive power
ABRPP perturbation (ABRPP) for improved precision. The developed hybrid
Grid integration method is simulated and tested using MATLAB/Simulink 2023a. It
Hybrid islanding identification undergoes testing under various load conditions, including small and large
scheme power mismatches between DG generation and local load demand, as well as
Non-detection zone different load quality factors (QF). Additionally, the hybrid algorithm
Quality factor demonstrates no nuisance tripping when subjected to different load
SWMA switching conditions such as capacitor switching, motor load switching, and
nonlinear load switching. A comparison with existing islanding detection
methods confirms the accuracy and speed of the proposed method in
identifying islanding conditions.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.

Corresponding Author:
Praveen Raj Rajaswamy Sarojam
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology
Mar Ivanios Vidyanagar, P.O, Nalanchira, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695015, India
Email: [email protected]

1. INTRODUCTION
In the present decade the renewable energy source dependent distributed generation (DG) systems
have significant contribution to the power sector [1]. The progress in the emerging technology of power
semiconductor devices and its control methods has enhanced the flexibility of integrating DGs with the
traditional grid [2]. The penetration of DGs into the existing power system, improves the serviceability and
reliability of the system [3], [4]. However, the process of synchronizing DGs with the grid presents certain
constraints, such as the islanding scenarios, which can impede the effectiveness of DG synchronization.
Islanding refers to a situation where a DG continues to provide power to a section of the power system even
when the main grid is in-operative. Identification of Islanding is a matter of grave concern as it poses threats
to equipment as well as the working people. According to the IEEE standard 1547 cited in [5], it is obligatory
for a DG system to cease power supply to the grid within a maximum of 2 seconds following the occurrence
of islanding. Several islanding identification schemes (IIS) have been introduced in the literature, to identify
the islanding scenario [6]. The IIS can be broadly categorized as remotely controlled and locally controlled
schemes [7]. The remotely controlled schemes primarily rely on the transmiting and receiving of

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  181

communication signals between the utility grid and the DG points. Some examples of remotely controlled IIS
include power line carrier communication (PLCC) based schemes [8] and SCADA based schemes [9].
Though the non-detection zone (NDZ) of these schemes is noteworthy, they are very expensive and their
reliability is contingent upon the speed of communication devices and signals involved. The locally
controlled IIS encompass passive, active, hybrid (a combination of passive and active methods), and
intelligent based methods. Passive IIS rely on the measurement of point of common coupling (PCC)
parameters such as over voltage (OV), under voltage (UV), over frequency (OF), under frequency (UF) [10],
rate of change of frequency (ROCOF) [11], voltage unbalance (VU) [12], voltage/current total harmonic
distortion (THD) [13]. These methods do not cause any power quality issues, but are quick to respond, easy
to implement, and cost-effective. Raising PCC parameter thresholds, increases the NDZ, yet excessively low
settings can cause nuisance tripping. Additionally, as grid power to local loads nears zero, passive IIS
struggles to detect islanding state due to minor PCC parameter deviations during such scenarios. As a result,
there arose a need for the development of active IIS.
Active IIS intentionally introduces perturbations from DG inverters to the grid and local load at
PCC. While the grids low impedance absorbs these perturbations in a grid integrated DG (GIDG), islanding
shifts PCC parameters past thresholds, activating relays for tripping. Some examples of active IIS are
harmonic injection [14], sandia frequency/voltage shift (SFS, SVS) [15], active power and reactive power
variation [16], [17], and impedance measurement [18]. While these methods decrease NDZ, they
compromise power quality [19] due to the injected perturbations. Active techniques require more time for
islanding detection, to observe the response of injected perturbation. Blending passive and active IISs in a
hybrid approach capitalizes on their respective benefits but also aggregates the limitations tied to each
method. Some of the hybrid methods are voltage unbalance and SFS [20], rate of change of frequency and
harmonic injection [21], rate of change of voltage (ROCOV) and active/reactive power disturbance [22]–
[24], ROCOF and impedance measurement (IM) [25]–[27]. The hybrid method detects faster than passive but
slower than active approaches. However, it brings extra drawbacks, including perturbation impact and
conflicts among front-end DG inverters. From summarized literature in Table 1, it has been identified that
passive methods offer quicker detection with minor power quality impact but a larger NDZ. To curtail the
NDZ, passive thresholds are reduced, risking nuisance tripping. Active methods mitigate this NDZ, but
affects the power quality. Yet, they rely on post-perturbation system response, causing delay in detection
strategies. Existing hybrid methods lack the desirable quick detection time of passive methods. Thus, a
hybrid IIS with reduced NDZ and detection time is to be formulated. Leveraging passive traits, the method
should independently operate by utilizing initial cycle features upon islanding. Active perturbations can
further enhance these traits for its reliability. The following factors must be taken into account when
developing an effective hybrid islanding detecting strategy.
− The passive scheme must autonomously identify islanding, avoiding reliance on the response of the active
method, in order to reduce the detection time.
− By lowering the NDZ, the active approach ought to increase its reliability.
− It must be capable of detecting islanding events under all possible operational circumstances.
− There should not be any malfunction in response to disturbances other than islanding.
− The detection strategy should be easy to implement, not only for a new system but also for existing
systems.

Table 1. Summary of certain conventional passive, active, and hybrid methods

Passive Methods Active Methods Hybrid Methods
Traits [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [18] [20] [21] [22] [25]
NDZ Large Small Large Higher QF- Very Very small small Same Same as Same as small
larger NDZ small small as SFS Harmonic Variation
injection of power
Detection 4ms-2s 24ms 53ms 45ms Few 0.5s - 0.3s - 0.77s - 0.15s - 0.2s 0.5s 0.216s
Time ms 1s 0.75s 0.95s 0.21s
Limitations Power suitable for As pf Grid Affects Affects Affects Threshold Affects Same as Affects Same
mismatch highly comes disturbance PQ PQ PQ setting PQ Harmonic PQ as IM
between fluctuating close to causes error slightly slightly, difficult, slightly injection during
DG and loads, unity, in detection Needs Affects injection
Load is Power error strong PQ
desired mismatch is increases grid
desired

Therefore, a hybrid method which harvests the minimum NDZ of its active method without losing
the quick response characteristics of the passive method is formulated. The proposed hybrid technique,
employs sliding window based moving average computation (SWMA) [28], [29] algorithm for passive
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scheme and asymmetrical bilateral reactive power perturbation (ABRPP) for active scheme. The major
contributions of the work are presented below:
− To introduce a hybrid algorithm which consist of SWMA technique combined with ABRPP technique for
fast identification of islanding.
− To understand the effectiveness of the developed algorithm in terms of detection time, a comparison
between the proposed hybrid islanding detection method and the current approaches is made.
− The predicted islanding detection method is tested in different islanding scenarios like small active power
mismatch, large active power mismatch and variety of load quality factors (QF) to gauge its effectiveness.
− The proposed strategy is also tested with different non-islanding scenarios like load switching, capacitor
switching, motor load switching, nonlinear load switching, symmetrical and asymmetrical faults in order
to show that it is not prone to mal functioning.
The article is organized as follows: i) The introduction in section 1 deals with the literature review
on various IIS, with the problem identification and the contribution of the article; ii) Section 2 presents the
SWMA method. In this section the reason for introducing SWMA approach in islanding identification is
explained. SWMA algorithm, its implementation, and threshold settings are also covered; iii) The ABRPP
approach is detailed in section 3. The drawbacks with regular symmetrical BRPP are also presented.
iv) Section 4 analyses the simulation results in order to verify the suggested approach. Islanding in different
scenarios such as, small and large grid share and different load QF are analyzed and discussed. Different non-
islanding scenarios such as, large load switching, motor load switching, capacitor load switching, non-linear
load switching and symmetrical and asymmetrical faults are also presented, to show that the proposed
method is not prone to malfunctioning in these non-islanding scenarios; and v) Finally, the article is
concluded in section 5.

2. PROPOSED PASSIVE ISLANDING IDENTIFICATION SCHEME

A passive method called SWMA computation is proposed, in this work. This approach is simple to
use and extremely efficient for all power system scenarios. The suggested and developed hybrid detection
approach is shown in block schematic in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Block diagram of the proposed system

2.1. Passive scheme

SWMA offers both ease of implementation and effectiveness across all potential power system
scenarios. Moving average is a statistic that shows the average change in the time series, at the closing of the
given sample length. Sliding window method and exponential weighting method are the two approaches used
to calculate this statistic. The sliding window method, with its finite impulse response, is apt for finite data
durations. Conversely, the exponential weighting method, featuring an infinite impulse response, suits for
embedded applications. The sliding window algorithm employs a fixed-width window that progressively
shifts over sampled data. It calculates mean of the data within the current window. The window then
advances by one step, creating a fresh window for the next instant, where mean of the current samples is
computed a new. Enabling this process involves setting the buffer length equal to the window span. As the
oldest sample exits, a new one enters, effectively advancing the window by one sample. At each
sampling instant, the buffer data is used to compute the average. The operation of sliding window is
illustrated in Figure 2.

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Figure 2. Working of the sliding window

Typically, the average of a symmetrical periodic wave is computed over half a period. But, in this
approach, it is calculated across one fundamental time period (0.02 seconds) corresponding to the nominal
frequency. In Figure 3, during GIDG operation, window 1 exhibits equal positive and negative areas,
yielding a zero average DG voltage for one period. In contrast, islanding causes frequency deviations, as
shown in windows 2 and 3, resulting in a positive average. SWMA approach is illustrated in Figure 4 with a
sampling frequency of 100 kHz and its discrete fundamental period is around 2000 samples (1000 positive
and negative each). To maintain zero discrete mean in GIDG operation, the window should align with the
fundamental period. Once the window is full, the moving average is computed. The mean value is
recalculated by shifting the window with one sample. During grid’s absence, any deviation in DG frequency
leads to a non-zero positive mean.

Figure 3. Moving average during frequency deviation

Figure 4. Sliding window based moving average computation

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IEEE standard 1547 permits DG voltage and frequency deviations within specific ranges. Voltage
ranges from 0.88 pu to 1.1 pu, with a lower limit of 0.88 pu. Frequency ranges between 49.5 to 50.5 Hz, with
a lower limit of 49.5 Hz. The average voltage values are calculated using in (1).
1
Va(y) = ∑N−1
1 V(y) (1)
N

Where N represents the number of sampled data at each position of the sliding window. The magnitude of the
average voltage in a window depends on the window position. In order to overcome this drawback,
cumulative average voltage (CAV) is calculated using in (2) for each window.

Vcuma = ∑N−1
1 modVa (y) (2)

The cumulative average voltage is computed at the end of each sliding window. The cumulative voltage
index is computed as (3):

K Ψ = ∆Vpu Vcuma (3)

where, ∆𝑉𝑝𝑢 is the change in DG voltage represented in pu. The threshold value 𝐾𝑣 is computed as (4)-(6):

K v = mod(∆Vpu ) NVa (4)

1
K v = mod(∆Vpu ) N mod ∑n−1
1 V(y) (5)
N

K v = mod(∆Vpu ) mod ∑n−1

y=1 V(y) (6)

where, n represents the number of samples pertaining to the lower frequency f=49.5 Hz.
49.5
n= × N = 1980 samples
50
∆V = 1 pu − 0.88 pu = 0.12 pu

The voltage signal in the continuous domain is considered as, 𝑉(𝑡) = 𝑉𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝜔𝑡), after the sampling process,
the voltage signal in the discrete domain is obtained as,

V(y) = [V(1), V(2), V(3), … . V(n) … . V(N)]

the threshold value is calculated in MATLAB, and is obtained as 𝐾𝑣 = 0.38 𝑝𝑢, in continuous domain, the
threshold value can be computed as (7) and (8):

K v = mod(∆Vpu ) NVa (7)

𝑚𝑜𝑑(∆𝑉𝑝𝑢 ) 𝑁 𝜃
𝐾𝑣 = ∫0 𝑉𝑚 sin 𝜃𝑑𝜃 (8)
2𝜋

𝜃 is the angle pertaining to f=49.5 Hz

49.5
θ= × 2π = 1.98πrad
50

∆V = 1 pu − 0.88 pu = 0.12 pu, Vm = 1 pu, N=2000 samples in the sliding window, K v = 0.38 pu. The
CAV is compared with the threshold value, to identify islanding state, as illustrated in the Figure 5.

Figure 5. Block schematic of SWMA method

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2.2. Bi-lateral reactive power perturbation

Bilateral reactive power injection [22] creates the PCC frequency to vary in the absence of grid. But
in the grid interfaced operation, due to the presence of low impedance grid, the DG inverter frequency
adheres to the nominal value. During grid tied mode, the voltage at the PCC (V C) and the grid voltage (VP),
are equal. The analysis of the Bi-lateral reactive power perturbation is presented in [22].
The NDZ in this method is denoted as NDZ (+) when the reactive power injected at the PCC
from the DG is Q (+) and as NDZ (-) when the reactive power injected at the PCC from the DG is Q (-).
Minimizing the overlap between the NDZ (+) and NDZ (-) regions is essential to reduce the NDZ. The more
the injected perturbations, the lesser the NDZ. However, this introduces additional harmonic components into
the power system.

2.2.1. Asymmetrical bi-lateral reactive power perturbation

Traditionally, the reactive power perturbation employed for islanding identification is symmetric, as
depicted in Figure 6(a). However, with the rise in DG penetration, the overall disturbance within the DG
systems may become quite insignificant. To address this concern, the asymmetric perturbation approach can
be adopted, wherein the positive and negative reactive power amplitudes differ. This ensures a consistent
presence of a certain level of net reactive power within the DG system, as illustrated in Figure 6(b).

(a) (b)

Figure 6. Bipolar reactive power injection from DG inverters in (a) symmetrical mode and
(b) asymmetrical mode

3. SIMULATION RESULTS
A 50 kW DG integrated grid connected system is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software and
is presented in Figure 7. Table 2 presents the simulation parameters of the proposed system. The DG system
uses a perturb and observe (P&O) MPPT algorithm. The output voltage of the boost converteris maintained
at 900 V. The DG is connected to the grid at the PCC and operates with a local parallel RLC load Figure 8
illustrates the irradiation wave.

Table 2. Test system parameters

Parameters Ratings
DG rating 60 kVA
Load 50 kW
Q factor 2.5
fs 5000 Hz
System voltage rating 240 V
DC bus voltage 900 V
f0 50 Hz
Qinjected 5% of rated P
Load details Resistance, R 3.4445 Ω
Inductance, L 4.388 mH
Capacitance, C 2.309 mF

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Figure 7. Simulation diagram of the proposed system

The regular variation of irradiation during day time is used for this simulation. Figure 9 presents
active power output of the solar PV panel. The power output varies in accordance with the irradiation curve.
Figures 10 displays the DG voltage, grid voltage and load voltage. As the DG and load are integrated to the
utility grid at PCC, the three voltages are in phase to one another. Figure 11 displays the DG current, grid
current, and load current which are also in phase to one another. Typically, in GIDG mode, the grid shares
the deficit power. The grid share is negligible, as the load is mostly shared by the DG. During the simulation,
the islanding scenario is simulated from t=4.2 seconds. In this specific simulation, the grid share is negligible
and this load condition poses the most challenging case for islanding identification. The islanding scenario
should be identified under various operating conditions and there should not be any mal functioning under
any non-islanding scenarios.

Figure 8. Irradiation curve Figure 9. Active power output of PV module

3.1. Detection of islanding scenarios

3.1.1. Case 1: Large active power mismatch
In cases of substantial mismatches in active power between the DG generation and the local load
demand, the proposed SWMA method effectively detects islanding scenarios. In case 1.5 kW is supplied by
DG and 45 kW is supplied by grid. So there exists 90% power mismatch. As soon as islanding happens, the
frequency variation occurs, therefore, the moving average and the cumulative voltage index goes above the
threshold value even within the first few cycles. The result of case 1 is presented in Figure 12. From Figure
12 it is identified that the proposed method effectively identifies the islanding at t = 4.22 seconds following
its occurrence at 4.2 seconds.

3.1.2. Case 2: Small active power mismatch

By opening the grid side breaker at t=4.2 seconds, the islanding operation is simulated with a
minimal active power mismatch. In case 2, the DG supplies 45 kW and the grid contribute 5 kW. So, the
mismatch is 10% of the rated load power. Despite the small mismatch, the cumulative voltage index has gone
beyond the threshold value successfully and the proposed method accurately detects the islanding situation
for this small active power mismatch. Figure 13 presents the output of case 2 where the islanding is detected
at t=4.225 seconds. Furthermore, the ABRPP method is able to drift the cumulative voltage index at regular
interval of time such as 4.5, 5.5, 6.5 seconds, which ensures the reliability of the hybrid method.

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Figure 10. Three phase DG inverter voltages, grid Figure 11. Three phase DG inverter currents, grid
voltages, load voltages currents, load currents

Figure 12. Cumulative voltage index for large power Figure 13. Cumulative voltage index for small power
mismatch mismatch

3.1.3. Case 3: Different load quality factors

The quality factor is the ratio of energy stored in the reactive components of a load to that dissipated
in the resistive component of an RLC circuit, per unit time. R, L, and C are determined for loads with Q F
varying from 1 to 5, as follows. The time of islanding detection is also recorded and shown in Table 3 and is
also presented in Figure 14. The parallel RLC load acts as a tuned filter. The more the quality factor, the
better the tuning. Therefore, at higher quality factors, the frequency adheres to the resonant frequency, 50 Hz.
Hence time required for islanding detection will be more, for high quality factor loads, and the curve moves
farther from the center of the radial web.

Figure 14. Detection time for various load quality factor

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Table 3. Detection time for loads at different Q F

Quality Load Time of
factor Resistance Inductance Capacitance detection
1 3.4445 Ω 10.97 mH 0.9235 mF 20 mS
1.8 3.4445 Ω 6.09 mH 1.66 mF 21 mS
2.5 3.4445 Ω 4.388 mH 2.309 mF 22 mS
3 3.4445 Ω 3.657 mH 2.77 mF 24 mS
4 3.4445 Ω 2.742 mH 3.695 mF 25 mS
5 3.4445 Ω 2.194 mH 4.618 mF 26 mS

3.2. Non-islanding scenarios

3.2.1. Case 1: Switching loads in grid-tied operation
To ensure that the proposed method avoids nuisance tripping, it is essential to verify load switching
under grid-connected conditions. This verification confirms that the method can handle load switching
without triggering unnecessary tripping. A 25 kW (50%) load is connected at t=3 seconds and subsequently
disconnected at t=3.5 seconds. The grid-tied operation shows no notable alteration in the cumulative voltage
index either at the instants of load connection or disconnection. However, the cumulative voltage index has
gone beyond the threshold level, when islanding occurs. The proposed method effectively identifies the
islanding at t=4.222 seconds following its occurrence at 4.2 seconds and avoids nuisance tripping,
as depicted in Figure 15.

3.2.2. Case 2: Motor load switching

At t=3 seconds, a 20 hp, 415 V, 50Hz, 1440 rpm induction motor is connected, and it is
disconnected at t=3.5 seconds. The grid-connected mode experiences no substantial alteration in the
cumulative voltage index during the motor connection or disconnection, ensuring the absence of nuisance
tripping. However, during islanding the cumulative voltage index has shifted above the threshold value.
Therefore, the proposed method effectively identifies the occurrence of islanding at t=4.226 seconds
following its occurrence at t=4.2 seconds, as shown in Figure 16 and clearly avoids the nuisance tripping.

Figure 15. Cumulative voltage index during load Figure 16. Cumulative voltage index during motor
connection switching

3.2.3. Case 3: Capacitor bank switching

At t = 3 seconds, a 25 kVAR three-phase capacitor bank is connected, and it is disconnected at t=3.5
seconds. During GIDG operation, there is no significant change in the cumulative voltage index, even when
the capacitor bank is connected or disconnected, ensuring the absence of nuisance tripping. However, the
cumulative voltage index has gone beyond the threshold value, when the utility supply is lost. Therefore, the
proposed method successfully identifies the islanding scenario, 0.22 s after it occurs at t = 4.2 seconds, and
avoids the malfunctioning, as presented in Figure 17.

3.2.4. Case 4: Non-linear load switching analysis

The GIDG is connected to a three-phase controlled rectifier with a 25 kW load. The nonlinear load
is switched in at t=3 seconds and disconnected at t=3.5 seconds. Figure 18 presents the results of cumulative
voltage index during the non-linear load switching. From Figure 18 it is identified that when non-linear load
is switched on or switched off, there is no significant impact on cumulative voltage index during GIDG
mode. Therefore, the proposed algorithm avoids the false tripping due to nonlinear load switching. But, as the
cumulative voltage index exceeds the threshold value during islanding state, it effectively detects islanding at
4.22 seconds, following its occurrence at 4.2 seconds.

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Figure 17. Cumulative voltage index during Figure 18. Cumulative voltage index during non-
capacitor switching linear load switching

3.2.5. Case 5: Asymmetrical faults

At t=3 seconds, a double line to ground fault simulation is initiated, lasting for 5 cycles, and is
cleared without requiring circuit breaker operation. The computation of cumulative voltage index is
performed for both faulty and healthy phases. Despite cumulative voltage index having a non-zero value for
A and B phase, it remains below the threshold value. Notably, there exists no false tripping, when an
asymmetrical fault occurs, during GIDG operation. But when utility grid is lost, the cumulative voltage index
shifts beyond the threshold limit and islanding is detected at 4.221 seconds shortly after it occurs at 4.2 s, as
presented in Figure 19.

3.2.6. Case 6: Symmetrical faults

At t=3 seconds, a three-phase to ground fault simulation is initiated, lasting for 5 cycles, and is
cleared without requiring circuit breaker operation. Though, the cumulative voltage index is more than that
during an asymmetrical fault condition, it remains below the threshold value. Therefore, no nuisance tripping
occurs during GIDG operation. But when utility mains are lost, the cumulative voltage index has gone
beyond the threshold setting and islanding is detected at 4.221 seconds shortly after it occurs at 4.2 s, as
presented in Figure 20. Figure 21 presents the comparison of the proposed method with recently developed
hybrid methods. From the radial web graph, it has been observed that the developed hybrid method is very
close to the center of the radial web. The nearer to the center, the lesser the detection time. Therefore, the
developed method outperforms well when compared with the existing methods.

Figure 19. Cumulative voltage index during Figure 20. Cumulative voltage index during
asymmetrical fault in A, B, C phases Symmetrical Fault in A, B, C phases

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Figure 21. Detection time of various hybrid methods

4. CONCLUSION
The proposed work focuses in implementing a hybrid IIS to a GIDG system. The validation of the
proposed hybrid islanding method is conducted using the MATLAB/Simulink software. The hybrid method
includes a sliding window-based moving average computation strategy which is easy to implement and
asymmetrical bipolar reactive power perturbation method which is a reliable approach. The developed
passive method is thoroughly tested across various power system scenarios, demonstrating satisfactory
performance on its own. However, to ensure unfailing islanding identification, the asymmetrical reactive
power perturbation is incorporated as a simple and reliable active method. This perturbation induces
frequency deviation in the system, consequently altering the sliding window-based moving average during
islanding conditions. Thus, the asymmetrical reactive power perturbation method and the sliding window-
based moving average scheme work hand in hand to effectively identify the islanding scenario. Collectively,
this hybrid method presents a permanent solution for islanding identification in grid-connected PV-based
DGs, with potential applicability to other types of DGs as well. The response time of SWMA is as short as a
few cycles, as it relies on deviation in the average value which solely related with frequency deviation. Since
the SWMA method can identify islanding by its own, it need not wait until the response from active method.
Thereby, the delay which usually occurs in the hybrid methods are avoided. The active method ensures the
islanding detection even if SWMA fails to detect it. Therefore, the developed method works effectively under
different load conditions. Moreover, the developed method poses no error while switching capacitor loads,
motor loads, non-linear loads and during symmetrical and asymmetrical faults.

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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS

Praveen Raj Rajaswamy Sarojam received his B.E degree in Electrical and
Electronics Engineering from CSI Institute of technology, Thovalai, Tamil Nadu, MS University
in 2002 and M.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from College of Engineering Trivandrum,
Kerala University in 2009. His research interests include smart grids, micro grids, islanding, and
electric vehicle charging systems. He can be contacted at email: [email protected].

Joseph Sarojini Savier received his ME degree in Electrical Engineering from

IISC Bangalore and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. Currently, he is
working as Principal at College of Engineering Trivandrum, Kerala. His research interests
include smart grids, micro-grids, distribution systems, power system protection, and energy
storage. He can be contacted at email: [email protected].

A flexible islanding identification technique for PV based … (Praveen Raj Rajaswamy Sarojam)