System-level Design for Reliability and Maintenance Scheduling in Modern Power Electronic-based Power Systems

Power electronic converters will serve as the fundamental components of modern power systems. How-ever, they may suffer from poorer reliability if not properly designed, consequently affecting the overall performance of power systems. Accordingly, the converter reliability should be taken into account in design and planning of Power Elec-tronic-based Power Systems (PEPSs). Optimal decision-mak-ing in planning of PEPSs requires precise reliability modeling in converters from component up to system-level. This paper proposes model-based system-level design and maintenance strategies in PEPSs based on the reliability model of convert-ers. This will yield a reliable and economic planning of PEPSs by proper sizing of converters, cost-effective design of con-verter components, identifying and strengthening the con-verter weakest links, as well as optimal maintenance schedul-ing of converters. Numerical case studies demonstrate the ef-fectiveness of the proposed design and planning strategies for modern power systems.