Includes bibliographical references and index.

The conventional power system around the world is facing the problems of gradual depletion of fossil fuel resources, poor energy efficiency, and environmental pollution. This has lead to the recent trend of generating power at distribution voltage level from renewable/non-conventional, small scale distributed energy resources (DERs) to culminate the advantages of improved energy efficiency, low emissions, better utilization of eco-friendly energy sources, augmentation of low capital intensive generation, co-generation and tri-generation. However, DERs suffer from the demerits of initial high cost, technical difficulties, the absence of regulatory & marketing standards, lack of communication protocols, administrative & legal barriers, intermittent nature of a generation, etc. which are under extensive research worldwide. Technical development in the field of DERs is also resulting in the formation of MicroGrid (MG) & Active Distribution Networks (ADISNET). These are LV power supply networks comprising integrated DERs, designed to supply power to the small community, operating either in synchronism with MV Regional Grid or as stand-alone systems. MG and ADISNET offer a potential solution for sustainable, energy-efficient power supply to cater for increasing load growth, supplying power to remote areas, generation of clean power and reduction in emission of greenhouse gases & particulates as per Kyoto protocol.