This paper presents a detailed comparative analysis between synchronous and induction machines for distributed generation applications. The impacts of these generators on the performance of distribution networks are determined and compared by using different computational simulation tools and models.The technical factors analyzed are steady state voltage profile, electrical losses, voltage stability, transient stability, voltage sags due to unbalanced faults and short-circuit currents. The results show that the most suitable choice depends on the network technical characteristics, i.e. what are the main operating restrictions related to distributed generation.
distributed generation; induction generators; short-circuit currents steady state voltage profile; synchronous generator; transient stability; voltage stability