Impact of increased PV Penetration on Low Voltage CIGRE Network, Mitigation Techniques and Worst Day Estimation Algorithm /

Abstract

Photovoltaic Distributed Generation (PVDG) has seen tremendous growth in recent years, especially in the residential sector. Among concerns, voltage rise in ac networks is considered the most limiting factor in achieving increased PV penetration levels. A steady state impact study is performed on the CIGRE Low Voltage (LV) residential network. This study proposes four techniques to increase the PV penetration limit namely: Single-Phase Penetration (SPP), Alternate Phase Penetration (APP), APP with Offline Tap Adjustment (APP-OTA) and APP with Switched On-Load Tap Adjustment (APP-SOLTA). The PSCAD software is used for steady state study. The APP-SOLTA provides the best result for reducing the voltage magnitude and voltage unbalance in the system. The steady state results are validated by a dynamic data study by using the real world solar and residential load datasets. A novel approach is proposed to find the worst day from the datasets. Simulations results verify the effectiveness and authenticity of the proposed approach.