Abstract
Recently, the penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Low Voltage (LV) distribution feeders has significantly increased and is expected to increase further in the coming years. Variability in solar PV output and high R/X ratio of LV distribution feeder results in voltage fluctuations. Local distribution companies (LDCs) rely on load tap changing transformers or feeder voltage regulators to mitigate voltage fluctuations. The objective of this paper is to examine the operational impact of increase in solar PV penetration on LV distribution networks through quasi-static time series analysis. IEEE 13-node test feeder is used in this paper as a test system. Simulations are carried out for a one-year period with 1-minute time step using OpenDSS. Results show significant increase in the total number of tap operations as solar PV penetration increases. Impact on nodal voltages and feeder net power is also discussed in detail. Finally, this paper suggests various mitigation strategies that can be used by LDCs to overcome this issue.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | 2017 North American Power Symposium, NAPS 2017 |
Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781538626993 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 13 2017 |
Event | 2017 North American Power Symposium, NAPS 2017 - Morgantown, United States Duration: Sep 17 2017 → Sep 19 2017 |
Publication series
Name | 2017 North American Power Symposium, NAPS 2017 |
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Conference
Conference | 2017 North American Power Symposium, NAPS 2017 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Morgantown |
Period | 09/17/17 → 09/19/17 |
Funding
This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy.
Keywords
- Solar variability
- load tap change
- penetration level
- voltage impact