Impact of Solar Power Generation on the Electrical Grid

Author

Dhade Snehal Kailas,Vishakha Ravindra Sable,Dhanshri Shantaram Dhanwate

Abstract

 The rapid growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation is changing how electrical grids are planned and operated, because PV is variable, inverter-interfaced and mostly connected at distribution level. This paper assesses the impact of solar power on the grid through three analytical models: net load and ramping, voltage rise on a radial feeder, and frequency response under reduced system inertia. A case study with a representative residential-dominated daily load profile and a weak feeder is used to quantify each effect. Reverse power flow appears at about 50 % PV penetration (installed PV as a share of feeder peak load); the maximum three-hour evening ramp of the net load grows from 0.56 to 0.72 pu of peak load as penetration rises from 0 to 80 %; and the midday voltage limit of 1.05 pu is reached at 91 % penetration with unity-power-factor inverters but at 109 % when inverters absorb reactive power at a power factor of 0.95. With 60 % of generation non-synchronous, the initial rate of change of frequency after a 5 % generation loss rises from 0.25 to 0.63 Hz/s. Mitigation measures are reviewed and a prioritised set of recommendations is given. The results are analytical and rely on representative assumptions; validation with measured feeder data is the next step.

Keywords

Distributed generation, grid integration, hosting capacity, photovoltaic systems, power quality, system inertia, voltage regulation

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