Evaluating the limits of solar photovoltaics (PV) in traditional electric power systems

In this work, we examine some of the limits to large-scale deployment of solar photovoltaics (PV) in traditional electric power systems. Specifically, we evaluate the ability of PV to provide a large fraction (up to 50%) of a utility system's energy by comparing hourly output of a simulated large PV system to the amount of electricity actually usable. The simulations use hourly recorded solar insolation and load data for Texas in the year 2000 and consider the constraints of traditional electricity generation plants to reduce output and accommodate intermittent PV generation. We find that under high penetration levels and existing grid-operation procedures and rules, the system will have excess PV generation during certain periods of the year. Several metrics are developed to examine this excess PV generation and resulting costs as a function of PV penetration at different levels of system flexibility. The limited flexibility of base load generators produces increasingly large amounts of unusable PV generation when PV provides perhaps 10–20% of a system's energy. Measures to increase PV penetration beyond this range will be discussed and quantified in a follow-up analysis.     

Photovoltaic solar system connected to the electric power grid operating as active power generator and reactive power compensator

In the case of photovoltaic (PV) systems acting as distributed generation (DG) systems, the DC energy that is produced is fed to the grid through the power-conditioning unit (inverter). The majority of contemporary inverters used in DG systems are current source inverters (CSI) operating at unity power factor. If, however, we assume that voltage source inverters (VSI) can replace CSIs, we can generate reactive power proportionally to the remaining unused capacity at any given time. According to the theory of instantaneous power, the inverter reactive power can be regulated by changing the amplitude of its output voltage. In addition, the inverter active power can be adjusted by modifying the phase angle of its output voltage. Based on such theory, both the active power supply and the reactive power compensation (RPC) can be carried out simultaneously. When the insolation is weak or the PV modules are inoperative at night, the RPC feature of a PV system can still be used to improve the inverter utilisation factor. Some MATLAB simulation results are included here to show the feasibility of the method.     

Study on islanding of dispersed photovoltaic power systems connected to a utility power grid

Photovoltaic (PV) systems and other dispersed power systems need to be connected to a utility power grid for the systems to work effectively as energy sources. Protection against islanding is one of the most important techniques to develop for the dispersed power systems supplying surplus power back to the utility power grid. It is considered that active methods where the outputs of the power systems are actively perturbed are necessary to detect islanding. Various active methods have been developed. It has been shown that these methods work when a single power system is connected to one power distribution line. However, most of these methods have a limit in detecting islanding when multiple power systems are connected to one distribution line. In this paper, we compare the detection characteristics of typical active methods, frequency shift methods, a pulse perturbation method and a method using a correlation technique by simulation analysis for the case of multiple PV power systems. The study shows that the method using the correlation technique is the most promising when multiple power systems are operated on one distribution line.     

Design of a robust and efficient power electronic interface for the grid integration of solar photovoltaic generation systems

Nowadays, the penetration of photovoltaic (PV) solar power generation in distributed generation (DG) systems is growing rapidly. This condition imposes new requirements to the operation and management of the distribution grid, especially when high integration levels are achieved. Under this scenario, the power electronics technology plays a vital role in ensuring an effective grid integration of the PV system, since it is subject to requirements related not only to the variable source itself but also to its effects on the stability and operation of the electric grid. This paper proposes an enhanced interface for the grid connection of solar PV generation systems. The topology employed consists of a three-level cascaded Z-source inverter that allows the flexible, efficient and reliable generation of high quality electric power from the PV plant. A full detailed model is described and its control scheme is designed. The dynamic performance of the designed architecture is verified by computer simulations.     

基于相似日理论和LIBSVM软件中SVR算法的光伏发电系统输出功率预测方法

由于光伏发电具有间歇性、波动性的特点,因此准确预测并网型光伏发电系统的输出功率对电网调度,以及电网的安全稳定和经济高效运行具有重要意义.提出了一种基于相似日理论和LIBSVM软件中支持向量机回归(SVR)算法的光伏发电系统输出功率预测方法.通过实例进行仿真验算,并与同样采用相似日理论的反向传播(BP)神经网络算法、径向...     

State coordinated voltage control in an active distribution network with on-load tap changers and photovoltaic systems

Decreasing costs and favorable policies have resulted in increased penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation in distribution networks. As the PV systems penetration is likely to increase in the future, utilizing the reactive power capability of PV inverters to mitigate voltage deviations is being promoted. In recent years, droop control of inverter- based distributed energy resources has emerged as an essential tool for use in this study. The participation of PV systems in voltage regulation and its coordination with existing controllers, such as on-load tap changers, is paramount for controlling the voltage within specified limits. In this work, control strategies are presented that can be coordinated with the existing controls in a distributed manner. The effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated through simulation results on a distribution system.     

Coordinated control strategy for a PV-storage grid-connected system based on a virtual synchronous generator

Due to the characteristics of intermittent photovoltaic power generation and power fluctuations in distributed photovoltaic power generation, photovoltaic grid-connected systems are usually equipped with energy storage units. Most of the structures combined with energy storage are used as the DC side. At the same time, virtual synchronous generators have been widely used in distributed power generation due to their inertial damping and frequency and voltage regulation. For the PV-storage grid-connected system based on virtual synchronous generators, the existing control strategy has unclear function allocation, fluctuations in photovoltaic inverter output power, and high requirements for coordinated control of PV arrays, energy storage units, and photovoltaic inverters, which make the control strategy more complicated. In order to solve the above problems, a control strategy for PV-storage grid-connected system based on a virtual synchronous generator is proposed. In this strategy, the energy storage unit implements maximum power point tracking, and the photovoltaic inverter implements a virtual synchronous generator algorithm, so that the functions implemented by each part of the system are clear, which reduces the requirements for coordinated control. At the same time, the smooth power command is used to suppress the fluctuation of the output power of the photovoltaic inverter. The simulation validates the effectiveness of the proposed method from three aspects: grid-connected operating conditions, frequency-modulated operating conditions, and illumination sudden-drop operating condition. Compared with the existing control strategies, the proposed method simplifies the control strategies and stabilizes the photovoltaic inverter fluctuation in the output power of the inverter.     

Survey on microgrids: Unplanned islanding and related inverter control techniques

Nowadays, the importance of electrical generation based on renewable energies is increasing, due to its low emissions of greenhouse gases. At the same time, Distributed Generation and Microgrids (MG) are becoming an important research line because of their peculiar characteristics. MGs are composed of small power sources which can be renewable, placed near customer sites. Moreover, they have the inherent property of islanding: the disconnection of either the MG from the main grid or a portion of a MG from the rest of the MG. There are two kinds of islanding: intentional or planned (for maintenance purposes), and unintentional or unplanned. The latter is mainly due to disturbances and it is used to avoid damages in sources and loads. It is the most critical case because it must be detected as soon as possible to activate all the control systems which allow continuing the energy production and distribution despite the disconnection. In islanding, it is crucial to ensure the power and the electrical signal quality. In grid-connected mode, the inverters use the electrical signal of the main grid as reference. Once in islanding, the main grid reference is lost and new control techniques for the inverters are needed in order to obtain the correct values of voltage magnitude and frequency in the MG.The main objective of this paper is to make a survey on MGs focussed on two important features: unplanned islanding and control of inverters in that scenario. The idea is to present the basic architectures and regulation techniques of MGs and to study the islanding behaviour, mainly the different detection techniques and the inverters’ control once islanded.     

Expanding photovoltaic penetration with residential distributed generation from hybrid solar photovoltaic and combined heat and power systems

The recent development of small scale combined heat and power (CHP) systems has provided the opportunity for in-house power backup of residential-scale photovoltaic (PV) arrays. This paper investigates the potential of deploying a distributed network of PV + CHP hybrid systems in order to increase the PV penetration level in the U.S. The temporal distribution of solar flux, electrical and heating requirements for representative U.S. single family residences were analyzed and the results clearly show that hybridizing CHP with PV can enable additional PV deployment above what is possible with a conventional centralized electric generation system. The technical evolution of such PV + CHP hybrid systems was developed from the present (near market) technology through four generations, which enable high utilization rates of both PV-generated electricity and CHP-generated heat. A method to determine the maximum percent of PV-generated electricity on the grid without energy storage was derived and applied to an example area. The results show that a PV + CHP hybrid system not only has the potential to radically reduce energy waste in the status quo electrical and heating systems, but it also enables the share of solar PV to be expanded by about a factor of five.     

A Coordinated Control Method for Leveling PV Output Power Fluctuations of PV–Diesel Hybrid Systems Connected to Isolated Power Utility

A Photovoltaic (PV) system's power output is not constant and fluctuates depending on weather conditions. Fluctuating power causes frequency deviations and reduction in reliability of the isolated power utility or microgrid when large output power from several PV systems is penetrated in the utility. In this paper, to overcome these problems, a simple coordinated control method for leveling the fluctuations of combined power output from multiple PV systems is proposed. The conflicting objective of output power leveling and acquisition power increase is achieved by means of the proposed method. Here, output power command is generated in two steps: central and local. Fuzzy reasoning is used to generate the central leveling output power command considering insolation, variance of insolation, and absolute average of frequency deviation. In local step, a simple coordination is maintained between central power command and local power commands by producing a common tuning factor. Power converters are used to achieve the same output power as local command power employing PI control law for each of the PV generation systems. The proposed method is compared with the method where a modified maximum power point tracking control is used for smoothing the short-term change in each of the PV system's output. Simulation results show that the proposed method is effective for leveling output power fluctuations and feasible to reduce the frequency deviations of the isolated power utility to maintain reliability.      

Design and evaluation of PV-wind hybrid system with hydroelectric pumped storage on the National Power System of Egypt

National and international policies encourage increased penetration of solar and wind energy into electrical networks in order to reduce greenhouse gas emission. Solar radiation and wind speed variations complicate the integration of wind and solar generation into power systems and delay the transition of these sources from centralized to distributed energy sources. The increased penetration of nontraditional energy sources into the electric grid stimulates the demand for large capacities in the field of energy storage. A mathematical model, which describes the operation of a proposed hybrid system, including solar PV, wind energy, and a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant is developed in this paper. This hydropower plant utilizes seawater as a lower reservoir, and only a tank has to be built in order to reduce the installation cost of the storing system. The pumped storage power plant used for compensation of the variation of the output energy from the PV and wind power plants by discharging water from the upper reservoir, which is previously pumped in the case of surplus energy from PV and wind turbine power plants. The impact of the proposed system on the grid utility is investigated in accordance with the values of energy exchange (deficits and surpluses of energy) between the considered hybrid system and the grid. The optimum design is determined by the pump and turbine capacities, upper reservoir volume, and the volume of water left in the tank for emergencies. Different scenarios of the optimum operations are presented for analysis. The results obtained from the examined scenarios indicate the ability of such a hybrid energy system to reduce the exchange of energy with the grid. This paper indicates the technical feasibility of seawater pumped-storage hydropower plant for increasing the Egyptian national grid’s ability to accept high integration of renewable energy sources.     

一种多逆变器太阳能光伏并网发电系统的组群控制方法

对光伏发电系统中的光伏阵列一逆变器对进行轮循分组控制,在逆变器输入功率小于设定的下限阈值时,部分光伏阵列并联后连接到一台逆变器输出;在并联开关分合闸过程中,一直保持光伏阵列以最大功率不问断输出;并且该方法对光照突变情况进行自适应判断,作为控制的预启动条件。此方法的优点是：能够同时提高逆变器和光伏阵列的转换效率,改善电能质量,降低并联开关和逆变器的动作次数,延长设备使用寿命,并且控制过程系统输出功率平稳。     

A high power quality anti-islanding method using effective power variation

Islanding phenomenon is undesirable because it leads to a safety hazard to utility service personnel and may cause damage to power generation and power supply facilities as a result of unsynchronized re-closure. In order to prevent the phenomenon, various anti-islanding methods have been studied. Until now, frequency or start phase shift methods of inverter current have much attention as active anti-islanding methods, which cause reactive power variation to the utility. However, these methods deteriorate usually the power quality like power factor or harmonic performance. This paper proposes a high power quality active anti-islanding method using effective power variation, which is implemented by periodically increasing/decreasing variation of inverter current magnitude. If it causes the large variation of inverter output voltage after islanding, active frequency drift (AFD) method as a simple anti-islanding method will be injected into the inverter current for a designed period and islanding can be detected. In case of large voltage variation when the grid is connected, AFD method will be removed after the designed period. Unlike most active anti-islanding method deteriorating power quality, the proposed method will have high performance of islanding detection and good power quality. For the verification of the proposed method, simulated results and experimental results in addition to analysis are presented using a 3 kW PV inverter.     

Simulation studies of islanded behavior of grid-connectedphotovoltaic systems

Simplified computer models are presented for predicting the run-on time of self-commutated inverters operating in a utility interactive mode. The inverter receives DC power from a photovoltaic (PV) array and delivers AC power to a local load or the utility lines. The models represent the dynamics of a phase-locked loop control circuit that is designed to destabilize the inverter operation and shut down the power-conditioning subsystem when a phase discrepancy between the line and some reference signal is detected. The sustained isolated operation (or islanding) of the PV system poses a possible safety concern to utility personnel and potential damage to utility-connected equipment. Two computer models, the TESLACO model and the APCC model, were implemented on an IBM PC using Pascal. They provide results compatible with experimental evidence and more elaborate computer modeling techniques     

光伏发电并网大电网面临的问题与对策

妥善解决光伏发电系统接入大电网后2部分都能安全、高效运行是光伏发电技术大规模工业化应用的关键之一。分析了光伏发电系统及其并网的技术特点,简要阐述了光伏发电并网问题的研究现状。指出光伏发电大规模并网使大电网在研究与实验验证手段、对光伏发电系统影响大电网机理的认识、新型配电系统的规划、电网运行控制、电网监测保护与控制装备、技术标准与规范等方面面临新的问题,并提出了应对这些问题的策略。     

A review of current anti-islanding methods for photovoltaic power system

Islanding phenomenon is undesirable because it leads to a safety hazard to utility service personnel and may cause damage to power generation and power supply facilities as a result of unsynchronized re-closure. Until now, various anti-islanding methods (AIMs) for detecting and preventing islanding of photovoltaic and other distributed generations (DGs) have been proposed. This paper presents an overview of recent anti-islanding method developments for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power generation, focusing on the concept and operating principle, mainly based on single phase system. For the performance comparison, the experimental results of the various AIMs with 3 kW PV inverter are provided based on the islanding detection capability and power quality. As a result, the active AIMs have better islanding detection capability rather than the passive one. However, the active AIMs have power quality degradation on harmonic distortion or displacement power factor based on the injected active signal type. In addition to the evaluation and comparison of the main anti-islanding methods, this paper also summarizes the related anti-islanding standards to evaluate anti-islanding capability for PV system. This paper can be used as a useful anti-islanding reference for future work in DG like PV, and wind turbine.     

Operation strategy of distributed energy storage system with multi-battery under output smoothing scenario

随着光伏发电在电网中渗透率的不断增加,光伏发电功率的不确定性和间歇性引起的光伏并网和弃电问题已引起关注。而采用"光伏+储能"的模式,却能有效缓解这一问题。在考虑储能电池容量衰退和光伏弃电率下,通过对不同光伏子阵配备的不同类型储能电池系统的运行进行仿真模拟,以消除光伏发电随机波动特性对电网的冲击为目的,研究平滑输出场景下分布式储能系统的电池的操作策略,优化储能系统中各储能电池子阵的运行。最后,采用共和地区20 MW （峰值）储能实证基地项目多电池储能系统实际案例对本模拟方法进行了验证。     

Power conversion in renewable energy systems: A review advances in wind and PV system

Grid‐connected photo voltaic (PV) systems are being developed very fast and systems from a few kW to tenths of a MW are now in operation. As an important source of distributed generation (DS) the PV systems need to comply with a series of standard requirements in order to ensure the safety and the seamless transfer of the electrical energy to the grid. Multilevel voltage source converters (VSC) is a heart of the PV system and are emerging as an important power converter options for low, medium, and high‐power applications. These VSCs have bought numerous advantages, especially in renewable energy systems such as PV and wind energy systems. In this article, several topologies of VSCs, which brings together some concepts from traditional converters and multi‐level converters, are presented. Also, several control strategies for controlling current, voltage, active power and reactive power have also been reviewed. Various topologies with their technical aspects have been reviewed and the best suitable topology and control scheme for grid connected PV and wind energy systems has been suggested. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Properties and uses of storage for enhancing the grid penetration of very large photovoltaic systems

In this third paper, which studies the hourly generation data for the year 2006 from the Israel Electric Corporation, with a view to incorporating very large photovoltaic (PV) power plants, we address the question: What properties should storage have in order to enhance the grid penetration of large PV systems in an efficient and substantial manner? We first impose the constraint that no PV energy losses are permitted other than those due to storage inefficiency. This constraint leads to powerful linkages between the energy capacity and power capacity of storage, and PV system size, and their combined effect on grid penetration. Various strategies are then examined for enhancing grid penetration, based upon this newfound knowledge. Specific strategies examined include PV energy dumping and baseload rescheduling both on a seasonal basis and shorter time periods. We found, inter alia, that at high grid flexibilities (in the range ff=0.8–1), PV grid penetration levels could be possible in the range 60−90% of annual requirements. Moreover, with appropriately designed storage and accurate forecasting, a future grid could be operated at ff=1.     

Enhancement of grid-connected photovoltaic system using ANFIS-GA under different circumstances

In recent years, many different techniques are applied in order to draw maximum power from photovoltaic (PV) modules for changing solar irradiance and temperature conditions. Generally, the output power generation of the PV system depends on the intermittent solar insolation, cell temperature, efficiency of the PV panel and its output voltage level. Consequently, it is essential to track the generated power of the PV system and utilize the collected solar energy optimally. The aim of this paper is to simulate and control a grid-connected PV source by using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and genetic algorithm (GA) controller. The data are optimized by GA and then, these optimum values are used in network training. The simulation results indicate that the ANFIS-GA controller can meet the need of load easily with less fluctuation around the maximum power point (MPP) and can increase the convergence speed to achieve the MPP rather than the conventional method. Moreover, to control both line voltage and current, a grid side P/Q controller has been applied. A dynamic modeling, control and simulation study of the PV system is performed with the Matlab/Simulink program.