Sensitivity of commercial rooftop photovoltaic inverters to grid voltage swell

Hossein Dehghani Tafti*, Awais Ahmad, Leonardo Callegaro, Georgios Konstantinou, John E. Fletcher

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
8 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The ever-increasing electricity generation from rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems, also known as distributed PV (DPV), leads to new challenges for transmission and distribution network service providers. DPV lacks visibility and control from system operators, and this issue becomes critical especially during and after grid contingencies. Technical standards applicable to DPV inverters define expected performance and behavior, however they do not always provide clear guidelines under several grid disturbance conditions. On the one hand, inverters are allowed to respond flexibly. However, knowledge of inverters behavior under grid voltage disturbances is necessary to design and tune the parameters of composite load models, used by power system operators in planning the required power reserve. This article investigates through experiments the sensitivity and behavior of 25 off-the-shelf residential DPV inverters under grid voltage swells. Inverters are found to behave in either of these ways: 1) Ride-through, 2) curtail power, and 3) disconnect. Power curtailment or disconnection under such disturbances can have a detrimental impact on power system security. Accordingly, power system operators should schedule enough power reserves or take other appropriate measures.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition - Asia, 2021 (ECCE Asia 2021)
Place of PublicationPiscataway, NJ
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages308-313
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781728163444
ISBN (Print)9781728163451
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Event12th IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition - Asia, ECCE Asia 2021 - Virtual, Singapore, Singapore
Duration: 24 May 202127 May 2021

Publication series

Name
ISSN (Print)2150-6078
ISSN (Electronic)2150-6086

Conference

Conference12th IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition - Asia, ECCE Asia 2021
Country/TerritorySingapore
CityVirtual, Singapore
Period24/05/2127/05/21

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