Operational Issues of a Microgrid at Tomia Island Considering Photovoltaic Penetration Level

Abstract

As an archipelago country situated in the equator line, Indonesia has immense solar energy potential. In general, the power produced by photovoltaic (PV) varies based on weather conditions. Especially in Indonesia, the tropical rainforest climate, such as high annual rainfall, may negatively affect the PV's output power. It may also cause problems regarding reliability, stability, and power quality issues to the grid. An existing stand-alone microgrid in Tomia Island, Indonesia, consists of four PV plants built to help the utility grid provide 24 hours of electricity. However, integrating the PV system into the distribution network has many significant challenges due to its intermittent nature. This paper studies the impact of the PV plants integrated into Tomia Island's microgrid regarding system stability. Thereby, this research analyzes operational issues on Tomia Island considering different penetration levels of PVs under various scenarios such as the variation of load loss, and PV generation losses.