Impact of dispersed solar rooftop generation over the voltage profile in Distribution System

Abstract

With the Energy policies promoting solar rooftop PV penetration, a rapid rate in its penetration is observed in the Distribution System. As the distribution systems were not designed to have a wide presence of dispersed generation units, the impacts of bidirectional power flow will be significant on all equipments. This will lead to unforeseen variations in voltage profile of the system. This paper analyses the impact of this dispersed generation on the voltage profile of distribution system. To quantify the impact, case studies are carried out on a practical distribution system using MiPowerTM and the simulation results are presented to arrive at the maximum allowable PV penetration considering voltage level constraints. The analysis could serve as a feasibility study report for utilities promoting dispersed generators in India.