A review of the impacts and mitigation strategies of high PV penetration in low voltage networks

There is a general increase in global electricity consumption. As at February 2014, South Africa had a 2.2% electricity consumption increase per annum. Distributed generation with interconnection of renewable energy generation to the electrical grid at the load end of the network is the favored solution to match this demand increase. One of the most abundant forms of renewable energy in Africa is solar energy. On average South Africa receives between 2000 and 2500kwh/m2 of solar energy per annum. In distribution networks, most of this insolation falls on rooftops and goes unused. Advancements in Photovoltaic (PV) technology have made it become a viable energy source that can be used to harness this energy and possibly use it as an energy source to base micro-grids upon. However, the current PV penetration level in the Low Voltage (LV) distribution networks is 20% due to technical problems that arise with higher penetration levels. This paper reviews these technical problems and existing mitigating strategies and proposes a scheme that allows maximum penetration and has a high electricity production potential.