Abstract
This paper presents a review of the impact of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels on the distribution grid. This includes how rooftop PVs affect voltage quality, power losses, and the operation of other voltage-regulating devices in the system. A historical background and a classification of the most relevant publications are presented along with the review of the important lessons learned. It has been widely believed that high penetration levels of PVs in the distribution grid can potentially cause problems for node voltages or overhead line flows. However, it is shown in the literature that proper control of the PV resource using smart inverters can alleviate many of those issues, hence paving the way for higher PV penetration levels in the grid.
Highlights
Since the 1980s, many researchers have tried to study the impact of photovoltaics (PVs) on the distribution grid
In order to increase this capacity, the utility could introduce mitigation techniques to counteract the negative effects of PVs or, alternatively, use various centralized or decentralized grid optimization solutions to coordinate PV operation with the rest of the grid
Between 1977 and 1979 [3,4,5], some researchers performed economic analysis in order to assess the effectiveness of PV integration with the grid, and from that standpoint, they found no barrier for further installation of PVs
Summary
Since the 1980s, many researchers have tried to study the impact of photovoltaics (PVs) on the distribution grid. We survey the publications that study the impact of rooftop PVs on the distribution system, focusing on voltage profile, system losses, power flow through the lines, and other operational and technical concerns. Another study in 1979 [6] emphasized that PV integration could introduce challenges into the grid operation and careful investigations need to be conducted During this time, there were studies focusing on the reliability aspects of the grid [1], or issues such as safety, protection, and power quality [7]. E authors in [10] concluded that a decrease in solar irradiance fluctuations by 10% could allow the penetration level to increase by up to 10% This result was based on the 1980s PV technology when rooftop PVs were not controllable [8].
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