Abstract
In Belgium, and many other countries, rooftop solar panels are becoming a ubiquitous form of decentralised energy production. The increasing share of these distributed installations however imposes many challenges on the operators of the low-voltage distribution grid. They must keep the voltage levels and voltage balance on their grids in check and are often regulatory required to provide sufficient reception capacity for new power producing installations. By placing solar panels in different inclinations and azimuth angles, power production profiles can possibly be shifted to align more with residential power consumption profiles. In this article, it is investigated if the orientation of solar panels can have a mitigating impact on the integration problems on residential low voltage distribution grids. An improved simulation model of a solar panel installation is constructed, which is used to simulate the impact on a residential distribution grid. To stay as close to real-life conditions as possible, real irradiation data and a model of an existing grid are used. Both the developed model as the results on grid impact are evaluated.
Highlights
The ever growing interest in renewable energy sources across the world is driven by numerous factors, notably the increasing awareness of environmental issues, the depletion of conventional indigenous energy sources, and the progress of technology leading to decreasing installation costs
The liberalisation of the energy markets in large parts of the world has empowered private, commercial, and public parties alike to contribute to the global renewable energy production by installing Decentralised Renewable Energy Systems (DRES) at the local level
High concentrations of PV systems on a low voltage (LV) feeder combined with the mismatch of the PV production curve with the typical residential load profile can lead to voltage disturbances along the feeder or congestion of the feeder or substation [2,3,4,5], decreasing the power quality of the grid
Summary
The ever growing interest in renewable energy sources across the world is driven by numerous factors, notably the increasing awareness of environmental issues, the depletion of conventional indigenous energy sources, and the progress of technology leading to decreasing installation costs. High concentrations of PV systems on a LV feeder combined with the mismatch of the PV production curve with the typical residential load profile can lead to voltage disturbances along the feeder or congestion of the feeder or substation [2,3,4,5], decreasing the power quality of the grid To mitigate these problems, Distribution System Operators (DSO) size their grids according to the peak power of each individual DRES installation and load connected to the feeder, effectively oversizing the grid dimensions. (i) The effect of orientation of PV panels on congestion and voltage profile of the local LV grid is examined (ii) A methodology for calculating the yield and production curve of arbitrarily oriented PV systems based on a limited number of required parameters and using an anisotropic-all-sky model better suited for Western-European conditions than the prevalent isotropic model is presented (iii) Simulations based on real residential load profiles and grid parameters provide a realistic and accurate validation of the research objectives. The last section presents the conclusions of this investigation and some suggestions for further research
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