Voltage regulation in low-voltage rural feeders with distributed PV systems

The increasing penetration of photovoltaic (PV) systems in low-voltage rural feeders causes voltage rise and increased harmonic pollution. It is shown that under certain conditions violation of the requirements of the EN 50160 standard can occur. A control method that determines the required reactive power of each PV inverter so that the voltage profile is within the standard´s requirements is shown. No need for communication between the inverters is required. For this purpose, a detailed inverter simulation model is developed which is validated against measured data from existing PV inverters. The control method presented here requires oversizing of the inverters at the beginning and end of the feeder.