Advanced distribution planning tools for high penetration PV deployment

Solar PV interconnection analyses have historically been addressed by analyzing one or two PV system interconnection requests at a time. As higher penetration levels and numbers of PV systems are realized, the ability to efficiently model and analyze large numbers of PV system deployments and scenarios becomes increasingly important yet difficult. Time and spatial impacts along with uncertainty in the rate of PV adoption must also be considered. Advanced distribution analysis tools are necessary to take into account such factors, and also allow for the quick screening of interconnection requests. This paper discusses some of these issues along with the examples illustrated using an open source distribution analysis program.