Impacts of large-scale integration of PV based generations in a mesh-connected low voltage network

In the recent years more and more photovoltaic (PV) panels are being installed at various low voltage (LV) customers´ installations that are connected to the public network. As a result, the conventional unidirectional power flow is being gradually changed to a bidirectional power flow which might have significant impact on the network´s voltage quality. In the coming years, Endinet, as a network operator, has to face this challenge too and should adapt its present network infrastructure as per predicted needs. Endinet has a mesh connected LV network to deliver reliable good quality electric supply to the customers. This type of network infrastructure is not very common in the Netherlands. Therefore, the impact of large-scale integration of PV panels in such type of meshed network is not very well known. In this paper, the simulation results of a typical mesh connected LV network are discussed for different scenarios of PV panels integration in the grid. From analysis, the loading of various network components and network´s voltage quality at various node points are forecasted.