Potential strategies to increase rooftop solar PV penetration in LV networks in Australia

Residential Solar PV is being deployed in Australia at increasing rates. The distribution grid wasn´t designed to accommodate local generation so impacts are expected to happen and challenge the way the LV network is being run today. From the various identified effects, this paper explores Voltage control aspects in particular. A set of 5 different options to deploy and use customer-owned inverters for reactive power compensation are presented, ranging from pure stand-alone inverter control and management to DNSP centralized control scheme. All options come with challenges which are also highlighted in this paper. There are also additional opportunities that could be brought by some of the propositions discussed and contribute to a more efficient and resilient grid. The paper concludes with a brief layout of what regulatory, tariff and standard implications would be implicit by the options forwarded.