A photovoltaic voltage regulation impact investigation technique. I. Model development

With changing weather patterns or clouds moving over a given utility service area, the power generated by any photovoltaic (PV) power systems in that service area will vary tremendously. Depending on the percentage penetration of these PV systems on a distribution feeder, these variations in the PV systems´ performance may cause undesirable voltage fluctuations along the feeder and also may impact the operation of the voltage regulating equipment on the distribution feeder. A computer program was developed to allow the utility engineer to determine the impact of the fluctuating PV generation due to moving cloud patterns. This impact is determined on the distribution system level by monitoring the feeder voltage profile and the operation of any voltage regulating devices. The model is rigorous and includes modeling capabilities beyond those of previous investigations