Analysis of power quality impact of high penetration PV in residential feeders

Residential photovoltaic (PV) generators are the dominant renewable energy source in urban and metropolitan areas. This technology is enjoying rapid growth due to a combination of subsidies, the abundance of sunshine and the low impacts of the technology in the urban landscape. Voltage regulation is the major power quality impact caused by increased PV penetration levels. The impact of various PV penetration levels under varying operating conditions, on the distribution feeder voltage profile has been investigated in this study. The distribution feeder model was developed and implemented in DigSilent PowerFactory using databases of PV generation and residential feeder data.