Grid impacts of utility-scale solar PV systems installed at both subtransmission and distribution levels simultaneously

摘要

This paper examines the grid impacts of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems when they are installed on both the transmission/subtransmission and distribution systems simultaneously. A baseline analysis is performed to characterize grid performance using actual data from an operating 32 MW solar PV system installed at the subtransmission system, and a 1MW solar PV system installed on a neighboring distribution system. The analysis is performed by developing computer models of the combined systems using an OpenDSS software platform. Various penetration levels of solar PV are then examined by adding “virtual” solar PV generation to the system to examine the grid impacts of different penetration levels of solar PV. The use of smart grid inverters to provide ancillary grid services is also examined as a means of mitigating grid impacts caused by the solar PV systems.