PV hosting capacity improvement through an aggregate study of single-tuned passive filter planning and grid reconfiguration

Abstract

The high penetration of Photovoltaic (PV) units may lead to harmonic and overvoltage problems in electrical distribution systems. Accordingly, the PV Hosting Capacity (PVHC) of the grid is limited when the distribution network faces high penetration of harmonic-injecting loads or low demand-level conditions. On the other hand, the combination of passive filters and grid reconfiguration can improve the voltage profile and decrease the distortion levels in the distribution systems. Hence, in this study, an aggregate optimization of passive harmonic filters and grid topology is implemented to maximize the PVHC of the active distribution systems. Accordingly, the planning study is applied to provide the possibility of maximum PV installation capacity in the network while the grid indexes are maintained within the standard limits. It should be noted that the study is constrained by the total filter number and maximum allowed grid power loss. According to the simulation results of a sample grid without the capability of PV installation in the base case, the PVHC can be improved to 78% using the proposed strategy.