Energy Non-Availability in Distribution Grids with Heavy Penetration of Solar Power: Assessment and Mitigation through Solar Smoother

Rapid fluctuation of solar irradiance due to cloud passage causes corresponding variations in the power output of solar PV power plants. This leads to rapid voltage instability at the point of common coupling (PCC) of the connected grid which may cause temporary shutdown of the plant leading to non-availability of energy in the connected load and distribution grid. An estimate of the duration and frequency of this outage is important for solar energy generators to ensure the generation and performance of the solar power plant. A methodology using PVsyst (6.6.4, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland) and PSCAD (4.5, Manitoba HVDC Research Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada) simulation has been developed to estimate the duration and frequency of power outages due to rapid fluctuation of solar irradiance throughout the year. It is shown that the outage depends not only on the solar irradiance fluctuation, but also on the grid parameters of the connected distribution grid. A practical case study has been done on a 500 kiloWatt peak (kWp) solar PV power plant for validation of the proposed methodology. It is observed that the energy non-availability for this plant is about 13% per year. This can be reduced to 8% by incorporating a solar smoother. A financial analysis of this outage and its mitigation has also been carried out.