INVESTIGATION OF POTENTIAL ISLANDING OF A SELF-COMMUTATED STATIC POWER CONVERTER IN PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS

One of the major concerns of utilities about the Impact of dispersed PV generation 1s "Islanding" or the continued operation of a portion of the system, after 1t has been disconnected from the utility. This paper presents a summary of the results of a research project on the Islanding potential of a Teslaco self-commutated static power converter (SPC). This project Included computer simulations, laboratory testing, and field testing. Laboratory and field tests verified that the SPC model developed for computer simulations accurately predicts SPC Islanding performance under a variety of system conditions. Furthermore, the Impact of a number of system parameters on the Islanding potential of a Teslaco SPC are presented. These Include the mismatch between load and generation within the Island, the type of load within the island, the number of SPCs within the Island, load variations, and solar Insolation variations. © 1990 IEEE