Investigating the Performance of Inverter Control Modes in High Solar PV Penetration Scenarios

Distributed energy resources (DERs) have traditionally offset localized customer load, often alleviating congestion on distribution, transmission and generation facilities. However, as the penetration of DERs has increased, network operators have been forced to reconsider the impacts they have on the network, particularly in the case of rooftop solar PV. Voltage breaches are becoming more common and existing voltage regulation devices were not designed to tackle the fast- ramping, intermittent nature of solar PV. Rooftop solar PV can be leveraged to mitigate over-voltages by providing a combination of bidirectional real and reactive power transfer. This paper explores the various methods that inverters can adopt to optimize voltage levels on the network, whilst also minimizing reactive power flows and active power curtailment. A real- world LV feeder is modelled using DIgSILENT PowerFactory and with the aid of real smart meter data, aggregate customer load profiles were developed and incorporated into the model. Multiple voltage control methods are tested under varying levels of solar penetration to understand the potential of inverters to manage and mitigate the voltage impact of large capacities of solar.