Reliability modeling for evaluating the contribution of photovoltaics in electric power systems

Solar power is being increasingly utilized in electric power systems. Solar power has a different effect on generating system reliability than conventional power sources due to the intermittent nature of the atmospheric conditions at the system location. It is therefore, important to assess the impact of adding photovoltaic (PV) sources to a power system in terms of the reliability contribution of PV in meeting energy demand. This paper uses a probabilistic approach to develop a power output model for a solar park. A reliability model is then developed for a solar energy integrated power system and used in a range of studies to evaluate the reliability and energy contribution of the solar system to meet the overall system demand. The analysis of solar irradiation data, solar power output and the reliability contributions of PV when integrated in a small isolated power system are presented and compared in this paper using solar installation sites located at different latitudes. The results illustrate the ability to conduct a quantitative analysis of reliability and energy contributions of solar power sources located at different latitudes around the world.