Integration of solar technologies into the electric distribution system

Large-scale integration into a traditional distribution system of privately owned renewable energy sources, located at the point of load, promise to bring significant engineering and economic advantages to the system as a whole if several grand challenges can be overcome. This paper will first provide specific definitions for the terms distributed generator and feed-in tariff, emerging ideas that have not yet been rigorously defined. It will be shown that the integration of distributed generators into a traditional system present an opportunity to reduce bulk power flow and power loss, decrease the operating cost of the system, and increase equipment lifetime leading to greater overall system reliability. Furthermore, a case study on the integration of distributed generation will be discussed with the following primary result: a 5% reduction on the demand side may lead to a 7–15% reduction in locational marginal price.