Experimental test on the islanding of an advanced PV inverter

The recent exponential growth of utility-interconnected PV systems has led to changes to IEEE 1547 - the standard for interconnecting distributed resources with electric power systems. IEEE 1547a and IEEE 1547.8 are unleashing the application of advanced inverter functionalities, or grid support functions, for the purpose of minimizing adverse distribution system effects that are commonly encountered in areas with high levels of PV penetration. However, there is concern over the interference of some of these functionalities with the inverter islanding detection schemes. This paper summarizes experimental test results on attempts to create an islanded situation of an advanced 12 kVA inverter by activating some of these functions and closely matching generation with load. The functionalities that were tested include larger tolerance of voltage and frequency disturbances, non-unity power factor operation, and dynamic Volt/VAr control.