Power line carrier permissive as a simple and safe method of enabling inverter ride-through operation of distributed grid-tied photovoltaic systems

Conventional anti-islanding techniques used in grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) systems pose many disadvantages at high levels of PV deployment. One such issue is the inability of these systems to ride-through grid disturbances. In this paper, the use of a Power Line Carrier Communications (PLCC) Permissive anti-islanding scheme is investigated as a means of safely enabling ride-through operation of grid-tied photovoltaic systems. Here potential fault scenarios are considered, along with performance, cost, and design considerations for the PLCC Permissive components, as well as potential system configurations and methods of implementation. While PV systems are the largest (and growing) form of distributed generation (DG) generating in parallel with utility feeders, it is important to note that this technique is effective for any DG technology, whether inverter-based or rotating, including wind, hydro and fossil fueled bio-gas machines.