Evaluation of Maximum Solar PV Penetration: Deterministic Approach for Over Voltage Curtailments

Increasing solar PV penetration in LV distribution grids may potentially disrupt the nominal network operating conditions and result in power quality issues. Voltage rise has been reported to be the most prominent power quality issue with high solar PV penetration levels. In order to comply with stipulated network limits, distribution network service providers are compelled to develop comprehensive techniques for the evaluation of solar PV hosting capacity. This paper presents a generalised deterministic model that can be used to evaluate the PV hosting capacity of LV distribution networks. A safe limit of feeder level PV hosting capacity is defined based on the locational variation of solar PVs and feeder characteristics. The hosting capacity outcomes established using proposed method for different PV inverter operating scenarios are verified using simulations.