Effect of PV-STATCOM on Distance Protection

Photovoltaic solar farms are getting popularity for producing electrical energy in the power sector among the several types of renewable resources. For improving the limits/capacity of power transfer in transmission network, inverter of photovoltaic system turns into static synchronous compensator (STATCOM). The proposed modeling and control methodology for PV solar farm can be utilized for enhancing the power transmission limits of integrated transmission network. Voltage sources inverter is used for conversion of DC to AC power and as a main element of PV-STATCOM. The conventional distance protection scheme is applied for protection of transmission line. With the help of signal processing, protection module and control circuit, tripping signal is generated which isolates faulty part of the study-system. This paper highlights adverse effect of mid-point connected PV-STATCOM present in fault loop on the performance of distance relay using PSCAD/EMTDC software.