Modeling and Analysis of a PV Grid-Tied Smart Inverter's Support Functions

<p>The general trends in the past decade of increasing solar cell efficiency, decreasing PV system costs, increasing government incentive programs, and several other factors have all combined synergistically to reduce the barriers of entry for PV systems to enter the market and expand their contribution to the global energy portfolio. The shortcomings of current inverter functions which link PV systems to the utility network are becoming transparent as PV penetration levels continue to increase. The solution this thesis proposes is an approach to control the inverters real and reactive power output to help eliminate the problems associated with PV systems at their origin and in addition provide the grid with ancillary support services. The design, modeling, and analysis of a grid-tied PV system was performed in the PSCAD software simulation environment. Results indicate that in the presence of grid disturbances the smart inverter can react dynamically to help restore the power system back to its normal state. A harmonic analysis was also performed indicating the inverter under study met the applicable power quality standards for distributed energy resources.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MS in Electrical Engineering

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Johnson, Benjamin Anders

Contributors dc:contributor

• Taufik

• Smart Inverter
• Reactive Power Control
• Voltage Regulation
• Frequency Control
• Smart Grid
• PSCAD
• Power and Energy

Identifier

10.15368/theses.2013.40

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-2071