Constant power generation of photovoltaic systems considering the distributed grid capacity

TLDR: In this article, a constant power generation (CPG) control concept of PV inverters is proposed to meet the need of this emerging ancillary service provided by future PV systems, which can contribute to a weakened requirement of grid expansion and at the same time an increased penetration level.

Abstract: With an imperative demand of clean and reliable electricity generation in some countries, the increasing adoption of new photovoltaic (PV) systems pushes the Distribution System Operators (DSOs) to expand the transmission/distributed lines. However, the potential cost brought by such extensions and increased maintenances introduce new obstacles. In view of this concern, the DSOs starts to reduce PV installations in order to avoid an extension of the power infrastructure. Besides, another alternative solution is to limit the maximum feed-in power of the existing PV systems to a certain level. It can contribute to a weakened requirement of grid expansion and at the same time an increased penetration level. Therefore, to meet the need of this emerging ancillary service provided by future PV systems, a Constant Power Generation (CPG) control concept of PV inverters is proposed in this paper. Accordingly, it is worth investigating into two main issues: a) analyzing the reduction of the energy yield due to CPG control to study its feasibility from an economic point of view and b) developing robust CPG control methods, otherwise, it may introduce instabilities. Thereby, the implementation possibilities for PV systems in CPG operation mode are also discussed in this paper. Additionally, the loss of energy is calculated to reveal the viability of the proposed CPG control method. Operation examples of a PV system are presented to show the effectiveness of the CPG control method to unload the distributed grid.