Reprinted with permission from the April 2012 issue

How To Manage Grid Impact As Solar Deployment Increases

Modern PV inverters can handle some grid stability tasks, but energy storage may also be required.
b Kleber Facchini which meant that some issues related to grid interconnection were not apparent. For example, traditional power plants typically use conventional synchronous generators. Kleber Facchini Such generators easily provide reactive power and are able to actively manage voltage dips, sags and swells. In the same way, renewable power also needs to provide some level of voltage and frequency ride-through or spinning reserve to prevent power disturbances from adversely affecting the grid. At the same time, solar project developers are also looking for grid parity, which means avoiding unnecessary equipment costs. How do project developers and grid operators understand the potential impact on the grid? What equipment is necessary to support grid interconnection without jeopardizing progress toward reducing costs? Understanding these issues is key as more solar power and other renewables come online. New grid interconnection requirements have a similar theme across the U.S.: Projects must avoid creating issues on the grid, and if disturbances do occur - even if the disturbance is not caused by a renewable source -

s solar projects become bigger and more numerous, grid interconnection issues become increasingly important. When the level of solar penetration is low, the ability of a solar plant to impact the grid is minimal, but as solar power continues to expand, the potential for grid impact increases. In the first three quarters of 2011, the U.S. solar market installed more than 1 GW of grid-connected photovoltaics and exceeded its 2010 total of 886 MW, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association. This brings the total U.S. gridconnected PV installations to more than 3 GW - ten times the size of U.S. solar capacity in 2005. Much of this 2011 growth was driven by a number of utility-scale project completions. As more PV installations are developed and integrated into the grid, utility companies and independent system operators need to make sure these projects are connecting in a way that avoids power disruptions. As a result, there is increasing regulation on connecting solar power (and other renewable energy sources) to the grid. For many years, conventional sources of energy were the dominant presence in the electrical network,

the plant must facilitate grid recovery with the resources available. Specifically, utilities are requiring a number of grid integration features, including voltage and frequency ridethrough, voltage control through reactive power, and smoothing or leveling of output power during sudden changes in energy production. This last feature is the most difficult to accomplish and is typically only achieved with battery storage. Regulators are also interested in harmonics, voltage flicker and potential electromagnetic transients produced by the solar plant. In addition, they are looking to understand how the plant will manage when exposed to such events by connecting to the grid. Beyond inverters? Either a system impact study or a grid interconnection study is typically the first step toward both understanding a solar plants potential impact on the grid and meeting the utilitys requirements. It also determines the approach that needs to be taken by the solar project developer for meeting the utilitys requirements. In some cases, controls installed in the solar inverter are enough to meet utility requirements. However, if there is a high penetration of renewables, more complex solutions may be needed, and the use of some grid-tied storage may be necessary to meet utility ramp-rate requirements. A system impact study typically includes three components: a steadystate or load-flow analysis, a transient analysis and a harmonics study. By methodically analyzing these three areas, power system engineers determine how much reactive support is needed, how to supply that support, the ability of the plant to ride through transient disturbances, and the quality
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Voltage Ride-Through Time Duration Curves

1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0

POI Voltage (PU)

No Trip Zone

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

Time (seconds)

High Voltage Duration

Low Voltage Duration

The North American Reliability Corp.s (NERC) requirements for voltage ride-through Source: Eaton Corp.

of the power produced by the solar plant. Load-flow analysis is often performed in the early stages of the plant design and usually done by a consulting firm or equipment vendor with robust power engineering experience. The goal is to understand how much reactive support needs to be installed in the solar plant to meet the power factor or voltage control requirements. The first task is to determine - or, at least, estimate, depending on how early the project is in the design process - the collector bus configuration. This process requires specific engineering data on cables, step-up transformers and switchgear. Once this configuration is finalized, the equivalent impedance is calculated, such that the reactive losses in the collector bus are understood. With the reactive losses determined and a power factor requirement established by the utility, the designer can start to develop a strategy for reactive power or volt-ampere reactive (VAR) compensation. Often, static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) devices, shunt switched

devices or the solar inverter itself can supply the needed VAR support. The best choice varies from plant to plant, and is highly dependent on plant size, point of interconnection (POI) and grid requirements. That said, there is an increasing pressure on inverter suppliers to have extra current capability for VAR support. Once the strategy is chosen and drawn, the utility performs a system impact study to determine how the solar plant affects the grid it is connected to. Frequency disturbances For utility-scale solar plants, a dynamic or transient performance analysis must also be performed. This study, which is done after the initial configuration of the plant is established, determines if plant equipment and configuration meet the transient requirements imposed by the regulators. During this study, the designer simulates voltage and frequency disturbances on the POI to check the plant response. Will the plant trip offline during grid disturbances? Or, will it be able to stay online and help the grid to recover from voltage and frequency excursion events?

Voltage events are more understood today than ever before, and the resources to deal with them are applied to solar (and wind) plants across the U.S. Additionally, inverters are becoming smarter and some vendors have incorporated some of the controls needed for this type of support. Determining where a frequency disturbance is originating at the POI is key. For example, is the disturbance coming from the plant? Or, is it being imposed by the grid? If a frequency disturbance comes from the grid, usually the plant is asked to ride through these events and not trip offline. If a plant trips offline, the frequency disturbance will often worsen. On the other hand, if disturbances occur from the plant to the grid, due to the inherently intermittent nature of PV energy, there is an expectation (not yet widely enforced) that the PV plant will have the resources to mitigate these events. This scenario is more evident on high-penetration cases, and that is where the use of energy storage is often most needed. An energy storage device is often connected in shunt with the solar plant at the collector bus. It injects or absorbs power on a transient basis in order to smooth the output power of the plant. Although energy storage equipment is not typically able to keep output power constant during long periods of time, it is able to slow down the positive or negative power rate of change (mainly the latter). This acts as a shock absorberand avoids these ramp-rate issues on the grid. This mechanism is particularly important in weak grid situations, such as where there is a high penetration of solar power or the local grid is relatively small. Advanced solar inverters for utilityscale applications are equipped with algorithms to control the positive rate of change in PV power and curtail output power when grid frequency increases. Such conditions are indicative of excess power on the grid. However, when a cloud rolls over a
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Reactive Characteristic Curve

50.0 25.0 0.0 -25.0 -50.0 0 100 200 300 400

in a specific installation and whether its energy storage capacity is required to meet utility requirements and/or maximize energy harvest. Current harmonics In addition to the load-flow study and transient study, a harmonic analysis needs to be performed in order to minimize resonances within the plant electrical installation. Within the plant, there are many components (cables, transformers, shunt switched banks and other reactive elements) that, together, can resonate with one another and create harmonics within the system. Additionally, inverters inherently create current harmonics at the collector bus, due to the internal switching of the converter insulated gate bipolar transistor. If the system is not well tuned, the presence of excessive current harmonics may force solar inverters to trip offline and cause unnecessary heating (and losses) on cables and transformers. The situation is worse if there are existent background harmonics on the grid. The proper way to mitigate harmonics is by first identifying the background harmonics on the grid (if any), and then running the electrical model of the plant to identify potential harmonics and resonances. If these are found, the designer can use de-tuning filters at the collector bus, so that the harmonics are attenuated. At the solar inverter level, it is important to understand the impact that background harmonics have on the inverters AC filter, which acts to filter harmonics and, in the process, draws them to clean the electrical line. Therefore, the AC filter of an inverter connected to a harmonic-rich grid will overheat and fail over time. Assessing the harmonics both in the system and on the grid is key to extending equipment life. Integrating renewable energy into the grid requires an understanding of the equipment and plant power system, utility regulations and the nature of the grid itself. As utility-scale solar
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Reactive Power (MVAR)

Active Power (MW)

A solar plants reactive characteristic curve, based on VAR requirements and the plants capabilities Source: Eaton Corp.

O Nominal Frequency Capability Curve

65 64 63 Frequency (Hz) 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55 0.01 0.1 1 10 Time (seconds)
The NERCs requirements for frequency ride-through Source: Eaton Corp.

No Trip Zone

100

1,000

10,000

solar plant, power generation drops significantly and, in some cases, abruptly. A solar plant with no energy storage can adversely impact the grid POI, possibly causing voltage and frequency dips. This is worsened in regions with significant renewable power and small amounts of spinning reserves. In addition to mitigating transient power variances, energy storage devices are also used to shift peak power. They are able to absorb power that is otherwise limited by the power rates set by utilities, or to level the

load - deferring the cost of bringing on additional power services. In this case, energy is stored during peak power production and released during peak demand. When load shifting is implemented, solar power is stored mid-day and released toward the end of the afternoon (and wind energy is stored during the night and released in the morning or afternoon). The application of energy storage is determined by the grid requirements. If there is a need, the system impact or grid interconnection study helps to determine the role of energy storage

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power continues to grow, it is crucial that a comprehensive system impact study is performed and steps are taken

are expecting renewables to act more like conventional power plants and provide grid support - with both re-

If the system is not well tuned, the presence of excessive current harmonics may force solar inverters to trip offline and cause unnecessary heating (and losses) on cables and transformers.
to prevent grid instability - avoiding possible power outages. Further, equipment tapped for utility-scale solar applications should be able to identify grid disturbances and respond to such events in a way that will enhance voltage and frequency regulation. In other words, as solar and wind come online at a faster pace, utilities active and real power. In this environment, developers and designers of solar plants may seek project partners that have a holistic approach to utility needs, as in the end, they need the utilitys approval for a solar plant installation. Organizations able to provide equipment, analysis and project

implementation are able to provide cost and time savings, information transparencies and simplified maintenance. From the grid interconnection study to the final implementation and maintenance of the equipment, a single supplier can simplify and expedite the process - so that the project developer minimizes installation cost and maximizes energy harvest, while meeting utility regulations to support grid stability. R
Kleber Facchini is the product manager for commercial- and utility-scale solar inverters for Eaton Corp., a diversified power management company with more than 100 years of experience providing energy-efficient solutions. Facchini can be contacted at klebervfacchini@eaton.com.

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Copyright 2012 Zackin Publications Inc. All Rights Reserved.