1270

IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 3, No. 3, August 1988

A MODEL FOR CAPACITY CREDIT EVALUATION OF GRID-CONNECTED

PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS WITH FUEL CELL SUPPORT

M.A. Khallat

Saifur Rahman

Student Member

Senior Member
Electrical Engineering Department
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

ABSTRACT
A major issue encountered the use of Photovoltaic (PV) energy
system source for the production of electric power is the variability of
the resource itself. This paper presents the concept, and study results
of adding fuel cell to provide operational support to PV system. The
objective is to determine the capacity credit of PV systems when these
are included in the utility generation mix. A capacity expansion study
has been presented which determines the upper limit of the penetration level of PV energy systems in an electric utility. The analysis
is designed in such a way that the inclusion of PV source in the generation mix does not affect the system loss of load expectation (LOLE).
Furthermore, the applicability of this concept in the short term operational time frame has been tested using economic dispatch models.
This concept has been tested using the observed performance data
of a PV facility, and the system data of a typical southeastern (US.)
utility. Fuel cell power plants have been added to the generation mix,
and their effect on increasing the penetration level of PV generation is
observed. It is seen that after certain penetration level, the net capacity credit for PV systems starts to decrease.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The model presented in this paper is a combination of both long

and short term analyses for evaluating the capacity credit of gridconnected PV energy systems. The reason is to test whether the capacity credit obtained from a planning scenario (LOLE analysis) is
acceptable under the day-to-day operational scenario. In addition, it
is shown how the inclusion of fuel cell power plants may enhance the
acceptability of grid-connected PV systems. A six-year capacity expansion study has been presented which determines the upper limit
of the penetration level of PV energy systems in an electric utility. The
analysis is designed in such a way that the inclusion of the PV source
in the generation mix does not affect the system LOLE. In other words,
the overall system loss of load expectation will remain unchanged with
or without the PV source. Furthermore, taking into account the intermittent nature of PV output, the acceptability of this new energy source
has been tested using economic dispatch models. This concept has
been tested using observed performance data of a PV facility, and the
system data of a typical southeastern (U.S.) utility. Fuel cell power
plants have been added to the generation mix, and their effect on increasing the penetration level of PV generation is observed.

7 .I Fuel Cell Power Plants in Electric Utilities

The issue of capacity credit for grid-connected intermittent

sources of generation has been widely debated in the electric power
industry. The term capacity credit is given a broader than usual perspective in this paper. This implies the minimum capacity displacement possible when both planning and operating time frames are
considered. Over the last 10 years various approaches and models
have been put forward addressing this issue. The effect of intermittent
sources of generation on the system loss of load expectation (LOLE),
reserve capacity requirements, spinning reserve and load following
capability is a major concern among electric utility planners.
There is a group of papers which primarily address the long term
effects of intermittent sources of generation. For example, Ku,et.al.,
[ I ] present a methodology to assess the economic viability of PV systems in a large electric utility. These authors take the capacity expansion planning approach for their analysis. There is another group
of papers which address the short term effect of intermittent sources
of generation. For example Lee and Yamayee [Z] examine the loadfollowing and spinning reserve penalties for intermittent sources of
generation.

87 SM 478-1
A p a p e r recommended and a p p r o v e d
b y t h e IEEE Power System E n g i n e e r i n g Committee of
t h e IEEE Power E n g i n e e r i n g S o c i e t y f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n
a t t h e IEEE/PES 1987 Summer M e e t i n g , San F r a n c i s c o ,
C a l i f o r n i a , July 12 - 17, 1987. M a n u s c r i p t s u b m i t t e d
J a n u a r y 30, 1987; made a v a i l a b l e f o r p r i n t i n g
A p r i l 24, 1987.

Many of the fuel cell characteristics such as high efficiency,

modular construction and almost no polluting emissions, that made
this appealing for space applications, are also attractive to many
electric utilities.
In the early 1970s a group of electric utilities initiated a research
and development program to determine the potential of fuel cell technology for commercial electric power generation. That program has
led to increased developmental efforts and eventually to the installation of the 4.5 MW AC (4.8 MW DC) phosphoric-acid fuel cell demonstrator in New York city on Con Edisons system. Tokoy Electric Power
Company (TEPCO) installed another 4.5 MW fuel cell plant which has
operated successfully over an extended period of time. The TEPCO
demonstrator was operated between 25% and 100% of rated, producing utility-quality power and only minimal emissions [3].
Since then, a lot of papers and reports have been published discussing the fuel cell technology and its future role in electric utility
systems.
An EPRl study (41 published in 1976 provided an economic assessment of the use of fuel cells in electric utility systems. The EPRl
study analyzed capacity additions to a reference utility system on a
long range optimum generation mix basis. The characteristics of the
reference utility system were representative of large utilities in the
United States. The analysis suggested that if phosphoric-acid fuel cell
were available at that time with a cost of about $400/kw and a heat rate
of 9300 Btu/kwh. they would be attractive for intermediate duty generation. The study indicated that these fuel cell units would capture
about 27% of capacity additions competing against nuclear, oil-fired
intermediate and combined cycle, and gas turbine units. The fuel
cells competition with gas turbines for peaking duty was not significant.

0885-8950/88/0800-1270$01.00@1988 IEEE

1271
The LDC is constructed from a chronological load curve. The load
duration curve can be constructed for a day, week, month, season,
or even a year. Therefore the generation assigned to a particular
plant by the way of using the load duration curve will only indicate
the number of hours during a given period a set of generators will
operate. This is obviously insufficient for PV power plants whose
outputs are intermittent in nature.

The study also found that the range of fuel cell capacity addition was
very sensitive to small changes in the total present worth of capitalrelated and production costs. For a change of 0.1% in that present
worth the fuel cell share of capacity addition varied from 12% to 36%
for the reference utility system. Thus one can conclude.

1.

Fuel cells have many benefits which can be very useful for electric
utilities.

2.

Fuel cells are expected to move from candidate technology status

toward commercial service during the next decade.

In order to reflect the intermittent nature of PV generators, the

concept of negative load is used in the production costing model.
A modified load duration curve can be obtained using the information on load demand and hourly outputs from the PV power
plant@).

Fuel cell power plants have been examined for possible applications
with grid-connected PV systems. See Rahman and Tam [5] for further
discussion.

The information about the original and the modified load duration
curves are used in a generation simulation model in order to determine the loss of load expectation (LOLE), expected energy unserved and the production cost. WASP (Wien Automatic System
Planning Package) [6] is utilized for this purpose. Advanced design combustion turbine units are used as expansion candidates
in this study. A discussion about the load modification is presented later in sections 2.1.3 and 2.2.3.

2.0 OVERALL METHODOLOGY

The overall methodology for the assessment of PV power in a
sample utility is developed. This methodology is applied to both capacity expansion planning and daily system operation. This is to test
whether the results obtained from a planning type analysis hold up
when subjected to operational considerations. The methodology is
employed in two stages. In the planning stage an outer limit on the
PV penetration level is determined using the negative load concept
and equivalent LOLE. In the second stage the operational considerations are examined. There, the level of fuel cell power plant suppcrrt
needed to maintain system integrity in the light of fluctuating PV output
is determined. Then an iterative technique is utilized to fine tune the
PV penetration and necessary fuel cell support for an economic generation expansion scenario.

2.1 Planning Study

The following steps describe the methodology and procedures
used in the planning study.

I. Formulate a statistical process to convert insolation data to hourly

electric energy production patterns for average days of each
season. The PV performance model, presented in section 2.1.2,
is utilized in order to generate the energy production patterns.
Various scenarios are considered here.
2.

Using the sample utility system as a basis, develop a long-range

generation expansion reference scenario.
The intermittent and diurnal nature of power output from various
nonconventional sources needs to be carefully reflected in any
production costing model. The traditional means of meeting the
load demand with conventional generation is to obtain a load duration curve (LDC) for the utility systems and assign generation to
meet the LDC.

3.

Run a capacity expansion scenario for serving the predicted load

of a future year. Use combustion turbines as expansion candidates for future years. Then use the available (or planned) PV
capacity as generation source and determine its capacity credit.
Details are provided in section 2.1.6.

Additional details about the planning study are provided in the following. See figure I .

2.1.1 Processing of meteorological data:

The function of this module is to convert the multi-year standard
meteorological data into a format acceptable to the next module. As
seen from the flowchart in figure I,the PV value determination process
begins with the processing of the long term meteorological data in
order to produce hourly insolation data for a typical day of each month.
The technique which was used to characterize the insolation data is
called "mode". The definition and description of this technique are
given in the following.
The "mode" is defined as the value that occurs most frequently
in a sample 171. If data is grouped into class intervals, it is difficult to
locate the mode exactly. Under such circumstances the best approach
is to approximate the mode. This is accomplished by first choosing the
modal class and then picking out the class interval that shows the
highest frequency.

[TTJ
1 Ge:E]:F
Characteristics

Characteristics

Characteristics

Processor

Performance
Evaluator

Processor

Genera t i o n
Simulator

(1)

Insolation data

(2)

PV power p r o d u c t i o n

(3)

R e s i d u a l power demand

(4)

P r o d u c t i o n c o s t , Reserve m a r g i n &

LOLP
Input

F i g u r e 1.

Components of PV System A n a l y s i s Model

1272
The sample mode is then approximated by:

2.1.5 Evaluation of capacity credit

where,
L,,=

Capacity credit for an alternate energy source is the amount of

conventional generation the alternate energy source would replace
without any appreciable change in system performance. The performance index used is the loss of load expectation (LOLE) of the
system. The permitted LOLE for a power system is usually very small,
of the order of 1 day in 10 years. The intermittent nature of alternate
energy sources, and the small value of LOLE required for a power
system, combine to make the capacity credit of an alternate energy
source considerably less than its rated output.

lower limit of modal class

d, = the difference (sign neglected) between

the frequency of the modal class and
the frequency of the preceeding class.
d2 = the difference (sign neglected) between the
the frequency of the modal class and the
the frequency of the following class.

w = width of the modal class.

The technique was applied for every hour of the day. The most frequent insolation (SmOde)
is used in the PV performance module discussed in the following section.

2.1.6 Method of evaluation:

Results from the first four modules are serially processed and
consolidated in the PV system credit evaluator module. This module,
unlike the previous ones, is not based on a set of computer codes.
Rather, this is a set of instructions to be followed in order to determine
the PV system credit. A sample instruction set is given in the following:
Run the utility generation simulator using the system projected
load demand and information on all generators.

2.1.2 PV performance evaluator module:

Run WASP to determine the capacity expansion requirements

over a specified period, and maintaining system reliability at a
specified acceptable level. This is reference case (without PV).

The function of this module is to calculate the electric power

output of the PV array. Computational procedures to calculate the PV
electric energy output are as follows.
1.

Run the utility generation simulator using the modified load demand (obtained by subtracting the PV output). Repeat step number 2 and the determine the capacity expansion requirements for
the modified load demand.

Compute the cell temperature

T = TA + 0.02s
Where TA = ambient temperature ( K)
and S = insolation ( w / m Z ) .

The difference in capacity requirements between steps 2 and 3 is

taken as the capacity credit for the available (or planned) PV
source.

2. Generate equations for cell voltage, V,(S) and array cell current,
/AS)

3. Obtain equations for array voltage, V(S) and current, I(S)

4. Formulate the array output power P(S) as a function of insolation.

5. Calculate the expected value of output power (EPV).

It must be noted that this capacity credit is the result of a planning type analysis. This analysis is not subjected to short term variations that are experienced in the operational environment. In order
to test how much of the capacity credit will remain valid when subjected to short term constraints we perform the operation study as
discussed in the following.

EPV = P(Smode)

6. Calculate the capacity factor (C.F.) using the following formula

C.F.=

Expected PV Output
Rated PV Output

2.2

The operation study time frame has to be restricted to 24 hours

because of the variation of the insolation and demand. The sequence
of operations in this time frame can be summarized as follows.

The hourly capacity factor values, along with the rating of PV array
under consideration, are used to develop daily PV output profiles.
Further information about PV performance evaluation is in reference

At the start of the daily operations cycle, a unit commitment is

performed for the ensuing 24 hours. The function of unit commitment is to provide an hourly schedule of available on-line units.
The specific program used in this paper, is the "Unit Commitment
and Production Costing Program (GPUC)" developed by Boeing
Computer services for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
191.

PI.
2.1.3 Utility load processor:

The utility load processor is designed to process the PV system

output and utility system load data in order to determine the equivalent
load. This module consists of SAS and FORTRAN programs that are
used to perform the following functions.

At fixed intervals of length of 2 to 10 minutes the available committed generation units are dispatched to meet the system load
at the minimum cost. The economic dispatch program (ED) is
provided with the desired load level of the committed units for the
suggested interval.

1. Subtract the PV derived power output from the utility hourly load
data in order to determine the equivalent chronological demand.

2. Sort these chronological data in order to generate load duration

Operation Study

The following steps describe the methodology used in the operation

study. The flowchart of the procedure is presented in figure 2.

curve.
3.

Perform a curve fitting operation to obtain a 5th order polynomial

representation for LDC.

Feed the output data of this module to the utility generation simulator
module which is discussed in the following section.

1.

Obtain the daily residual load curve by subtracting the expected

PV otuput from the expected utility system load.

2.

Run unit commitment using this residual load and the available
set of generators as determined from the planning study. If the
unit commitment is not successful add the necessary fuel cell
units. If it is successful proceed to economic dispatch.

3.

Run the economic dispatch (in the 2-10 minute interval) using the
residual load and the available set of generators. If economic
dispatch is not successful add the necessary fuel cell units. If it
is successful calculate the generation cost savings.

2.1.4 Utility generation simulator module:

This module is used to run capacity expansion scenarios mentioned in section 2.1. This expansion is achieved through the use of
the WASP capacity expansion planning package. WASP is used to
compare different generation expansion scenarios while maintaining
a predetermined LOLE index.

It must be ensured that all operating constraints (e.g.. power

balance, generator limits and ramp rates) are met.

1273

1
1

I
PV Case

RUN UNIT-COMM
DOES IT RUN ?

=UiN
T/_C
IDMYX

NO
I
_

ADD FUEL CELL

15-

IN0

DOES

IT RIIN 7
I)vI.

YES

1 NO

LOAD INPUT DATA

HOURLY DATA
3 MINUTE DATA ,

RUN ED
(WITHOUT FC)
-Base

GEN. COST

7
GEN. COST
1

1 FUEL CELL ADDED

GEN. COST SAVlNG

---c
F i g u r e 2.

Case

Flowchart f o r t h e O p e r a t i o n Study

After several iterations, a PV-fuel cell combination is identified

that is able to meet the unit commitment and economic dispatch constraints. By virtue of meeting these constraints it is established that
load-following and spinning reserve requirements are also met.

TABLE 1. Synthetic Generation System

Unit
Type

Number
of Units

Capacity
(MW)

Capacity
(%)

daintenancr
(Days)

Coa I

2
2
1
2
I
I
I
1
1
1
1
1
2
I
I

392
156
252
64
143
173
386
670
720
97
106
415
98
78
174

5.40
2.30
3.50
0.80
1.90
2.50
5.40
9.20
9.90
1.34
1.46
5.70
1.50
1.20
2.40

29
24
35
24
29
29
35
47
47
32
32
35
24
24
29

Nuclear

1
2

665
1580

9.20
22.00

52
52

Combustion

9
9
9
1

261
126
572
84

3.60
1.70
7.90
1.10

17
17
17
17

Total

52

7212

100

2.2.1 Method of analysis:

The method of analysis presented in this paper involves calculation of operating cost savings and fuel cell requirements. The EPRl
(southeastern) synthetic utility generation model (described in the following) is used to compute the changes in the utilitys generation cost
when the load is modified by the use of PV system. The analysis
process is completed in three steps. First is the process of modifying
the load to incorporate the PV system. This follows a utility operation
analysis to determine the amount of fuel cell requirements. Finally,
the operating cost saving for each penetration level of PV is calculated. In the following sections further elaboration is provided on
these three steps.

2.2.2 Synthetic generation system:

A test system was synthesized using the EPRl southeastern regional system [ l o ] and data from a southeastern US. utility. A total
available generation capacity of 7212 MW consisted of 52 coal, nuclear,
oil and gas fired units. A detailed breakdown of these units is provided
in Table 1. This is obtained directly from the FIXSYS file in WASP.

2.2.3 Processing of daily load:

This process involves the following:
Choose load data for one day which has a relatively high peak and
the PV output has a very high fluctuations. This is called the @
termittent day. This will be the worst case scenario.
Choose load data for a day which has an average load shape and
an average isolation profile. This is called the normal day. This
will be the business-as-usual scenario.
Make the PV hourly data available (the same data which has been
used in the planning study).
Make 3-minute PV data available.
Obtain the hourly residual load data by subtracting the expected
hourly PV output from the expected hourly load data. This residual load data is to be used by unit commitment program.
Obtain the 3-minute residual load data by the same procedure as
above. This residual load data is to be used by economic dispatch
program.

2.2.4 Calculation of operating cost and fuel cell requirements

The reference scenario starts by feeding the hourly load data to
GPUC and 3-minute data t o ED program. From this scenario the reference operating cost (ROC) can be calculated. In PV scenario, the
GPUC and ED have to be fed with the residual load data (hourly and
3-minute). The operating cost for the PV scenario is referred to as OC.
Because of the high fluctuations of PV output (especially at high penetration levels) the PV scenario has to run in the following fashion:
I. Modify the system generation to include the capacity credit of PV
system (by subtracting the capacity credit (MW) from system
generation).
2.

Run GPUC with the following inputs:

a.

Residual load data (hourly data).

b.

Modified system generation.

1274
3.

Run ED program with the following inputs:

3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

a.

Residual load data (3-minute data).

b.

Unit commitment schedule as determined for the same day.

Results obtained from the model presented in this paper are

classified into three groups.
Planning study results from discussions in section 2.1

It is important to check whether the operation model runs or not.

If it does not run fuel cell has to be added to the system generation
of GPUC until it runs. There is a possibility that ED will not run. In this
case the fuel cell has to be added to the generation capacity list of
GPUC until it modifies the unit commitment schedule which can run
ED. The amount of fuel cell capacity required to obtain convergence
is referred to as FCR. The output of this scenario can be summarized
in the following:

1.

The difference between ROC and OC represents the operating

cost saving.
ROC - OC = 0 Nocredit

If

ROC

If
2.

The difference between CC and FCR determines the actual capacity credit available for the PV source under consideration.

If

- FCR = 0 Nocredit

CC

- FCR < 0 Penalty

If

CC

If

CC - FCR z 0 Credit

Where CC is the capacity credit which has been evaluated in the

planning study.

180

160

Overall results which are a combination of the planning and operating studies.

3.1 Planning Study Results

Planning study model has been run for the Raleigh-Durham
meteorological data, and load and generation data for a typical
southeastern utility. Results are presented in the following.
3.1.1 PV capacity credit:

OC < 0 Penalty
ROC - OC > 0 Credit.

If

Operating study results from discussions in section 2.2.

The capacity credit of PV generation is obtained by applying the

capacity credit evaluation methodology discussed earlier in section
2.1. Figure 3 shows the resulting capacity credit of PV generation in
terms of each MW of PV capacity installed. It can be concluded from
these results that:1.

The PV capacity credit continues to increase up to 1000 MW of PV

penetration for 6400 MW peak load system. At this point the
available capacity credit is 182 MW. Further PV penetration results in a net decrease of capacity credit.

2.

There are two reasons for relatively low capacity credit

a.

The PV peak does not match with the system peak load.

b.

Only fixed flat plate arrays are considered for the sample PV
installation.

These results are obtained on the basis of LOLE comparison. In

other words it is ascertained that the LOLE for the reference senario
(without PV) is the same as that of the PV-integrated scenario. The
load variations and ramp rate of generating units (short-term study)
have not been considered. In order to include these factors to validate
the capacity credit results, an operation study utilizing short term
analysis is performed. Results are presented in the next section.

2 140 U

t. 120 -

3.2 Operation Results

The operation model is used to study a number of simulated

scenarios for investigating the effect of various levels of PV penetration, fuel cell requirements and fuel cost savings. Two cases are
presented here. In the first case, PV and load data of July 4th are
studied. The peak load for this day was 4685 MW. The generation
cost, operating cost savings and fuel cell requirements for various PV
penetrations are listed in Table 1. These values may be compared
with the no PV-penetration scenario with a generation cost of $ 1 146
291.

100

>
80U

$ 60U

40

20

0'
2

10

12

14

16

18

20

PV PENETRQTION LEVEL ( % I
Figure 3.

Capacity Credit as Function of

Penetration Level

PV Penetration

Oper. Cost

Savings

Fuel Cell

1 146 291

00 000

00

IMW)

0.00

250

5.33

1 106 964

39 327

00

2.2.5 Load data:

500

10.67

1069 769

76 522

00

Simulation for studying the effect of PV system in utility's operation system is carried out on 24 hour load data. Load data for July 4th
and July 12th are investigated. The criteria to choose these days are
as follows.

750

16.01

1 070 066

76 225

00

1000

21.34

1 079 567

66 724

00

1250

26.68

1 080 000

66 291

00

The load data for July 12th has a relatively high peak and PV
fluctuations are very high (intermittent day).
The load data for July 4th has a relatively low peak and PV output
fluctuations are small (normal day).

1275
Since the PV has low output and it has small fluctuations which
can be handled by conventional units, the fuel cell requirements were
zero in all cases. In other words, the system generation has enough
combustion turbines which have the capability to handle the ramp rate
of the modified load. It can be observed from this table that there are
operating cost savings due to the interconnection of PV system to the
grid (without adding fuel cell). However, the savings start to decrease
after 500 MW (or 10.67%) of penetration.
In the second case, July 12th load and PV data are used. The
peak load for this day was 5952 MW. Table 2 summarizes the generating cost, cost saving and amount of fuel cell requirements (MW) for
various PV penetration levels (MW) These values may be compared
with the no Photovoltaic-penetration scenario with a generating cost
of $ 1 541 447.

Operating
cost

Savings

Fuel
Cell

Cap.
Credit

After 16.8% of PV penetration the fuel cell requirements go up

rather than going down. This is logical because increasing PV
penetration levels lead to more load fluctuations requiring more
fuel cell to overcome theses fluctuations.

From the above observations it can be concluded that the maximum penetration level of PV system can be increased upto loo0 MW
(or 16.8% of the days peak load for the system considered). However,
as seen from the operation study, fuel cell support is necessary to deal
with the PV-induced fluctuations on i n t e r m i t t y t days.

It should be mentioned that other related fuel cell benefits were

not included in this study. It is quite conceivable that, if these benefits
($/MW) were included, the maximum penetration level and operating
cost savings could be increased. These benefits can be listed as following:
1.

TABLE 3. July 12th Case Study

pv
Penetration

3.

Air-emission offset,

2.

Load following,

3.

Spinning reserve,

4.

VAR control,

5.

Deferred T&D capacity,

(MW)

(%)

6)

($)

(MW)

(MW)

6.

Reduce T&D losses,

0.00

1541 447

00ooO

00

00

7.

Cogeneration potential,

250

4.20

1479 819

61 628

38

52

72

102

These benefits were estimated for thirty-seven utilities in an EPRl

It was found that such additional benefits ranged from $
study [Ill,
54/KW to $6.10/KW and averaged 8 155/KW. The capital cost of PV and
fuel cell has not been included here, assuming that they will be competitive with the convehtional units in the future.

500

8.40

1425 864

115 583

750

12.60

1382 382

159 065

48

134

1000

16.80

1343 588

197 859

88

182

1250

21.00

I360479

180968

188

152

24[

- .

CAPACITY CREOIT MU.

- FUEL CELL REQUIREMENTS Hk
. OPERATING
COST SAVING aio(

.;

....

2oc

16C

12c

3.3 Overall Results

//,

8C

Results obtained from the planning and operation studies can be

understood to signify the following.
1.

2.

As seen from Table 3, the capacity credit due to the presence of

a PV system in a utility grid, as determined by a planning type
analysis, continues to rise with increasing penetration upto 16.8%.
Then it starts to decrease. It is also seen that the fuel cell requirements do not increase monotonically. The sudden drop in
fuel cell requirements at 12.60% penetration might have been due
to the discrete nature of conventional generator sizes. The fuel
cell requirements are determined using an operation type study.
A comparison of the capacity credit available and the fuel cell requirements shows that their net difference increases from 14 MW
(at 4.2% penetration) to 94 MW (at 16.8% penetration) and then
falls to 36 MW (at 21% penetration). This determines the upper
limit of PV penetration with fuel cell support for the system being
studied. This type of investigation is only possible through the
dual approach of reliability index based planning analysis, and
unit commitment and economic dispatch based operation analysis
presented in this paper.
After 16.8% of PV penetration the operating cost savings start to
decrease. This might cause a penalty which will reduce the capacity credit of PV system.

40

/
/

6 8 10 12 14 16
PV PENETRRTION LEVEL 1 % )

18

F i g u r e 4. Summary of O v e r a l l R e s u l t s

4.0 Acknowledgement
The sponsorship of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research for a part of this work is highly appreciated.

1276

5.0 References
1.

W. S. Ku, N. E. Nour, T. M. Piascik, A. H. Firester, A. J. Stranix

and M. Zonis. "Economic Evaluation of Photovoltaic Generation Applications in a Large Electric Utility System", /E
Transactions Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-102,
No. 8, August, 1983.

2.

S. T. Lee and Z. A. Yamayee, "Load-Following and

Spinning-Reserve Penalties for Intermittent Generation",
/E Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.
PAS-100, No. 3, pp 1203-1211, March 1981.

3.

EPRl Journal, September 1984

4.

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Systems", EPRl Report EM-336, November 1976.

5.

S . Rahman and K-S. Tam, "A Feasibility Study of

Photovoltaic-Fuel Cell Hybrid Energy System", / E Winter
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February 1987.

6.

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National Laboratory, ORNL-4955, July 1974.

7.

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State University Press, 1975.

8.

M. A. Khallat and S. Rahman, "A Probabilistic Approach to

Photovoltaic Generator Prediction", IEEE Transactions on
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Commitment and Production Costing Program Programmer's
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"

IO.

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M. A. Khallat (5-83) graduated from Tripoli University with B.S. (Hons)

in Electrical Engineering in 1977. He obtained his M.S. and an Eng.
Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Southern California
in 1982 and 1983 respectively. His Ph.D degree (1986) is in Electrical
Engineering from The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University. He currently works as a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Energy
Systems Research Laboratory at Virginia Tech. He is a member of the
IEEE Power Engineering Society. His areas of interest are energy and
power system planning and operation, alternative energy systems and
energy management. He has authored several technical papers in
these areas.

Saifur Rahman (S-75, M-78. SM-83) graduated from the Bangladesh

University of Engineering and Technology in 1973 with a B. Sc. degree
in Electrical Engineering. He obtained his M.S. degree in Electrical
Sciences from the State Univeristy of New York at Stony Brook in 1975.
His Ph.D. degree (1978) is in Electrical Engineering from the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Saifur Rahman has taught in the Department of Electrical Engineering,
the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, the Texas
A&M University and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University where he is an Associate Professor.
His industrial
experience includes work at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, New
York and the Carolina Power and Light Company. He is a member of
the IEEE Power Engineering, Industry Applications, and Computer
Societies. He serves on the System Planning and Demand Side
Management subcommittees of the IEEE Power Engineering Society.
His areas of interest are demand side management, power system
planning, alternative energy systems and expert systems. He has
authored more than 70 technical papers and reports in these areas.