1
Simulation Tools for Photovoltaic System Grid
Integration Studies
Athula D. Rajapakse, Senior Member, IEEE, and Dharshana Muthumuni
Abstract—Photovoltaic power generation is growing at a rapid
rate. Most new PV installations are grid-connected small-scale
system. The impact of these installations on the grid operation
need to be carefully studied to investigated. This paper presents
the development of simulation tools required for such
interconnection studies. The simulation tools were developed in
the popular electromagnetic transient simulation program
PSCAD/EMTDC and include a PV array model, maximum
power point tracking controller model, and a grid connected
inverter. An example of an interconnection study using the
developed simulation tools is presented.
Index Terms—Photovoltaic generation, PV systems
simulation, PV model, PV system grid interconnection,
Distributed generation, PV grid interconnection studies,
Electromagnetic transient simulation, Maximum power point
tracking, PV inverter.
I. INTRODUCTION
G ROWING attention to distributed generation (DG) and
green energy alternatives to conventional fossil fuel-
based electricity generation has revived interest in grid-
connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. The global PV system
market has been expanding steadily during the last few years.
As the cost of PV coming down due to economy of scale
effects and development of new technologies, applications
such as building integrated PV systems are becoming
increasingly popular and cost effective [1]. When larger PV
installations are designed, studies need to be performed at the
power system level to examine the impacts of these grid-
connected PV systems. For small scale distributed generators
connected to medium or low voltage networks,
interconnection standards such as IEEE 1547 2003 [2] and
local utility interconnection regulations define the grid
interface response to system disturbances. The protection is
based on the philosophy that in case of grid disturbances, e.g.
voltage drops or frequency deviation, distributed generators
will be disconnected from the network immediately. Thus the
protection system at the grid interface and DG control need to
be designed to meet applicable requirements.
Time domain simulation using Electromagnetic Transient
(EMT) programs is a powerful method that can be used for
studies involving controller tuning, protection setting, power
quality investigations and system validations. These computer
A. D. Rajapakse is with the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB,
Canada (e-mail: Athula@ee.umanitoba.ca).
D. Muthumuni is with the Manitoba HVDC Research Centre, Winnipeg,
MB, Canada (e-mail: dharshana@hvdc.ca).
2009 IEEE Electrical Power & Energy Conference
978-1-4244-4509-7/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE
programs offer the advantage of ability to model power
electronic systems and associated control systems in detail [3].
Several approaches to incorporate PV array models in online
simulation have been investigated. In [4] a fuzzy regression
model is proposed to simplify calculations and minimize data
requirements. An incremental model of solar cell based on the
truncated Taylor series expansion of PV cell voltage has been
used in [5] to avoid numerical iterations during the
simulations. It is not uncommon to find that the PV array
models used in simulation studies are oversimplified. While
these approximations may be sufficient for some studies, the
output of a PV array is highly non-linear, and to simplify the
array to a constant voltage source or a current controlled
voltage source is often not appropriate. Specially, when the
PV system is equipped with MPP tracking controls, use of
very simple models could lead to inaccuracies. In order to
overcome this deficiency, this paper develops a custom
component of a PV array for the well-known EMT program
PSCAD/EMTDC. The developed PV array model is used in a
PV grid integration simulation study.
II. PV ARRAY SIMULATION
A. PV Array Model
A solar cell can be modeled using an electrical equivalent
circuit that contains a current source anti-parallel with a diode,
a shunt resistance and a series resistance as shown in Fig. 1.
I
Id I sh Rsr
+ +
Isc Rsh V
Vd
_
_
Fig. 1 PV cell equivalent circuit
The DC current, Ig, generated when the cell is exposed to
light, varies linearly with solar irradiance. The current Id
through the anti-parallel diode is largely responsible for
producing the nonlinear I-V characteristics of the PV cell
shown in Fig. 2. The PV cell model can be further refined by
including a second diode [2] as shown connected by the
dashed lines. The second diode provides an even more
accurate I-V curve that accounts for the difference in current

flow at low current values due to charge recombination in the
semiconductor's depletion region. However, for most studies a
PV model with a single diode is sufficient and with two diodes
model, determination of model parameters becomes slightly
complicated.
I ensure the simulation stability under rapidly changing output
I sc MPP
V
Vo c
Fig. 2 Typical I-V characteristics of a PV cell
The basic equation that characterizes the solar cell I-V
relationship can be derived considering the equivalent circuit
shown in Fig. 1. The Kirchoff’s current law gives
. (1)
Substitution of relevant expressions for the diode current Id
and the shunt branch current Ish yields
. (2)
In (2) Isc is the photo current and it is a function of the solar
radiation on the plane of the solar cell G and the cell
temperature Tc:
(3)
where IscR is the short circuit current at the reference solar
radiation GR and the reference cell temperature TcR. The
parameter αT is the temperature coefficient of photo current.
The current Io in (2) is called the dark current, a function of
cell temperature only, and given by
(4)
where IoR is the dark current at the reference temperature.
The other parameters appearing in (2)-(4) are the electron
charge q, the Boltzmann constant k, the band-gap energy of
the solar cell material eg, and the diode ideality factor n which
is between 1-2 (1.3 is typical for silicon solar cells). All of the
constants in the above equations can be determined by
examining the manufacturer’s specifications of the PV
modules and the published or measured I-V curves of the
array. Since a PV module is composed primarily of series-
connected cells, and a PV array is composed of series- and
parallel-connected modules, the single cell circuit can be
scaled up to represent any series/parallel combination.
B. Simulation of PV Array
The above PV cell model was implemented as a custom
component in PSCAD (see Fig. 3). The PV array was
interfaced as a nonlinear current source. Implementation of
equation (2) which is highly nonlinear in a fixed time-step
2
simulation program is challenging. In fact accurate
implementation on the above equation requires iterative
solution of (2) simultaneously with the network equations.
However, considering the small time steps used in typical emt
simulations, voltage calculated from the last time step can be
used to determine the new current injections. In order to
voltages, feedback of the voltage at previous time step was
provided through a first order filter. Although this numerical
technique improves the simulation stability around the knee
point, it introduces a slight inaccuracy near the knee point
when simulation is run at larger time-steps.
III. MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING
The amount of power that can be drawn by a solar cell
depends on the operating point on the I-V curve and the
maximum power output occurs around the knee point of the
curve. A maximum power point tracker (MPPT) is a power
electronic DC-DC converter inserted between the PV array
and its load to achieve optimum matching. By using an
intelligent algorithm, it ensures the PV module always
operates at its maximum power point as the temperature, solar
radiation and the load vary. A number of tracking algorithms
have been proven and used and a number of DC-DC converter
topologies are possible [7-9]. A commonly used simple
technique is the Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm but it
has many limitations. Another popular but slightly advanced
MPPT algorithm [7, 9] is the Incremental Conductance
method shown in Fig. 4. This algorithm was implemented in
PSCAD (see Fig. 3).
IV. TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
The open circuit voltage and the maximum power point
voltage are sensitive to the cell temperature. At higher
temperatures the efficiency of solar cells drops. These
temperature dependencies are included in the PV cell model
and it requires cell temperature as an input. Calculation of Tc
requires a thermal model which takes various inputs such as
solar radiation, wind velocity, ambient temperature, etc. and
parameters such as tilt angle of the array, surface emissivity,
etc (see Fig. 3). Since the thermal time constants are much
larger than electrical time constants, in most emt simulations
use of constant cell temperature should be sufficient.
V+ Gt Tsky
G Vpv MPPT Wvel
control Vmpp
Tpv
Tcell Ipv Tamb Tilt
V- Tgnd Ppv
Fig. 3 PV system simulation components library developed for PSCAD
V. GRID CONNECTED PV INVERTER SYSTEM
A simple example of using these components for a system
study is shown in Fig. 5. For the simplicity of presentation, the
 3

Start

Measure V(t) and I(t), Compute ΔV = V(t)- V(t-1), ΔI =I(t)- I(t-1)

No
Yes
Yes ΔV =0
Stop? Stop
No
Yes Yes
ΔI =0
No No
Yes Yes
ΔI >0
No No
Increase Vref Decrease Vref Decrease Vref Increase Vref

Fig. 4 Incremental Conductance based MPPT algorithm [7]

Ipv Icon Idc

5

Vpv 0.01 [H] dcVltg

T1
5 5 3 3 1 1
V+ gt5 gt3 gt1
P = 0.2036
G Ia_grid Q = -0.01998
SolRad V = 11
Tcell Eab
10000

80000

5 #1 #2 A
CellTemp
Ebc 2e-4 V
V-

2 2 6 6 4 4

gt2 gt6 gt4

Fig. 5 Example of simulating a grid connected PV system simulation (for the simplicity, the ac system is shown as an equivalent source).

grid system is represented only as an equivalent source behind radiation level and a constant temperature is shown in Fig. 7.
the system impedance. The inverter is connected to the 11 kV The thick green line superimposed on the I-V characteristics
grid through a step-up transformer. Except for the transformer curve shows the variation of the operating point of the PV
winding inductance and the smoothing inductor, no additional array, when the maximum power point tracking is enabled.
harmonic filtering is provided. The output voltage of the 200 Even at constant radiation level, the operating point oscillates
kWp PV array is controlled at the maximum power point due to tracking action.
(around 1500 V) by the MPPT system. The controller used for Maximum power point tracking performance under
maximum power tracing dc-dc converter is shown in Fig. 6. variable solar radiation and temperature conditions is shown in
+
P
A Fig. 8. The solar radiation and the cell temperature were
Vpv D T1
Vpv MPPT
-
I
B Compar-
varied during the simulation resulting in a series of I-V curves.
G F
Vpv 1 + sT
control Vm pp A
Ctr l = 1
ator
The I-V curves shown in Fig. 8 were obtained by simulating a
Ipv Vmppt
Ipv
G
1 + sT B
second PV array model with the same parameters under the
Ctrl same solar radiation and cell temperature conditions as the PV
array in the system. The thick green line indicates the variation
Vpv_ref
of PV array operating point during the variations of the solar
Mppt_ON/OFF radiation and the cell temperature. It is evident that the MPPT
Fig. 6 Dc-dc converter control with MPP tracking
controller tracks the knee point fairly accurately.

VI. SIMULATION RESULTS

A. I-V Characteristics MPPT Performance

The I-V curve of the simulated PV array at a constant
 4

I - V curve PV Array
Operating Point Vmppt Vpv

0.160
+y
1.50
0.140
1.40

0.120

Voltage
1.30

0.100 1.20

0.080 1.10

0.060 1.00
Ipv Ppv
0.250
0.040

0.200

Current, Power (kA,MW)

0.020

-x +x 0.150
0.000

-y 0.100
-0.25 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00

0.050
Fig. 7 I-V characteristics of the simulated PV array and MPPT tracking
performance (x- axis PV array voltage (kV) and y-axis PV array current (kA). 0.000
5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0
I - V curve
Operating Point

0.200 +y Fig. 9 PV array output under variable radiation conditions. (note that the Dc-
Dc converter very closely tracks the operating voltage commanded by MPPT)
0.175
Inverter - Grid Interface
P Q
0.150 0.250

0.200
0.125
Real and Reactive Power

0.150
0.100
0.100
0.075
0.050

0.050 0.000

-0.050
0.025
Vrms
12.0
-x-y +x
0.000
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 10.0

Fig. 8 MPP tracking under variable solar radiation and temperature conditions. 8.0
Voltage at PCC

6.0

B. PV System Interconnection Studies 4.0

The performance of the grid connected PV system under 2.0

variable solar radiation conditions is shown in Figs. 9-11. The
0.0
array voltage and current response to varying solar radiation 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0
level is shown in Fig. 9. The PV array voltage closely follows
the reference voltage determined by the MPPT algorithm.
The point of common coupling (PCC) rms voltage and the Fig. 10 Real and reactive power at the grid interface
real and reactive power flow of the PV inverter during this
Harmonic injection by the grid connected PV inverters is a
period are shown in Fig. 10. The PCC rms voltage remains
concern [10] and standards such the IEC standard 61727
fairly constant while the output real power changes
‘‘Photovoltaic (PV) systems-----Characteristics of the utility
proportional to the changes in the solar radiation level. The interface’’ and the IEEE standard 929-2000 ‘‘Recommended
inverter is set to operate at unity power factor, but during the practice for utility interface of photovoltaic systems’’ provide
transients, the reactive power output of the inverter changes. guidelines on harmonic limits at the PCC. The three-phase
This is a result of the simple inverter controller used in this current and voltage at the PCC are shown in Fig. 11. The
paper. Fluctuations in reactive power can be minimized by voltage waveforms are not much distorted but the distortions
improving the inverter control, for example by using in the current waveforms are quite visible. These waveforms
decoupled control based in d-q currents. can be processed to determine the THD and TDD values to
check whether the system complies with the standards or the
regulation set by the local utility.
 5

Vac
Inverter
IX. BIOGRAPHIES
8.0
Athula D. Rajapakse (M’99) received the B.Sc. (Eng.) degree from the
4.0
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, in 1990, the M.Eng. degree from the
Voltage (kV)

0.0 Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, in 1993, and the Ph.D. degree from
the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1998. Currently, he is an Assistant
-4.0
Professor at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. His research
-8.0 interests include power system protection, transient simulation of power and
power-electronic systems, distributed and renewable energy systems. He is a
Iac
0.0150 Professional Engineer in the province of Manitoba, Canada.
0.0100

0.0050
Current (kA)

0.0000
Dharshana Mutumuni obtained his B.Sc. (Eng) degree from the University
of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 1993 and Ph.D. degree from the University of
-0.0050
Manitoba, Canada. He is with the Manitoba HVDC Research Centre since
-0.0100 2000. He has extensive experience in transient simulation and providing
-0.0150 simulation training and currently the Technical Sales manager of Manitoba
4.900 4.910 4.920 4.930 4.940 4.950 4.960 4.970 4.980 4.990 5.000 HVDC Research Centre. He is also a registered Professional Engineer in the
Province of Manitoba.
Fig. 11 Inverter currents and voltages

VII. CONCLUSIONS
A simulation model of a PV array was implemented in an
electromagnetic transient simulation program. Numerical
model interfacing issues due to nonlinear characteristics of the
PV array was briefly discussed. A model to simulate the
incremental conductance based maximum power point
tracking algorithm was also implemented. Application of these
simulation tools was demonstrated through an example of grid
connected PV system simulation.

VIII. REFERENCES
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