2017 IEEE 30th Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE)
Power Quality Analysis of a Low-voltage Grid with
a Solar Photovoltaic System
Bryan G. Salvatierra, Diego H. Domínguez, Diego Chacon-Troya, Walter H. Orozco
Universidad Politécnica Salesiana
{bsalvatierra, ddominguez }@est.ups.edu.ec, {dchacon, worozco}@ups.edu.ec
Abstract— The generation of electricity through renewable
sources has exponentially increased in recent years in response to
environmental pollution caused by fossil fuels. When we talk about
renewable energy is difficult not to refer to solar photovoltaic
technology due to its high rate of growth compared to their peers
and potential. This is associated with the fact that the Ecuadorian
government is implementing a process of changing the production
and country's energy matrix where one of the fundamental pillars
is to eliminate dependence on fossil resources and promote the use
of renewable energy. Therefore, this makes clear that it is
important and needed to study the effects and possible problems
that entails the use of photovoltaic systems connected to the
network. In this context, this work focuses on power quality by
connecting photovoltaic plants to low-power electrical distribution
networks. The evaluated system is composed of a group of panels of
different technologies connected to a communication unit that
forms the connection point of the photovoltaic system and the
electric network. Measurement and data acquisition in real time of
the implemented system and the respective analysis was made by
considering the existing regulations. Finally, a mathematical
analysis was performed in order to analyze the impact of the most
important variables on power quality.
Keywords— Solar photovoltaic system; renewable energy;
power quality; electrical networks.
I. INTRODUCTION
The Ecuadorian government through the National
Electrification Council (CONELEC), now named Agency for
Regulation and Control of Electricity (ARCONEL), has
encouraged since 2011 the generation of electric power by using
non-conventional systems. Thus, solar technology and wind
energy are highly considered as new sources of power generation
in Ecuador. In 2011, the regulation CONELEC 004/11 was
enacted in order to stablish technical requirements, prices and
other aspects for non-conventional energy generators [1].
Nevertheless, the regulation that established the use of non-
conventional renewable energy (NCRE) generators in the
Ecuadorian electrical system was repealed in June 2016 [2].
Therefore, there does not exist regulation that standards the
NCRE until the new regulatory framework is issued.
Nevertheless, the introduction of NCRE in the Ecuadorian
wholesale electricity market (WEM) is given as part of the
change of the energy matrix, seeking to reduce dependence on
fossil fuels. As a consequence of this, the social and
This work was supported by the Electrical Engineering Department at
Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS), Cuenca, Ecuador.
978-1-5090-5538-8/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
environmental impact caused by conventional electric power
generation is reduced.
The 0.1% of the installed power capacity in Ecuador is
produced by photovoltaic panels [3]. To deliver energy to the
National Interconnected System (NIS), the photovoltaic panels
need to transform direct current into alternating current. This
process generates harmonics due to switching of investors,
causing problems in the electrical network. The Harmonic
generation has a direct impact on the energy quality produced by
photovoltaic panels. Thus, the regulation named ARCONEL
004/15 was issued in Ecuador in 2015 in order to reduce
harmonic contamination in electrical power system. In this
regulation, the limits regarding the main quality indicator are
established for the common point of connection (PCC) of the
NCRE that requires to be connected to the electrical
transmission network.
At the international level, there are different standards to
regulate the power energy quality, for example the IEEE Std.
1547 can be used to stablish the maximum limits for both total
demand distortion (TDD) and the amplitude of harmonic
currents, injected by systems connected to the network as
photovoltaic ones [4]. Another standard of importance for
research is the IEEE Std. 519 that specifies the limits for the
maximum distortion of voltage and current [5]. On the other
hand, the phenomena that are presented in the quality of energy
are specifically defined in the standard IEEE Std. 1159, which
also indicates some recommendations to perform the monitoring
of these phenomena [6].
In a review of the state of the art about generation in
Ecuador, it was found that most of the researches are focused on
economic analysis and the potential of power generation, but
without making emphasis on the quality of energy. Given this
and considering the gradual inclusion of energy generation using
the sun as a primary source, it is necessary to know the impact
that the photovoltaic panels, connected to the electrical network,
have on the quality of energy. In this context, this work proposes
an analysis of energy quality, in the common point of
connection, between the electrical network and the photovoltaic
system (PVS). In this research, the case study is a low-power
system that is the subject of measurements of different variables
of interest for energy quality.
The paper is organized as follows. Section II describes the
case study, some measurement equipment and explain the norm
 2017 IEEE 30th Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE)

used to analyze the results in this work. Section III presents the
results obtained from the measurements and the developed
equations for each one of the phenomena that are under study. In
this case, the formulation was the result of different tests in
diverse conditions of operation of the photovoltaic system.
Section IV stablishes an analysis of the results, indicating the
incidence of PVS in each one of the phenomena. Finally, the
paper is concluded in Section V.
II. PROCEDURE

A. Case study
The PVS evaluated in this work is a plant with an installed
capacity of 580 power in-watt peak (Wp). For this system, 300
Wp corresponds to a pair of polycrystalline solar panels of 150
Wp each, while the other monocrystalline solar panels have the
remaining 140 Wp. The PVS is connected to the low voltage side Fig. 2. Simplified outline of connection of the photovoltaic system
of a power distribution network which belongs to the Salesian
Polytechnic University (Universidad Politécnica Salesiana). This The characteristics of the evaluated system are:
PVS system was acquired to introduce this technology in
Ecuador due to the country is relatively new in this context and  Nominal power: 200 kVA.
its use is not massive just like in other countries around the  Nominal voltage: 127 V.
world. Fig. 1 shows the connection of the photovoltaic system  Measuring range: 10 minutes.
studied.  Connection: Three-phase Wye.

Different tests were performed to obtain a mathematical

formulation for the energy quality evaluation. These equations
are showed in section IV. By these tests, the input variables for
the propose equations were obtained. In addition to FLUKE 435,
other additional equipment was used to perform the
measurements such as oscilloscopes, current and voltage probes.
On other hand, monitoring of the PVS was remotely performed
using a communication equipment. In this case an Ethernet
network was considered.
D. Standards
The values of the studied variables are evaluated according to
Fig.1. Design of the photovoltaic system connected to the electrical network. the limits showed in Table I.
B. Connection point
TABLE I. POWER QUALITY INDICATORS LIMITS
The PVS was specifically connected to a three-phase
transformer whose installed capacity is 200 KVA. This Indicator Limits
connection was performed in the low side of the distribution Voltage levels ±10%
network as shown in Fig. 2. Voltage Total Harmonic Distortion 8%

C. Measurement and monitoring Current Total Harmonic Distortion 8%

Measurements were performed using the energy analyzer Perception of light flicker in the short term 1
FLUKE 435 - Series 2. This device measures and calculates the
most important quality indicators according to the standard IEC Perception of light flicker in the long term 0.8
61000-4-30. For this research, this device was connected to the
measuring point for a period of seven consecutive days according Voltage Unbalance 2%
to different standards. It is very important to mention that the
computer must be configured to obtain valid measurements. Current Unbalance 10%
 2017 IEEE 30th Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE)

The limits for voltage, total voltage distortion and short-term

flicker are taken from the Ecuadorian CONELEC regulation
004/01. Since there are no limits set by the national rules for
other quantities, it was necessary to use international standards
such as the IEEE STD.519 and the IEEE STD.1159 [5], [6],
[11].
III. RESULTS
To analyze the impact of PVS on the electrical grid, this study
has focused on the following variables:

 Voltage level (V);

 Voltage Total Harmonic Distortion (THDv);
 Current Total Harmonic Distortion (THDi);
 Long and short-term flickers (PLT and PST);
 Voltage unbalance (uV (%));
 Current unbalance (uC (%)).
As we mention before, a period of seven days was used to
monitor the system according to all power quality standards. All
curves in this paper show the behavior of the magnitudes under
analysis and interest during the measurement period. These
curves are plotted from 00:00 to 24:00 hours each day in the
monitoring period. Fig. 3 shows the behavior of voltage in all
phases. The voltage in phase C is a little bit larger than the other
two phases due to there is less load. We must recall that in the
third day of the monitoring day an external failure occurred in the
conventional network producing an output of the phase C,
therefore its voltage is zero.
Fig.4. Voltage total harmonic distortion (THDv)
Fig. 5 shows the current total harmonic distortion (THDi). In
this case, the current harmonic distortion is different in each
phase, reaching higher values in phase C. This occurs because the
photovoltaic system delivers the power generated by two phases
a long as the system is connected to a three-phase system. Even
though the PVS is not connected to the phase C, it can be shown
in Fig. 5, there is a huge distortion in the current signal.
Nevertheless, the minimum current distortion is presented in
phase B when the whole electrical system is powered by the
PVS. In this case, the total distortion exceeds the limits in about
99.99% of the samples. The large current distortion is caused by
nonlinear charges that were used for the test.

Fig.5. Current total harmonic distortion (THDi)

Fig.3. Voltage levels

Fig. 4 shows the voltage total harmonic distortion (THDv).
According to the results, the percentage of distortion does not
exceed the stablished limits according to the Ecuadorian
regulation at any time of the measurement period. Once again,
we must discard the measurement on the third day.
Fig. 6 shows the perception of light flicker in the short term
(PST). According to the figure, the short-term flickers exceed the
maximum limit, about 97.03 %, during the monitoring period.
For this type of flicker, each phase has a similar behavior and
respond.
 2017 IEEE 30th Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE)
Fig. 6. Perception of light flicker in the short term (PST)
According to Fig. 7, a similar situation was observed for the
long-term flickers (PLT), in this case the limit is around 96.63%,
and each phase has a similar condition among them.
Fig. 7. Perception of light flicker in the long term (PLT)
On the other hand, voltage unbalance does not exceed 1 % as
shown in Fig. 8.
Fig.8. Voltage Unbalance
This value is below the limit presented in Table I. On the
contrary, there are extremely high values for the current
unbalance according to Fig. 9. This values are about 99.5 % of
the measurement period, exceeding the limits established by the
standards. At the beginning of the third day of the evaluation
period, there was a phenomenon that causes the increment of the
values, a problem with the regular energy supplied by the
distribution company. For this reason, these values were omitted
for the analysis of the curves presented in this section.
Fig.9. Current Unbalance
A. Mathematical Formulation
After several tests to find out what variables influence the
quality of energy, we consider the main parameters that could
describe the quality of energy are: load (L), inverter technology
(IT) and global Solar Radiation (GSR). Six mathematical
expressions were developed to describe the behavior of the
THDv, THDi, PST, PLT, the current unbalance (µI) and the
voltage unbalance (µV) which are functions of the load, inverter
technology and global solar radiation. These equations were
formulated using the multiple linear regression method due to it
is the most suitable technique according to the requirements of
this research. The determination coefficient of each one of these
equations exceeded the value of 0.8, indicating a very good
quality adjustment.
THDv = 0.4 L + 8.63 IT + 3.21 GSR (1)
THDi = 0.6 L + 2.47 IT + 1.58 GSR (2)
PST = 0.8 L + 0.09 IT + 0.001 GSR (3)
PLT = 0.7 L + 0.12 IT + 0.001 GSR (4)
µV = 0.4 L + 0.09 IT + 0.001 GSR (5)
µI = 0.8 L + 0.12 IT + 0.001 GSR (6)
THDv behavior is described by (1), this equation has a
determination coefficient R2 of 0.837, while (2) refers to THDi
has an R2 of 0.98. According to these mathematical equations,
both the voltage total harmonic distortion and the current total
harmonic distortion principally depend on the inverter
technology whose coefficients are roughly three and nine,
respectively. In this context, the load is the parameter that has
the least influence in the resulting equations. On the other hand,
 2017 IEEE 30th Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE)

(3) and (4) describe the perception of lights flickers in the short When the photovoltaic system is generating a minor power to
and long term, respectively. In these expressions the load is the 100 W, the waveform of the THDi is similar to the generation.
main parameter. Their load coefficients are near one. Finally, the
voltage unbalance is represented by (5), while the current
unbalance is expressed by (6). Inverter technology and the value
of global solar radiation play a secondary role in assessing the
voltage and current unbalance. Practically, the radiation does not
play a major role for the last four equations, therefore it does not
have a high impact in the power quality. No expression was
completely developed for the behavior of flickers because their
behavior is complex to predict. As a result of this, the basic
mathematical relations that were found had not a suitable
determination coefficient R2. However, it was interesting to find
that flickers do not depend on the value of the global solar
radiation. In general, this magnitude occurs due to the load or
problems related to the investor.
IV. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS Fig. 11. THDi and PV Power

A. Voltage harmonic distortion C. Flickers of long and short duration

Fig. 10 shows that the maximum THDv reached without
PVS is around 4.8%, a value that is within the limits according
to Table I.
The behavior of PST and PLT is similar. Fig. 12 shows the
curves of PST, PLT and power generation of the PVS. It is no
possible to identify a clear negative impact of the photovoltaic
system at the flickers. The values that take the flickers during the
sixth day of the monitoring period corroborate what has been
said, on this day the load was much lower compared to the other
days and the generation reached mean values. Given this, it can
be concluded that the load influences the flickers and not the
photovoltaic system.

Fig. 10. THDv and PV Power

When the PVS is connected to the network, the THDv

decreases considerably without importing the power generated.
At all times the THDv is maintained within a range of values
less than 3%. The results in Fig. 10 correspond to the phase B.
Similar curves and values were obtained for the other phases.
B. Current harmonic distortion
Fig. 11 shows the plot of the values of distortion that took
each one of the phases during a cloudless day. On this day, there
was a broad spectrum of power generated by the photovoltaic
system, which is perfect to perform the analysis. Given this, we
have chosen the phase B to illustrate the behavior of the THDi
compared to the power generation of the photovoltaic system.
Fig. 12. Flicker and PV Power
D. Voltage unbalance
The unbalance of the voltage is reduced when the PV system
is connected to the network; however, this does not mean the
behavior of the voltage imbalance depends on the generation.
This is clearly seen in Fig. 13. In this sense, on the peaks of
generation the unbalance does not take a lower value in
comparison to those obtained with a generation of less than 100
W.
 2017 IEEE 30th Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE)
Fig. 13. Voltage unbalance and PV Power
E. Current imbalance
Fig. 14 depicts the behavior of the current unbalance and the
PV power. According to these curves, the resulting unbalance
has raised with the PVS connected to the network; however, this
magnitude is not a function of the energy generated by the
photovoltaic system. In fact, the high values of unbalance are
due to the investor and the communication system.
Fig. 14. Current unbalance and PV Power
V. CONCLUSIONS
In general, the impact of the photovoltaic system on the
power quality was positive. It allowed having higher values of
voltage at the PCC, however it increases the magnitudes that
change the power quality when the generation is less than 100 W.
Nevertheless, the problems presented by the photovoltaic system
can be easily solved by disconnecting it from the regular system
when there is not generation. In this situation, the photovoltaic
system is considered as a load. Therefore, it is necessary to
disconnect the PVS system from the regular system in early
hours of the morning so that the power quality is not affected.
The PVS was connected to an unbalanced system due to in
Ecuador most of the low voltage side points of the distribution
network are imbalanced. This phenomenon is mainly caused by
the residential loads; furthermore, we expect to have an increase
of this condition with the entry of induction cookers.
The quantities in which we observed a low incidence of the
PVS was for flickers. According to literature, both the
temperature and supply characteristics are variables that affect
the power quality. As a result of the different tests, it was
observed that the panel temperature did not exceed 30 ° C,
therefore the PV system was operating in an optimum
temperature range all time. This scenario is due to the low
ambient temperature in Cuenca, which does not allow heating of
the solar cells. Since this study aims to contribute to the
introduction of photovoltaic systems in Ecuador, the
characteristics of the power supply have not been considered for
the mathematical formulation.
In conclusion, the voltage levels and voltage unbalance
comply with the limits in the existing standards. Also, it was
observed that non-compliance with the limits is due to the
problems with the power supply, the loads, the inverter and the
measuring equipment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana by
support provided during the realization of this research.
REFERENCES
[1] Consejo Nacional de Electrificación (CONELEC), REGULACION 004/11,
www.regulacionelectrica.gob.ec, 2011.
[2] Agencia de Regulación y Control de Electricidad (ARCONEL),
Derogatoria de la Codificación de la Regulación No. CONELEC 001/13,
www.regulacionelectrica.gob.ec, 2016.
[3] Ministerio Coordinador de Sectores Estratégicos, Balance energético
Nacional 2015, www.sectoresestrategicos.gob.ec, 2015.
[4] IEEE Std. 1547, IEEE standard for interconnecting distributed resources
with electric power systems, 2015.
[5] IEEE Std 519, IEEE recommended practices and requirements for
harmonic control in electrical power systems, 2014.
[6] IEEE Std 1159, IEEE Recommended Practice for Monitoring Electric
Power Quality, 2009.
[7] Ministerio de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda (MIDUVI), Norma
Ecuatoriana de contrucción-Energias Renovables, 2011.
[8] M. M. Fondevila y S. Scarpellini, Guía de mercados energéticos, Zaragoza:
Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, January 2013, p. 308.
[9] A. Medina, Metodologías avanzadas para el modeladoy análisis de
armonicos y su impacto en la calidad de energía, de BIENAL 2001,
Irapuato-México, 2001.
[10] S. R. Castaño y E. A. Cano Plata , Calidad del servicio de energía eléctrica,
Manizales: Centro de Publicaciones Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Sede Manizales, Abril 2006.
[11] Consejo Nacional de Electrificación (CONELEC), REGULACION 004/01:
Calidad de Servicio Eléctrico de Distribución, Quito-Ecuador, 2001.