PSCAD simulation of grid-tied photovoltaic systems and Total Harmonic Distortion analysis

With the increasing fears of the impacts of the high penetration rates of Photovoltaic (PV) systems, a technical study about their effects on the power quality metrics of the utility grid is required. Since such study requires a complete modeling of the PV system in an electromagnetic transient soft...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in2013 3rd International Conference on Electric Power and Energy Conversion Systems (EPECS) pp. 1 - 6
Main Author Kalbat, Abdulrahman
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.10.2013
Subjects
EMTDC
Harmonic distortion
Inverters
Photovoltaic systems
power system harmonics
power system simulation
PSCAD
Pulse width modulation
Switches
total harmonic distortion
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:With the increasing fears of the impacts of the high penetration rates of Photovoltaic (PV) systems, a technical study about their effects on the power quality metrics of the utility grid is required. Since such study requires a complete modeling of the PV system in an electromagnetic transient software environment, PSCAD was chosen. This paper investigates a grid-tied PV system that is prepared in PSCAD. The model consists of PV array, DC link capacitor, DC-DC buck converter, three phase six-pulse inverter, AC inductive filter, transformer and a utility grid equivalent model. The paper starts with investigating the tasks of the different blocks of the grid-tied PV system model. It also investigates the effect of variable atmospheric conditions (irradiation and temperature) on the performance of the different components in the model. DC-DC converter and inverter in this model use PWM and SPWM switching techniques, respectively. Finally, total harmonic distortion (THD) analysis on the inverter output current at PCC will be applied and the obtained THD values will be compared with the limits specified by the regulating standards such as IEEE Std 519-1992.
DOI:10.1109/EPECS.2013.6713002