Examining system-wide impacts of solar PV control systems with a power hardware-in-the-loop platform

High penetration levels of distributed solar PV power generation may lead to adverse power quality impacts. Advanced inverter control schemes have the potential to mitigate many power quality concerns. However, interactions between local closed-loop controls may lead to unintended behavior in deployed systems. To study the performance of advanced control schemes in a detailed distribution system environment, a test platform has been developed that integrates Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) with concurrent time-series electric distribution system simulation. In the test platform, GridLAB-D, a distribution system simulation tool, runs a detailed simulation of a distribution feeder in real-time mode at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and supplies power system parameters at a point of common coupling. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a hardware inverter interacts with grid and PV simulators emulating an operational distribution system. The platform is described and initial test cases are presented.