Steady state analysis of high penetration PV on utility distribution feeder

The current deregulation trend in the electric power industry has led to the utilities trying to adapt Distributed Generation (DG) into their existing infrastructure. In this paper, 12.47 kV distribution feeders of American Electric Power (AEP) are modeled in OpenDSS to investigate the impacts of PV integration. With increasing PV penetration reverse power may flow on the grid which is associated with voltage rise that may lead to violation of integration standards. The impact on voltage profiles and losses depends upon the size and location of the PV system. Voltages of the feeder, voltage regulation and feeder losses under various locations and levels of PV penetration are analyzed for the utility feeder utilizing unbalanced power flow solution.