PV-induced low voltage and mitigation options

With increasingly high penetrations of PV on distribution systems, there can be many benefits and impacts to the standard operation of the grid. This paper focuses on voltages below the allowable range caused by the installation of PV on distribution systems with line-drop compensation enabled voltage regulation controls. This paper demonstrates how this type of under-voltage issue has the potential to limit the hosting capacity of PV on a feeder and have possible consequences to other feeders served off a common regulated bus. Some examples of mitigation strategies are presented, along with the shortcomings of each. An example of advanced inverter functionality to mitigate overvoltage is shown, while also illustrating the ineffectiveness of inverter voltage control as a mitigation of under-voltage.