Small Signal Stability Assessment of Power Systems With Increased Penetration of Photovoltaic Generation: A Case Study

The present paper investigates the effect of high penetration of photovoltaic (PV) systems on the small signal stability of a large power system. Reduced system inertia and altered power flow patterns as a result of the addition of the utility scale and residential rooftop PVs that replace a portion of conventional generation resources, may lead to decreased damping of the critical modes of the system. To identify the critical modes of the system and the effect of the high PV penetration on these modes, eigenvalue analysis is carried out on the aforementioned system under various PV penetration levels. To substantiate the results observed from the small signal analysis, transient analysis is carried out on the system under various PV penetration levels. The simulation results effectively identify the impact of high PV penetration on small signal stability of the studied system.