Design and interconnection of utility-scale solar PV plants

Several utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants have been built in North America in recent years. These plants typically range in size from a few megawatts to tens of megawatts and connect either to the utility´s distribution or transmission systems where technical interconnection requirements tend to be quite different. This paper provides an overview of key technical requirements for distribution and transmission system interconnections and how these requirements affect the design of the plant.