A review of key power system stability challenges for large-scale PV integration

Global warming is the main driving force behind worldwide interest for the generation of bulk electrical energy from renewable sources. As a consequence of advancements in solar cell fabrication and converter technology, solar PV has emerged as one of the most promising renewable sources for bulk power generation. If the current commissioning rate continues, PV power would lead to the modification of several aspects of power system and could influence the stability of the system. This paper extensively reviews the technical challenges, on particular, the stability issues associated with the integration of large-scale PV into the power system. In addition, the paper also reviews the dynamic model of large-scale PV for stability studies as well as the grid codes for large-scale PV integration into the system. Finally, this paper summarizes the research findings about the technical solutions to overcome the power system stability challenges regarding the large-scale PV integration into the transmission and sub-transmission or medium voltage distribution system. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.