Metaheuristic for the Allocation and Sizing of PV-STATCOMs for Ancillary Service Provision

In addition to active power generation, photovoltaic inverters can be used to provide ancillary services to grids, including reactive power compensation. This paper proposes a metaheuristic approach based on particle swarm optimization for the allocation and sizing of photovoltaic inverters that perform the complementary functions of static synchronous compensator (PV-STATCOM) units. The objective of the aforementioned approach is to reduce the initial investment cost in the acquisition of PV-STATCOM units. The proposed methodology considers both the daily load curve and generation and is applied to a 33-bus test system. The methodology is validated based on an exhaustive search algorithm and tested over 1000 consecutive simulations for the same problem; consequently, the methodology produces low standard deviations and errors, indicating its robustness. The methodology demonstrates an improved grid voltage profile throughout the day when applied to the 33-bus test system. Furthermore, the photovoltaic inverter efficiently performs its main function of active power generation. As a major contribution, the proposed methodology may assist investors in determining the allocation and sizing of PV-STATCOM units to perform the ancillary service of reactive power compensation in grids

Automated summary

This paper proposes a metaheuristic approach based on particle swarm optimization for the allocation and sizing of photovoltaic inverters that perform the complementary functions of PV-STATCOM units. The methodology considers both the daily load curve and generation and is validated based on an exhaustive search algorithm. The proposed methodology demonstrates improved grid voltage profile throughout the day and efficient active power generation by the photovoltaic inverter.