Optimal Placements of SVC Devices in Low Voltage Grids with High Penetration of PV Systems

With the increase of load demand and distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems on the electric grid, maintaining the required voltage tolerance at the point delivery (customer homes/businesses) is becoming more challenging for electric power utilities. In a residential neighborhood, the peak load typically occurs in the early evening hours while maximum PV generation occurs during mid day. As a result, the lowest voltage operating points occur in the evening hours; whereas the highest voltage operating point occur during the day, when the PV systems are injecting more power than what is locally consumed. Static VAR Compensators (SVCs) can be used to mitigate voltage violations and smooth out the overall profile of a distribution feeder by managing the voltage at the secondary side of distribution service transformers. In this paper, a new method to optimize the placement of SVC devices in a residential neighborhood on the island of Maui, Hawaii, USA with highly distributed PV penetration is presented as a case study using real data to show the efficiency of the proposed optimal placement methodology.