Impact of Large Photovoltaic Penetration on small

signal stability
Samundra Gurung, Sumate Naetiladdanon, Anawach Sangswang
Department of Electrical Engineering
King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi,
Bangkok, Thailand
Samundra24@gmail.com

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I. INTRODUCTION
The recent rise of environmental concerns and depletion of
fossil resources are causing many countries to focus on the
renewable energy generation. By the end of 2014, China, the
United States, Brazil, Germany, and Canada remained the top
countries for total installed renewable electric capacity [1].
Among the current renewable energy sources, wind power and
solar photovoltaic (PV) are the foremost choice for large scale
generation. For example, at the end of 2014, Solar
Photovoltaic capacity was enough to meet an estimated 7.9%
of electricity demand in Italy, 7.6% in Greece and 7% in
Germany [1].
The PV generation differs significantly from the typical
synchronous generation. The major issues are its lack of
inertia and possible displacement of large synchronous
generators which may result in the detrimental effect on the
grid stability. There are many recent researches on the effect
of high PV penetration in small signal and transient stability
[2-3].
The small signal stability in the modern electric system is
mainly due to the poorly damped low frequency oscillations.
These are low frequency oscillations of around 0.2-2Hz. The
978-1-5090-2597-8/16/$31.00 2016
c IEEE
affecting the modes.
2. The changing of critical path flows and thereby
affecting the synchronizing torque.
3. The displacement of generators that have power
system stabilizers.
4. The interaction of PV controllers with the damping
torque on the large synchronous generators.
These low frequency oscillations can be damped using the
Power system stabilizers (PSS) [5]. However, they are used
very sparingly as its improper tuning can make the matter
even worse. One of the ways to damp these oscillations is to
use Flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices. These
can be used to damp the low frequency oscillations by using a
supplementary signal in their controller [6]. There are two
categories of FACTS device, the series and the shunt. The
series devices are mainly used for power flow control and the
shunt for the bus voltage regulation. Among these, Static Var
Compensator (SVC) and Thyristor controlled series capacitor
(TCSC) have been used for the analysis.
The present paper investigates the high penetration of PV in a
two area system thoroughly with and without the FACTS
device. A model of PV suitable for stability purpose is used.
The linearized modal analysis method is used to determine the
critical modes related to stability. These results are also
supplemented by the time domain solutions. All the
simulations were performed by using PSAT [7]. However,
other necessary programs were also written by the authors in
MATLAB.
The paper is divided as follows: The next section discusses
about the necessary theoretical background which includes
description on small signal stability and modeling of PV and
FACTS device. Section 3 discusses about the results which is
followed by the conclusion.
II. NECESSARY THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
A. PV model
646

Fig. 1. PV model
This paper utilizes the utility based PV model. It considers the
solar PV plant as a centralized unit which can regulate its
voltage at Point of connection (POC).
The model of PV used is shown in Fig.1. The dc current
depends on the solar insolation and dc voltage. The dc voltage
and temperature sets the reference real power (Pref). The
nominal ac voltage (V) is compared with the POC voltage
(Vm) and the error is passed through a proportional integral
(PI) controller. The PI controller has a proportional and
integral gain of Kp and Ki respectively. The output of the PI
controller gives the required reactive power reference (Qref)
which is used for the calculation of quadrature current (iqref).
The direct axis current reference (idref) depends on the real
power reference. These current references are implemented
using a voltage source converter (VSC) [8]. The VSC is
modeled as a first order transfer with time constants Tp and Tq.
The PV penetration is defined as:
Total PV generation (MW)
PV_Penetration (%)= (1)
Total generation (MW)
B. Static VAR compensator (SVC)
The SVC is basically a shunt compensated device which is
mainly used for the bus voltage regulation. However, it can
also be used for oscillation damping when a supplementary
signal is provided. The SVC model used in this paper is shown
in Fig. 2 and more details on it can be found in [9]. The POC
voltage (Vm) is sensed and compared with the nominal
reference voltage (V) and the error is used by the regulator to
produce the required susceptance (bsvc) to control the bus
voltage. The regulator is modeled as a first order transfer
function with a gain of Kr and a lag of TR with maximum and
minimum limits as bmax and bmin respectively. The sensing
terminal of SVC also has an additional signal (Vmod) which is
called as a modulating signal.
C. Thyristor controlled series capacitor(TCSC)
TCSC is a series connected FACTS device which is connected
to control the reactance of the line. This device can also be
modeled to use in damping oscillations (both sub synchronous
and electromechanical). Fig. 3 shows the model of TCSC. The
detailed equations and other information can be found in [9].
The set real power (Pref) is compared with the actual real
power (P) which is then passed through a slow PI controller
having proportional and integral gain of Kp and Ki
respectively.
2016 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON) Proceedings of the International Conference
Fig. 2. SVC model
Fig. 3. TCSC model
The output of PI produces a set reactance which is then
implemented by a regulator with time constant (TR). This
regulator has a minimum and maximum reactance of Xcmin and
Xcmax respectively. The signal from the regulator is then used
to calculate the necessary susceptance (B) for power flow
control. Sometimes, the controller can also have an additional
signal (Vmod) with a gain of Kr for oscillation damping.
D. Synchronous Generator and Excitation system
The synchronous generator is modeled as a fourth order model
[10] and the excitation system is modeled as a standard IEEE
type I model.
E. Power oscillation Damper (POD)
Fig. 4 shows the model of the Power oscillation damper. The
POD is used with the FACTS device to provide the damping.
Its internal system is very similar to a Power system stabilizer
(PSS) and further details can be found in [9]. The input to
POD is denoted by VSI which can be either bus voltage line
current or line active and reactive power. The POD is modeled
as a washout block with a gain Kw and time constants Tw. The
output is then given to two cascade lead lag compensator with
time constants T1, T2, T3 and T4. It is then fed to a low pass
filter with time constant Tc which produces the necessary
modulating output (Vmod).
F. Small Signal stability
Small signal stability is the ability of the system to remain in
synchronism following small disturbances. These small
disturbances can be triggered due to small load changes, small
set point changes (change in automatic voltage regulator set
point) or due to change in the network topology. This paper
uses the well-researched method of linearized eigen analysis
to assess small signal stability. The nonlinear power system
equations are linearized around an equilibrium point using the
taylor approximation to obtain linearized state equation.
647
 Fig. 4. POD model

The state equation along with the power flow algebraic

equation is used to calculate the state matrix [10].
The eigen value of the state matrix is sufficient to give the
crucial information on system stability.
The eigen values of the state matrix i) can be written into
Fig. 5. Test system
real i) and imaginary component in (i) as shown in (2).
The power flow plotted Y-axis is the real power transfer
OL V L  MZL (2) between bus 6 and bus 7 in per-unit (pu) and X-axis represents
ZL (3) time in seconds.
IL
2S
VL A. PV penetration with no FACTS
]L  (4) Table I shows the critical modes associated with different PV
V L  ZL 2
2
penetration levels. It can be clearly seen that the damping
factor increases with the penetration level. The damping factor
Equation (3) gives the frequency of oscillation (fi) and (4) reduces to 0.694% at 85% penetration which is mainly due to
gives the value of damping factor (i). the displacement of G3. Fig. 6 shows the power flow in the
base case and in different PV penetration levels. As the critical
III. DISCUSSIONS AND RESULTS mode is poorly damped in the base case, the system is unstable
Fig. 5 shows the test system used for the analysis. It has two after the disconnection of a line at 10s but it is stable for PV
areas with area 1 consisting of generators 1 and 2 and area 2 penetrated cases.
consisting of generators 3 and 4. The two areas are connected
through a triple circuit line. All the details can be found in B. PV penetration with SVC
[11].Generators G1, G2 and G4 produce 700MW each The SVC is connected in bus 8. The system damping is
whereas G3 produces 719 MW. All generators are equipped improved in most penetration levels with the combination of
with fast acting static exciter. PV and SVC compared to the previous case. The damping
The system with only generators is considered as a base case factor also increases from 0.694% corresponding to PV with
for case A. The base case for cases B and C consists of the no SVC to 2.15% at 85% penetration level. The time domain
same base case as case A however with the addition of SVC simulation for different PV penetration cases with SVC is
and TCSC respectively. The PV system of same rating as G2 shown in Fig 7.
was chosen to replace the generator 2 for all cases. This TABLE I
CRITICAL MODES WITH NO FACTS DEVICE
corresponds to the PV penetration of 25% which is calculated
PV penetration Critical eigen values Frequency Damping
using (1). When the PV penetration was further increased, the (%) (Hz) factor (%)
remaining synchronous generators output were reduced in
proportion to keep the total power generation same as that of Base case -0.02649 + j5.153 0.82012 0.514
25 -0.10721 + j5.4709 0.87072 1.96
the base case. Thus, the total generation was kept constant for 45 -0.48939 + j5.2082 0.82891 9.355
all the cases. The values of PV penetrations used were 25%,
45%, 65% and 85%. Its equivalent MW calculated from (1) is 65 -0.6538 + j4.9901 0.7942 13
shown in Table V. 85 -0.0389 + j5.6066 0.89231 0.694
When the PV penetration was 85%, generator number 4 was 
disconnected and generators 1 and 3 increase their power to
make the total generation same as of the base case. This was
particularly done to see the effect of loss of inertia of
generator 3.
There are three cases which have been considered. The first
case corresponds to PV penetration with no FACTS device,
second case is of PV penetration with SVC and the third case
simulates the PV penetration with TCSC. Only the critical
modes are shown with the relevant time domain simulations.
All the time domain simulations were carried out by the
disconnection of a single line connecting buses 7 and 9 at 10s. Fig. 6. Power flow with no FACTS

648 2016 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON) Proceedings of the International Conference
 TABLE II
CRITICAL MODES WITH PV AND SVC

PV Critical eigen values Frequency Damping factor (%)

penetration (Hz)
(%)
Base case -0.12233 + j5.3865 0.85728 2.27

25 -0.13082 + j5.8268 0.92736 2.2446

45 -0.46544 + j5.4468 0.86688 8.51 Fig. 10. Comparison of damping factor with the three cases
65 -0.70979 + j5.1922 0.82636 13.54
85 -0.12583 + j5.8519 0.93136 2.15 TABLE IV
PV Penetration
25% 45% 65% 85%
700 MW 1015MW 1155MW 1295MW

TABLE V
SVC Parameters

Rating Maximum Minimum Regulator Stabilizer

(MVA) Suseptance Susceptance Time constant Gain
900 2 -0.1 0.02 10

TABLE VI
TCSC Parameters

Fig. 7. Power flow with SVC

Rating(MVA) Compensation Regulator Stabilizer
Factor (%) Time constant Gain
C. PV penetration with TCSC 900 50 0.5 40
Table III shows the critical modes corresponding to PV
penetration with TCSC. The TCSC is connected in series with CONCLUSION
the top line connecting buses 8 and 9. The results show that This paper analyzes the impact of PV penetration in a two area
the damping performance is much improved compared to both system with and without FACTS devices. The impact of PV
the previous cases. The damping at even 85% of PV penetration has generally a beneficial in system damping.
penetration level is also substantially very high. The time However, the loss of a generating unit corresponding to a large
domain results can be shown from Fig. 8. The parameters used penetration (85% in this case) causes the system damping
for TCSC is given in Table VI. The stabilizer gain given in the factor to deteriorate. This decreased damping factor was
table is with the PV and TCSC which is different from gain in comparatively lesser when a SVC was connected and even
the base case. lesser when TCSC was connected which can be clearly seen
TABLE III from Fig. 10. The integration of large scale PV with the TCSC
CRITICAL MODES WITH PVAND TCSC
seems to be the best solution from a small signal stability
PV Critical eigen values Frequency Damping factor (%) perspective. However, this paper does not consider stochastic
penetration (Hz) variations of PV radiation which may contradict the results
(%) obtained here.
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650 2016 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON) Proceedings of the International Conference