Fault Analysis on Distribution Feeders With High Penetration of PV Systems

Fault current profile on a PV-dominated distribution feeder is rather different than a conventional feeder. To estimate the fault current profile on such a feeder, the paper proposes a new method which extends the capability of conventional short-circuit analysis method. The paper also shows that this time-varying fault current profile makes it also more difficult to estimate the time it will take for an overcurrent relay/device to interrupt such a fault current. The paper proposes a method for estimation of this operating time also. Performance of the proposed methods has been assessed by simulations on a sample distribution feeder.