Impact of high penetration of solar photovoltaic generation on power system small signal stability

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generating systems are fundamentally different from conventional synchronous generators. They do not have inertia and their dynamic behavior is dominated by the characteristics and controls of the power electronic inverters. It is important to understand the impact of increased penetration of solar PV generation on power system dynamic performance. This paper investigates the impact of solar PV generation on power system small signal stability using modal analysis and time-domain simulation. The simulation results show that solar PV generation can either have beneficial or detrimental effect on small signal stability depending on its location and penetration level. When the small signal stability is adversely affected by solar PV integration, critical synchronous generators may need to be kept on-line or other countermeasures are required to maintain sufficient damping of low frequency oscillations.