Hosting capacity of solar photovoltaics in distribution grids under different pricing schemes

Abstract

Most of the solar photovoltaic (SPV) installations are connected to distribution networks. The majority of these systems are represented by single-phase rooftop SPVs connected to residential low voltage (LV) grids. The large SPV shares lead to grid integration issues such as voltage rise, overloading of the network components, voltage phase unbalance etc. A rapid expansion of Electric Vehicles (EVs) technology is estimated, whose connection is also expected to take place in the LV networks. EVs might represent a possible solution to the SPV integration issues as they can be used as fast and distributed battery storages, and locally absorb excess PV generation. This work analyzes the use of EV charging to increase the PV hosting capacity in LV networks, considering the electricity tariffs schemes like time-of-use (TOU), net metering and Distribution Locational Marginal Pricing (DLMP) tariffs. The results show that with the present TOU tariffs the EV integration in LV networks does not ease the grid bottlenecks for large PV penetration. Under the Net metering and DLMP the EV integration in LV grids tend to increase the PV hosting capacity.