Economic analysis of the impact of the installation of PV systems considering power quality aspects

Abstract

The strong dependency of Brazilian electricity generation on hydroelectric power generation is driving the Brazilian scientific community to look for alternative renewable energy sources, such as solar, especially because its large potential. Despite its own advantages, solar generation can affect the operation of the system. Regarding that, this paper aims at performing economical and technical analysis of the impact of the installation of solar panels, considering the impacts over the power quality of the consumer's facilities. A study case is performed in the distribution network of a university, located in the south of Brazil. First, a diagnostic of the network is performed through energy monitoring. After that, the size of the solar generation system is determined aiming at achieving a satisfactory level of self-consumption. The power generation is estimated considering an analytic method. Simulations are performed in the software OpenDSS in order to determine the impact over the power quality of the facilities and to evaluate the necessity of adequacy of the facilities. The total costs of the installation of the solar system are determined considering the additional costs related to the power quality issues.