Comparison of Different References When Assessing PV HC in Distribution Networks

Abstract

The burgeoning photovoltaics’ (PVs) penetration in the low voltage distribution networks can cause operational bottlenecks if the PV integration exceeds the threshold known as hosting capacity (HC). There has been no common consensus on defining HC, and its numerical value varies depending on the reference used. Therefore, this article compared the HC values of three types of networks in rural, suburban, and urban regions for different HC reference definitions. The comparison was made under balanced and unbalanced PV deployment scenarios and also for two different network loading conditions. A Monte Carlo (MC) simulation approach was utilized to consider the intermittency of PV power and varying loading conditions. The stochastic analysis of the networks was implemented by carrying out a large number of simulation scenarios, which led towards the determination of the maximum amount of PV generation in each network case.