Integration of UPFC in Solar PV Systems for Enhanced Green Energy Transmission

Abstract

The recent world is being focused on deriving methods for using renewable energy-based systems to meet the energy demands. There are various research areas to be focused upon for making the output from these energy systems more reliable and efficient. The focus of this paper is on examining on such key component, a Unified power flow Controller (UPFC) into solar Photovoltaic (PV) structures to enhance green energy transmission and efficiency. The UPFC structure has the benefits combining the STATCOM and SSSC, which is found to be vital in regulating the active and reactive power flows within the network, ensuring stability amidst system fluctuations. The software MATLAB/SIMULINK is being used for making a 400.0-kW PV-UPFC farm, the study explores the effect of UPFC on enhancing power quality and stability, addressing real-world challenges like harmonics and voltage fluctuations like sags/swells. The work also delves into novel control strategies, consisting of using Proportional-integral (PI) controllers and advanced optimization techniques, to manage the power flow effectively. It can be concluded that the research highlights the UPFC’s capability in mitigating issues inherent in integrating solar energy into the grid, inclusive of voltage rise, reverse power flow, and system instability, by means of showcasing more desirable system voltage profiles and decreased energy oscillations in the designed system.