Engineering topics

Mather, Barry

Publications and source records attributed to Mather, Barry.

61 records · Page 4

DOE OSTI2016

High-Penetration PV Integration Handbook for Distribution Engineers

This handbook has been developed as part of a five-year research project which began in 2010. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Southern California Edison (SCE), Quanta Technology, Satcon Technology Corporation, Electrical Distribution Design (EDD), and Clean Power Research (CPR) teamed together to analyze the impacts of high-penetration levels of photovoltaic (PV) systems interconnected onto the SCE distribution system. This project was designed specifically to leverage the experience that SCE and the project team would gain during the significant installation of 500 MW of commercial scale PV systems (1-5 MW typically) starting in 2010 and completing in 2015 within SCE’s service territory through a program approved by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Alternatives to the 15% Rule

The third solicitation of the California Solar Initiative (CSI) Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment (RD&D) Program established by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) is supporting the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with collaboration from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), in research to improve the Utility Application Review and Approval process for interconnecting distributed energy resources to the distribution system. Currently this process is the most time - consuming of any step on the path to generating power on the distribution system. This CSI RD&D solicitation three project has completed the tasks of collecting data from the three utilities, clustering feeder characteristic data to attain representative feeders, detailed modeling of 16 representative feeders, analysis of PV impacts to those feeders, refinement of current screening processes, and validation of those suggested refinements. In this report each task is summarized to produce a final summary of all components of the overall project.

Broderick, Robert Joseph↗

DOE OSTI2015

Power Hardware-in-the-Loop-Based Anti-Islanding Evaluation and Demonstration

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) teamed with Southern California Edison (SCE), Clean Power Research (CPR), Quanta Technology (QT), and Electrical Distribution Design (EDD) to conduct a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) California Solar Initiative (CSI)-funded research project investigating the impacts of integrating high-penetration levels of photovoltaics (PV) onto the California distribution grid. One topic researched in the context of high-penetration PV integration onto the distribution system is the ability of PV inverters to (1) detect islanding conditions (i.e., when the distribution system to which the PV inverter is connected becomes disconnected from the utility power connection) and (2) disconnect from the islanded system within the time specified in the performance specifications outlined in IEEE Standard 1547. This condition may cause damage to other connected equipment due to insufficient power quality (e.g., over-and under-voltages) and may also be a safety hazard to personnel that may be working on feeder sections to restore service. NREL teamed with the Florida State University (FSU) Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) to investigate a new way of testing PV inverters for IEEE Standard 1547 unintentional islanding performance specifications using power hardware-in-loop (PHIL) laboratory testing techniques.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Alternatives to the 15% Rule: Modeling and Hosting Capacity Analysis of 16 Feeders

This project is part of the third solicitation of the California Solar Initiative (CSI3) Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment Program created by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2006 to support solar research in California. The program focuses on research to improve the utility application review and approval process for interconnecting distributed energy resources such as solar to the distribution system. The CSI3 program is supporting EPRI, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in their collaboration on the process with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). At present, the application review and approval process is the most time-consuming of any step on the path to generating power for delivery through the distribution system.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Southern California Edison Grid Integration Evaluation: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-10-376

The objective of this project is to use field verification to improve DOE’s ability to model and understand the impacts of, as well as develop solutions for, high penetration PV deployments in electrical utility distribution systems. The Participant will work with NREL to assess the existing distribution system at SCE facilities and assess adding additional PV systems into the electric power system.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2015

Field Demonstration of Using Advanced PV Inverter Functionality to Mitigate the Impacts of High-Penetration PV Grid Integration on the Distribution System

This paper describes a field demonstration that was completed to show the ability of currently installed PV inverters to implement advanced PV inverter functionality and that such functionality was effective at reducing the voltage-related PV impacts of high-penetration PV integration. A distribution circuit was instrumented and then tested for a two week period using off-unity power factor operation. Specifically, an inductive power factor of -0.95 was demonstrated. The results show that the PV inverters were capable of such operation and that the use of off-unity power factor operation was highly effective at reducing the voltage-related impacts of the PV systems interconnected to the circuits used in the demonstration. The impacts of using off-unity power factor operation - resulting in additional reactive current flow on the distribution circuit - are also presented and analyzed.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Rise of Distributed Power: Integrating Solar Energy into the Grid [Guest Editorial]

This issue of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine is the fourth in a series that addresses issues with integrating solar energy into the electric grid. Starting in this issue and expanding in future issues, we will investigate the integration of all distributed energy resources, not just solar-based distributed energy resources, with electric power systems.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗