Photovoltaic Inverter Profiles in Relation to the European Network Code NC RfG and the Requirements of Polish Distribution System Operators

Krzysztof Chmielowiec, Łukasz Topolski, Aleks Piszczek and Zbigniew Hanzelka
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Krzysztof Chmielowiec: Department of Power Electronics and Energy Control Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Łukasz Topolski: Department of Power Electronics and Energy Control Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Aleks Piszczek: Department of Power Electronics and Energy Control Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Zbigniew Hanzelka: Department of Power Electronics and Energy Control Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Kraków, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-24

Abstract: The presently observed rapid increase in photovoltaic (PV) micro-installation connections to low-voltage networks, resulting from numerous financial support programmes, European Union (EU) energy policy and growing social awareness of environmental and economic issues, raise the question if PV inverters widely available in EU market fulfil the numerous technical requirements specified in European and Polish regulations. The paper presents the results of an experimental study carried out on three PV Inverters widely available in the EU in accordance with the EU network code NC RfG, standard EN 50549-1:2019 and internal Polish distribution system operators’ (DSOs’) regulations, governing PV inverter cooperation with the low-voltage distribution network. The laboratory test stand scheme and its description are presented. In each test, at least one of the inverters encountered issues, either with the operation in required frequency ranges (one PV inverter), activating reactive power control modes (all three PV inverters), maintaining required power generation gradient after tripping (one PV inverter) or under-voltage ride through immunity (one PV inverter). The obtained results have shown that all tested PV inverters did not meet requirements that are the key to maintaining reliable and safe operation of transmission and distribution electrical networks.

Keywords: photovoltaic (PV) micro-installations; PV inverter; EU network code NC RfG; standard EN 50549-1:2019 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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