Analysis of the impact of harmonic increase due to penetration of variations in the number of roof PV in the distribution network during the Covid-19 pandemic

Jintaka, D. R.; Priambodo, N. W.; Habibie, A. S.; Tofani, K. M.; Ridwan, M.

The increased penetration of rooftop PV in the distribution network was triggered by the reason for free energy obtained from the sun and an incremental decrease in prices for solar panels. These were bringing it closer to grid parity. However, massive rooftop PVs without storage at medium and low voltages will cause power quality problems, namely increased voltage fluctuation, unbalanced voltage, and harmonics, in addition to active load fluctuations and power factor on nearby buses. The use of an inverter to convert DC to AC will increase the number of non-linear loads on the network so that it will increase the presence of harmonics. In early 2020 the Coronavirus pandemic was spread over the world and brought people to have activities from home. This condition shifts the portion of power consumption for each sector and increases the probability of rooftop PVs usage. This paper analysed the comparison of the use of two inverters with different harmonic characteristics with various levels of rooftop PV penetration in the distribution network. From the simulation results, it can be concluded that the existing harmonic characteristics of the inverter used has a more significant impact than the PV rooftop penetration level on the increase of harmonics in the distribution network.