Conservation voltage reduction and VAr management considering urban distribution system operation with solar-PV

Abstract Modern distribution systems are mainly characterized by the behavior of non-linear consumer loads and their stochasticity, intermittency of renewable energy resources; and recurrent operation of Volt/VAr control devices. Conservation voltage reduction (CVR) has been adopted by most of the distribution utilities around the world as a viable technique for peak load shaving and long-term energy savings. Due to the diversified and inherent characteristics associated with the modern distribution systems with high levels of solar-PV penetration, achieving significant voltage reduction, high power factor, minimum number of tap changer operations and low power losses could be challenging. This paper has addressed the issue of VAr management in urban distribution systems while implementing CVR in the presence of highly intermittent solar-PV. Three conventional Volt/VAr control strategies were used to identify the specific technical aspects associated with CVR and VAr management in distribution systems in the presence of high solar-PV penetration. A case study on an urban distribution system with high penetration of solar-PV has been conducted in this paper. It is revealed that a carefully designed Volt/VAr control strategy is required for successful implementation of CVR under high penetration of solar-PV.