PV system model reduction for reliability assessment studies

With increasing penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy in modern power systems it becomes a necessity to consider this renewable source in the reliability assessment studies. Considering that such studies analyze the grid on the global scale and currently tend to be performed by Monte Carlo simulations, modeling of PV power production has to be reasonably simplified in order to reduce the required input data and calculation time. Though there is a large variety of accurate PV simulation programs and models, neither of them offers the required simplicity or flexibility in integration with the reliability assessment tools. This paper addresses this issue and proposes a reduced model for predicting PV system energy output. The calculation procedure and its underlying assumptions are presented. The adequacy of the model is demonstrated by comparing its predictions with that of the System Advisor Model for different PV cell technologies and site locations.