Hosting Capacity Enhancement of Photovoltaic Sources Using Voltage Controller Devices and Energy Storage Systems

This paper presents a mathematical model for the distribution network (DN) expansion planning to increase the penetration of photovoltaic (PV) energy sources in the distribution network. The presented model determines the optimal place of PVs in coordination with energy storage systems (ESS). It also identifies the optimal power generation of PVs as well as the optimal amount of energy that must be purchased from the upstream utility grid. The aim of this optimization problem is to maximize the penetration capacity of PVs such that the technical constraints of the distribution network are satisfied. The proposed optimization problem is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem and is solved using the SBB solver under GAMS. The uncertainties associated with PV production and electricity demand are modeled by generating different scenarios. The K-means clustering technique is used to reduce the number of scenarios to make the problem tractable. The effectiveness of the presented model is verified on a standard IEEE 33-bus distribution system. The numerical results show that using ESS capabilities, on-load tap changer (OLTC), and PVs’ reactive power production capability for controlling voltage profile, increase the hosting capacity of PVs and improves the voltage profile, thereby decreasing the total investment and operation costs.