Mitigation of distributed harmonics in LV/MV grid using grid-tie inverters associated with Solar PV

Abstract

The presence of harmonics in power systems causes issues such as reducing component life, inaccurate energy measurements, overheating components, etc. The harmonics are typically handled at the load end and the consumers, typically the large scale industries are responsible for mitigating the harmonics produced. But With the increasing use of power electronic devices by residential customers, increasing penetration of gridconnected Distributed Energy Resources such as solar PV and increasing small-scale industries connected to the low voltage network increases the presence of harmonics in the medium voltage (MV) and low voltage (LV) network. The utility can not expect individual residential customers to mitigate these harmonics due to the high cost associated with the filtering techniques. Installing filters by the Utility also requires high capital costs. The distributed nature of the harmonic injection in MV/LV network also increases the complexity in introducing the filters into the system. This paper proposes a solution to mitigate distributed harmonics in LV/MV systems using the Grid Tie Inverters already available with distributed solar PV systems.