Active-Reactive Power Control of Grid-Tied Solar Energy Systems, Using Multi-Parameter Band Control for Grid Voltage Regulation

Abstract

One of the most studied and funded renewable energy sources is solar energy, all over the world. Solar panels are used to obtain electrical energy from the sun. They should be used effectively due to their expensive structure and challenging installation. However, as the sun light only reaches to the earth during daylight hours, solar systems cannot generate active power during the night, or in cases where daylight is not enough, the whole power capacity of the solar inverters have not been used. In this study; it was shown that in addition to the active power generation during the daytime hours, the solar systems were able to generate reactive power with the remaining capacity of the inverter. Thereby adjusting the grid voltage was provided by the solar system's reactive power control. Designed solar system generates completely reactive power at nights. Thus, the efficiency of the solar systems has been increased by ensuring that the solar systems have used to keep the grid voltage within the values, which stated in the standards, by producing reactive power as well as active power. Matlab/Simulink was used to model the system when using hysteresis band method for system control.