Design and Implementation of Photo-voltaic Based STATCOM for Power Quality Issues in Domestic Grid

Abstract

Solar PV converts solar energy directly into electricity without any intermediate conversion stage. As this process is eco-friendly and the solar radiation is cost free, solar energy harvesting through PV is a leading area of research in the renewable energy sector today. The efficiency of the present available domestic power in the market is very low due to multiple conversion stages and centralized application. A STATCOM with multi-rated PV sources is implemented in this project to reduce Power quality issues in domestic power supply. A novel strategy has been introduced to implement hardware prototype of proposed system using dSpic controller. The Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the output is also measured to verify proposed system suitable in real time. KEYWORDS: dSPIC controller, STATCOM, Converters, MATLAB/SIMULINK, , Total Harmonic Distortion(THD). I.INTRODUCTIONThe growth in the global energy consumption is predicted to be 1.6-1.7% per year. The global consumption is going to hit 28TW by the year 2050. As the demand for energy is rising day by day and most of the global power demand is supplied by burning fossil fuels, renewable energy will contribute the global effort to meet the challenges of energy rise and climatic changes by providing clean energy In the centralized configuration, a number of PV modules are connected in series (called a PV string), and multiple PV strings are connected to a main STATCOM using diodes. Although the large, centralized STATCOM offers economies of scale, partial shading or any mismatch between the PV modules causes a substantial drop in the generated power output. The STATCOM solution employs the opposite approach by using a small STATCOM for individual MPP tracking of each PV module, maximizing possible energy harvesting. Therefore, reducing or even losing the output of a single module due to partial shading or an STATCOM failure has a minimal impact on the overall system performance. However, the main drawback of the STATCOM concept is a higher initial equipment cost per peak watt. This increased cost is due to the use of an STATCOM for each panel with much of the functionality of a centralized STATCOM. In smaller PV systems, such as residential applications, the STATCOM price has less effect on the overall cost, and therefore, STATCOMs are the preferred solution. As the price of STATCOMs comes down, this technology will be more attractive in other applications.