Modeling and Simulation of a Distributed Generation System for Power Quality Assessment

Electrical power systems exhibit different types of Power Quality (PQ) issues in any distributed generation system. It, thus, becomes essential for us to investigate and monitor the PQ for maintaining a normal system with its high accuracy and reliability. The present attempt aims to reveal the effectiveness of a proposed system which consists of a solar photovoltaic (SPV) array interfaced utility-grid. A SPV array consists of 86 parallel solar photovoltaic strings of Sun Power SPR-415E modules, and are connected in series. Manufacturer data sheets are used for validating the results. Indeed, the proposed system is evaluated with different loading patterns under dynamic conditions. It is revealed that harmonic content is reduced at various coupling points, with distortion-less exchange of real and reactive power. Importantly, the implemented Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique is able to generate a controlled signal for tracking maximum power under changing environmental conditions. Overall, the results obtained are found to be satisfactory in the mitigation of reported PQ issues. The proposed model can be useful for various practicing engineers in their various research activities.