Performance Evaluation of PV Inverter under Grid Contingencies

With the rapid development of technology and authority support in solar energy, distributed photovoltaic (DPV) systems have become increasingly accessible to the public. Due to the intermittent nature characteristics and invisibility of DPVs to the power system operator, understanding the behavior of PV inverters under varying grid conditions has become crucial. This paper presents an analysis of an installed DPV system, experimentally testing its response to various grid conditions, such as step changes in voltage and frequency, gradual changes in voltage, rate of change in frequency (RoCoF), and phase angle jumps. The results show that the off-the-shelf inverter responded well to most grid disturbances. However, the inverter does not comply with the latest version of the Australia inverter standard on frequency regulation, and grid disconnection is observed when faced with phase angle jumps of 45° and 60°. These findings can aid in the development of better grid regulations and enhance our understanding of DPV behavior under different grid conditions.