Active and reactive power control of a PV generator for grid code compliance

As new grid codes have been created to permit the integration of large scale photovoltaic power plants into the transmission system, the enhancement of the local control of the photovoltaic (PV) generators is necessary. Thus, the objective of this paper is to present a local controller of active and reactive power to comply the new requirements asked by the transmission system operators despite the variation of ambient conditions without using extra devices. For this purpose, the control considers the instantaneous capability curves of the PV generator which vary due to the change of solar irradiance, temperature, dc voltage and modulation index. To validate the control, the PV generator is modeled in DIgSILENT PowerFactory® and tested under different ambient conditions. The results show that the control developed can modify the active and reactive power delivered to the desired value at different solar irradiance and temperature.