Photovoltaic generator model for power system dynamic studies

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) power generation has developed very rapidly worldwide in the recent years. There is a possibility that the PV power generation will switch from an auxiliary power supply, as of today, to a main power source in many power grids in the future. Naturally, dynamic studies on power grids with a high penetration of PV generators have become increasingly important, and thus have attracted major attentions from both the power industry and the academia. Consequently, dynamic modeling of PV generators has been investigated widely. However, among various proposed models, there is a confusion on the model applicability and a lack of the clarification on the required level of details on the modeling work, which severely limit the real industrial applications of the developed models. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art PV generator dynamic modeling work, with a focus on the modeling principles of PV generator for the power system dynamic studies. The paper presents the detailed modeling process for the recommended PV generator dynamic model, and clarifies the assumptions and simplifications made in the modeling process, thus raises the discussion on the model applicability. Studies that require further attentions on developing the dynamic models of PV generators for power system dynamic studies are identified and presented in the paper. However, this work does not intend to conclude the research work in this important field, instead, it aims to provoke more discussions on developing guidelines on building or selecting the appropriate models to fit into the purpose of the targeted dynamic studies.