Steady-State Model and Power Flow Analysis of Grid-

Connected Photovoltaic Power System

Wang Yi-Bo, Wu Chun-Sheng, Liao Hua and Xu Hong-Hua
Renewable Energy Generation Group, Institute of Electrical Engineering, CAS
No.6, Beiertiao, Zhongguancun, Haidian District, Beijing, 100080, China
wyb@mail.iee.ac.cn
Abstractthe power flow analysis of a power grid
containing photovoltaic (PV) generating system is the
foundation of studying steady-state characteristics of large-
scale PV power station integrating into power grid. Generally,
PV systems are coupled by power electronic converters. Thus,
the steady-state modeling can be based on PV array
characteristics and principles of power electronic transforms.
The model in this paper can simulate steady-state operations
of PV systems in condition of giving meteorological, PV
system and power grid parameters. Moreover, the alternative
and iterative method is used to obtain the unified solution of
the model and power flow equations. Being compared with the
actual PV station, analytical results indicate that the
simulating error during noon time is very small and errors
during morning and evening are relatively great. Also,
variations of meteorological and power grid parameters will
effect the system operation, but the irradiance is the greater
one and the grid voltage variation has little effect. The power
flow analysis is verified on IEEE 30-bus system, and PV power
station can act as not only a PQ node, but a PV node which
can supply reactive power to support voltage profiles.
Index Terms-- Large-scale photovoltaic generation, power
flow analysis, grid-connected PV generation, steady-state
model, voltage-source converter (VSC)
I. INTRODUCTION
Solar irradiance is a kind of wide distributed and huge
reserved renewable energy, and photovoltaic (PV) power
generation is the technology for directly converting solar
irradiance into electricity. With the gradual development of
technology and reducing of PV system cost, PV generation
has more significant social and economic benefits, and
many countries prefer the development of PV generation as
an important strategy for coping with lack of fossil fuel and
improving the environment. Large-scale PV generation has
been considered as an important new alternative energy in
the 21st centurys energy structure [1-3].
Modeling for grid-connected PV system is the
foundation of studying operating characteristics of large-
scale PV power station accessing to power grid. There are
three types of PV system models: model based on
characteristics of PV array [4-6], model based on
characteristics of specific inverter structure [7-10] and
overall PV system model [11-13]. The first model mainly
considers characteristics of PV array and some
approximations are applied to other components.
Therefore, it is usually used in the less accurate
performance analysis like economic analysis. The second
model focuses on charactering the converter used in PV
systems, which has a specific topology. The third model
combines all the components together, including PV arrays
and converters, to character the overall system, with a
reasonable approximation for components, and the model is
much convenient for interacting with the traditional power
flow analysis [11] to achieve steady-state operating status
of power grid and PV system.
This paper proposes a steady-state model of PV system,
and thereby, achieves a method of power flow analysis for
the power grid containing PV power stations. PV systems
always interface power grid via power electronic converters.
So, a PV system can be modeled by direct current (DC)
part, inverter part and alternative current (AC) part, and
these parts are combined together through the principle of
instantaneous power balance and the principle of power
electronic transformation. Integrated with specific control
strategies, the model can simulate steady-state operation of
PV systems. Then, the alternate and iterative method is
suitable for solving power flow equations and PV system
models. In model analysis section, the model and the
measured data of an actual PV power station are compared
and analyzed. Finally, the power flow method is verified on
IEEE 30-bus power system.
II. STEADY-STATE MODELOF GRID-CONNECTED
PVGENERATIONSYSTEM
Figure 1 is the diagram of the grid-connected three-phase
PV system, and the system can be viewed as a composition
of DC part, inverter part and three-phase AC part, in which
only one phase is shown. The DC part includes PV arrays,
the cable resistance R
DC
and the capacitance C. However,
the value of R
DC
is small enough to be ignored, so it can be
approximated that U
DC
equals to U
PV
. The three-phase half-
bridge inverter circuit and sinusoidal pulse width
978-1-4244-1706-3/08/$25.00 2008 IEEE.
modulation (SPWM) are applied in inverter part, and M
and represent the amplitude modulation ratio and the
phase shift angle, respectively. The resistance R is used to
approximately calculate power loss of inverter. The AC
part includes a step-up transformer and a filter, of which L
f
and C
f
represent the inductance and the capacitance of the
filter, respectively. The step-up transformer is figured as -
equivalent circuit, and R
T
, X
T
, G
T
and B
T
represent the
resistance, the reactance, the conductance and the
susceptance, respectively. The voltage amplitude of the
point of common coupling (PCC), U
g
, is counted into low-
voltage side of transformer.
A. DC part model
Following the above approximation, the model of DC part
only refers to the model of PV array. The model of PV cell
can be characterized by I-V equation, and I-V equation
represented in the five-parameter model is shown as equation
(1).
sh
s cell cell s cell cell
o L cell
R
R I V
a
R I V
I I I
+

+
= ] 1 ) [exp( (1)
I
cell
and V
cell
are the current and the voltage of PV cell,
respectively. Given the meteorological parameters, the I-V
curve can be determined uniquely. There are five parameters:
the light current I
L
, the diode reverse saturation current I
o
, the
series resistance R
s
, the shunt resistance R
sh
, and the modified
ideality factor a. These parameters depend on solar irradiance,
the cell surface temperature and the optical air mass. Usually,
the operating data of commercial PV module under standard
test condition (STC, which means irradiance of 1000W/m
2
,
cell temperature of 25 and AM1.5) are provided.
Accordingly, the parameters of the model under STC can be
calculated, and thereby, the model parameters under arbitrary
conditions can be achieved by modifying the STC value. The
five-parameter model [14] has high practicality and accuracy.
The differential of PV cell power to PV cell voltage is zero
at the maximum power point (MPP), so the voltage V
mpp
and
current I
mpp
at MPP can be solved by nonlinear equations (1)
and (2).
0
) exp(
) exp(
) (
=
+
+
+

+ =
+ =
s
s mpp mpp
sh s o sh
s mpp mpp
sh o
mpp mpp
mpp mpp mpp mpp
aR
a
R I V
R R I aR
a
a
R I V
R I
V I
dV
dI
V I
dV
VI d
(2)
The PV module is composed of PV cells in series, and PV
modules in series-parallel connection can form the PV array.
The voltage U
PV
, the current I
PV
and the power P
PV
of the PV
array can be calculated by (3), in which N
s
is the series
number of PV cell in a PV module, N
ss
is the series number of
PV modules, and N
pp
is the parallel number of PV module
strands.

=
=
=
PV PV PV
cell pp PV
cell ss s PV
I U P
I N I
V N N U
(3)
B. Inverter part model
The three-phase half-bridge inverter and SPWM are applied
in inverter part model here. The voltage of fundamental wave
of phase-A is shown in equation (4). The voltages of phase-B
and phase-C are equal to voltage of phase-A, and there have a
phase angle shift of 120 among them.
= =
PV i i
MU U U
4
2

(4)
Based on the principle of instantaneous power balance, the
real power exported by invert part is equal to the DC power
under system steady-state operation.
PV i
P P = (5)
C. AC part model
For the convenience of calculation, the AC circuit is
transformed using the series-parallel and Y/ equivalent
transformation shown in fig. 2. The power exported by
inverter part and the power exported by PV system are as
follows:
( )
(

+ =
12
12
13
13
12
12
cos cos cos 3
g
g
i i
i i
z
U
z
U
z
U
U P
(6)
( )
(

+ + =
12
12
13
13
12
12
sin sin sin 3
g
g
i i
i i
z
U
z
U
z
U
U Q
(7)
( )
(

=
23
23
12
12
12
12
cos cos cos 3
z
U
z
U
z
U
U P
g g
g
i
g g
(8)
( )
(

+ + =
23
23
12
12
12
12
sin sin sin 3
z
U
z
U
z
U
U Q
g g
g
i
g g
(9)
M
PV
U
PV
I
i
U

g g g
U U =

C
1
f
j C
f
R j L +
T T
R jX +
1
T T
G jB
i
S

g
S

DC
R
DC
U
Fig.1. Grid-connected photovoltaic generation system
D. Application and constraints of the model
This model is deduced under precondition of the steady-
state operation of PV systems, and model parameters include
meteorological parameters, PV system structural parameters,
voltage amplitude and phase angle at PCC determined by the
power flow analysis. There are nine unknown variables of
model, including M, , U
PV
, P
PV
, U
i
, P
i
, Q
i
, P
g
and Q
g
, and
only seven independent equations (1), (4~9), so for solving
these variables, additional independent equations are needed
and/or some variables should be given. Considering the actual
and the possible operation modes of grid-connected PV
system, three cases are discussed here:
(1) The PV system applies MPPT strategy and unit power
factor. This is the typical application of PV system at present.
In this mode, (2) is added and Q
g
is set to zero. Then, U
PV
and
P
PV
can be carried out by (1) to (3), and consequently, other
variables can be solved by (4) to (9).
(2) The PV system applies MPPT strategy and exports a
certain amount of reactive power. In this mode, the PV system
can provide reactive power and voltage support for power grid.
When PV power station acts as a PQ node, the value of Qg is
pre-determined; when acts as a PV node, the value of Qg is
determined by power flow. The solution method is the same as
the first mode.
(3) The PV system does not apply MPPT strategy. Then, it
will add equations and/or give variable values based on
specific control strategy. This mode will not be considered in
the following power flow analysis.
The operation of PV system should meet the following
constraints:
(1) Rated capacity constraint: the apparent power of PV
system must not exceed the rated value of S
N
, and it may also
be converted into the reactive power constraint in application:
2 2 2
g N g
P S Q (10)
(2) Voltage constraints: voltages of both DC bus and AC
bus should be within the permitted range of normal operation;
(3) Modulation ratio M: which depends on the inverter
modulation strategy, the value of M in traditional SPWM
ranges from 0 to 1, but in some special modulation, it can be
greater than one.
III. POWERFLOWANALYSIS OF APOWERGRIDWITH
PVGENERATIONSYSTEM
Only if solar irradiance, cell temperature and voltage of
PCC are known, control variables and state variables of PV
system and power grid can be carried out. On the other hand,
voltage of PCC is achieved by substituting the exported power
of PV system into power flow analysis. Therefore, it is an
iterative process to determine state variables of PV systems
and power grid. Unified method or alternate method can be
used for solving power flow equations and PV system model.
The alternate method has the benefit of lower dimensioned
matrix and better reflection of the solution nature.
Fig. 3 shows Iteration algorithm of power flow analysis of
power system with PV generation system:
Step 1, U
g
is set to the rated value, Q
g
is set to zero, and P
g
achieved by PV system model acts as the initial value of real
power injected into power gird by PV system;
Step 2, traditional power flow analysis is performed to
achieve values of Ug, Qg and g;
Step 3, solve PV system model by substituting Ug, Qg and
g to achieve other variables;
Step 4, repeat Step 2 and Step 3 until convergence
condition and all of constraints are met.
When MPPT strategy is applied, the real power of PV
system depends mainly on weather conditions and can not be
scheduled. So, the reactive power constraint is also varying
with the weather conditions. However, the reactive power
must satisfy its constraint at anytime, regardless that PV
system act as a PQ or a PV node.
13 13
z
23 23
z
12 12
z
g
U

i
U

i i i
S P jQ = +

g g g
S P jQ = +

Fig.2. Equivalent transformation of AC circuit

Fig.3. Iteration algorithm of power flow analysis of power system with
photovoltaic generation system
IV. MODELANALYSIS
In this section, the model and the measured data of an
actual grid-connected PV power station is compared under
clear sky condition and cloudy sky condition. Moreover,
effects of irradiance and PCC voltage on operation of PV
station are analyzed. The rated capacity of the PV power
station is 100kWp, the inclined angle of PV arrays is 23 and
the rated phase voltage of PCC at low-voltage side is 110V.
The PV power station applies MPPT strategy and unit power
factor. Model parameters are shown in Table I, and the time
scale of measured data is five minutes.
A. PV system Model Validation
The model and measured data is compared under clear sky
condition in Fig.4, which shows similar trends of their curves.
The peak irradiance of 1013.8W/m
2
appears on 13:28 Beijing
Time. At that moment, the relative error of PV arrays power
is 1.2%, the relative error of PV arrays voltage is 1% and the
relative error of real power exported by PV power station is
2.1%. From 12:00 to 14:00, relative error of PV arrays power
is less than 5%, and relative error of real power is less than
5.7%. The model values of PV arrays power and the real
power are less than measured data in morning and greater in
evening. However, the relative error of PV arrays voltage is
maintained in a range of -1% to +3% in the whole daytime.
TABLE I
MODEL PARAMETERS OF THE PV POWER STATION SAMPLE
UNDER STC
Model
parameters of
PV array
IL=4.085A, IO=7.00810
-7
A, a=0.0392,
Rs=0.0053, Rsh=2750, Ns=72, Nss=11, Npp=56
Model
parameters of
AC part
Lf=250H, Cf=450F, R=0.001,
RT=0.00321, XT=0.01023,
GT=0.01524S, BT=0.05194S
The model and measured data is also compared under
cloudy sky condition in Fig.5, which shows similar trends of
their curves too. The peak irradiance of 1237.1W/m2 appears
on 14:25 Beijing Time. At that moment, the relative error of
Fig.4. Comparison between model and measured data under clear sky condition
Fig.5. Comparison between model and measured data under cloudy sky condition
PV arrays power is -0.65%, the relative error of PV arrays
voltage is -2% and the relative error of real power exported by
PV power station is -0.0024%. From 11:00 to 15:00, relative
errors of both PV arrays power and the real power are less
than 10%, and they are greater in morning and evening.
However, the relative error of PV arrays voltage is maintained
in a range of -4.5% to +15% in the whole daytime.
From above comparisons, results from both the model and
the measured data have the same trends. The model has more
accuracy during noon time, but less accuracy in morning and
evening. Deviations probably come from four ways: 1) ignore
differences of efficiency and characteristics among individual
PV components; 2) ignore the orientation effects of practical
PV array on available irradiance; 3) ignore the environmental
shadow effects; 4) errors from measure apparatuses.
B. Effects of Irradiance on the operation of PV system
The irradiance is the main factor effecting PV array power,
so that the system operation status will vary with irradiance
change. Applying the PCC rated voltage and meteorological
parameters under STC, the operation status of PV power
station is achieved by model with irradiance varying from 0 to
1200W/m
2
, shown in fig.6. Control variables of M and are
adjusted following irradiance to realize MPPT function and
unit power factor. The real power of P
g
has a linear increment
with irradiance and is slightly less than P
PV
. The reactive power
of Q
g
is zero. A certain amount of reactive power of Q
i
is
exported by inverter circuit to meet the reactive need in the PV
system, and it has a nonlinear increment with irradiance
increasing.
C. Effects of PCC voltage on the operation of PV system
The PCC voltage amplitude is the main factor at power grid
side. Applying meteorological parameters under STC, the
operation status of PV power station is achieved by model with
PCC voltage varying around its rated value within 10%,
shown in fig.7. Control variables of M and are adjusted
following U
g
to realize MPPT function and unit power factor.
With U
g
increasing, values of P
PV
and Q
g
keep constant, and
the slight increment of P
g
can be ignored. The reactive power
of Q
i
decreases with U
g
increasing.
V. APPLICATIONEXAMPLES
In this section, the power flow analysis algorithm presented
in section III is verified on IEEE 30-bus test power system. The
No.5 node of the test system is the PCC of the PV power
station mentioned above. The test system has two
modifications: parameters of PCC are set according to the
example; the maximum generating reactive power injected into
PCC, excluding PV power station, is set to 27MVar. Under
condition of irradiance of 800W/m
2
and other meteorological
parameters as STC, there are three examples to be verified:1)
the PCC acts as a PQ node, and the reactive power of Q
g
is
zero, which means the PV power station does not participate in
grid voltage regulation; 2) the PCC acts as a PV node, of which
voltage is set to 1.001p.u., and PV power station participates in
grid voltage regulation ; 2) the PCC acts as a PV node, of
which voltage is set to 1.002p.u., and PV power station
participates in grid voltage regulation.
In the first example, the iterative process converges at the
end of the first round and none of operating parameters
override their constraints, shown in Table II. In the second
example, the iterative process also converges at the end of the
first round, and the ceiling value of Qg is 59.1kVar, which is
solved by (10), so there is no operating parameter overriding,
shown in Table III. The third example is used to test the
overriding situation. The iterative process also converges at the
end of the first round, but there is a need for Q
g
of 1002.7kVar
in order to maintain voltage of PCC at 1.002p.u, which far
exceeds the ceiling constraint of 60.6kVar. Then, change node
type of PCC into a PQ node with setting Q
g
to its ceiling value
and start the next iteration. When the second iteration ends,
none of constraints is overridden.
TABLE II
OPERATING PARAMETERS OF PCC AND PV GENERATION SYSTEM
OF THE FIRST EXAMPLE
Operating parameters of PV system
Operating parameters of
PCC
M= 0.8192, = -2.8736, PPV=82006W,
UPV=388.4V, Ui= 112.5V, Pi= 82006W,
Qi= 12782Var, Pg= 80687W, Qg= 0Var
V5=1.000978p.u.
5= -14.0525
Fig.6. Effects of Irradiance on operation status of PV system
Fig.7. Effects of Ug on operation status of PV system
TABLE III
OPERATING PARAMETERS OF PCC AND PV GENERATION SYSTEM
OF THE SECOND EXAMPLE
Operating parameters of PV system
Operating parameters of
PCC
M= 0.8595, = -3.5431, PPV=82006W,
UPV=388.4V, Ui= 118.0V, Pi= 82006W,
Qi= 34668Var, Pg= 80634W,
Qg= 21153Var
V5=1.001p.u.
5=-14.0527
TABLE IV
OPERATING PARAMETERS OF PCC AND PV GENERATION SYSTEM
OF THE THIRD EXAMPLE
Operating parameters of PV system
Operating parameters of
PCC
1
M= 1.0106, = -5.6925,
PPV=82006W, UPV=388.4V,
Ui= 138.8V, Pi= 82006W,
Qi=135024Var, Pg= 79540W,
Qg=1002695Var
V5=1.002p.u.
5=-14.0702
2
M= 0.9347, = -4.6692,
PPV=82006W, UPV=388.4V,
Ui= 128.3V, Pi= 82006W,
Qi=81208Var, Pg= 79540W,
Qg=60608Var
V5=1.00104p.u.
5=-14.0532
Compare results of three examples: 1) With the reactive
power increment of PV power station, its real power will
slightly decrease; 2) When the reactive power is closed to the
threshold, other operation variables, such as modulation ratio
M, might also be closed to or exceed the threshold value.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
The large-scale PV generation interfaced by the power
electronic converter has a bright application future in power
grid. The steady-state model of the three-phase grid-connected
PV system can be modeled separately by DC part, inverter part
and AC part. The interfaces between each part are only based
on the principle of instantaneous power balance and the
principle of power electronics transformation. The
independency among these parts makes it easy to extend to
other topological PV systems.
From the comparison and analysis, the PV system model
can well simulate the steady-state operation of an actual PV
power station. Irradiance has a greater effect on the operation
of PV power station and the PCC voltage has a smaller effect.
Results from simulation on IEEE 30-bus system show that the
PV power station can act not only a PQ node, but also as a PV
node. While as a PV node, the PV power station is required to
export reactive power to support grid voltage, but the support is
relatively limited due to the rated capacity and the real power
of PV power station.
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VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
Wang Yi-bo was born in 1977. He is now pursuing Ph. D degree in Institute of
Electrical Engineering, CAS, China. His special interest includes power system
planning and renewable energy generating techniques.
Wu Chun-sheng was born in 1980. He is now pursuing Ph. D degree in
Institute of Electrical Engineering, CAS, China. His special interest includes
renewable energy generating techniques.
Liao Hua was born in 1976. He is now pursuing Ph. D degree in Institute of
Electrical Engineering, CAS, China. His special interest includes renewable
energy generating techniques.
Xu Hong-hua was born in 1967. He is a professor in Institute of Electrical
Engineering, CAS, China. He is the chair of renewable energy generating
group in IEE, CAS. His special interest includes wind and PV power planning
and renewable energy generating techniques.