High PV penetration impacts on five local distribution networks using high resolution solar resource assessment with sky imager and quasi-steady state distribution system simulations

•Innovative method was proposed for specifying solar PV generation for distribution system simulations.•Feeder hosting capacity depends strongly on feeder topology and characteristics.•Studies with a single PV generation profile overestimate the voltage volatility.•Concentration of PV exacerbates power ramp rates and magnitude.

Some potential adverse impacts of high photovoltaics (PV) penetration on the power grid are an increasing number of tap operations, over-voltages, and large and frequent voltage fluctuations and PV power ramps. The ability to create realistic PV input profiles with high spatial and temporal resolution is crucial to assess these impacts. This paper proposes a unique method to improve the accuracy of feeder hosting capacity studies using (1) high resolution PV generation profiles from sky imagers, (2) quasi-steady state distribution system simulation, and (3) distribution models created from utility data. Solar penetration levels, defined as ratio of peak PV output to peak load demand, from 0% to 200% and various cloud conditions are considered. Three conclusions were drawn: (1) the impacts of high PV penetration depend on feeder topology and characteristics; (2) the use of a single PV generation profile overestimates the tap operation number up to 260% resulting from an overestimation of power ramp rates and magnitudes – therefore, multiple realistic profiles should be used; and (3) distributed PV resources increase the feeder hosting capacity significantly compared to a centralized setup.