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Accelerating development of advanced inverters :

Neely, Jason C.; Gonzalez, Sigifredo G.

The high penetration of utility interconnected photovoltaic (PV) systems is causing heightened concern over the effect that variable renewable generation will have on the electrical power system (EPS). These concerns have initiated the need to amend the utility interconnection standard to allow advanced inverter control functionalities that provide: (1) reactive power control for voltage support, (2) real power control for frequency support and (3) better tolerance of grid disturbances. These capabilities are aimed at minimizing the negative impact distributed PV systems may have on EPS voltage and frequency. Unfortunately, these advanced control functions may interfere with island detection schemes, and further development of advanced inverter functions requires a study of the effect of advanced functions on the efficacy of antiislanding schemes employed in industry. This report summarizes the analytical, simulation and experimental work to study interactions between advanced inverter functions and anti-islanding schemes being employed in distributed PV systems.