Determination of the optimal power factor at which DG PV should be operated

A number of studies have shown that better DG PV integration impacts, on the network are obtained when the DG PV are operated at lower power factors. However, at lower power factors, losses tend to increase, whilst voltage improvement is rather realized in the sub - transmission network. In this study, with the help of the CYME distribution software, the optimal impacts of varying the DG PV power factors on the ECG 33 kV sub - transmission network voltages and losses, are studied. The study revealed that as power factors at which DG PV is operated are reduced, bus voltages generally increase. However, losses rather tend to follow a U-shape trajectory. The minimum loss recorded in the sub-transmission network was 1.032 %, representing a 6.522 % reduction over the base case scenario value of 1.104 %. The corresponding optimal power factor of the DG PV was found to be 0.97.