Maximizing the Benefits of Dynamic VAR Compensators on Distribution Systems with High Penetration PV

High penetration of solar photovotaic systems (PVs) in a distribution system can impact its operation considerably, causing issues like voltage violations, voltage flicker, increase in system losses and excessive regulator operations. Recently, power- electronics-based Dynamic VAR Compensators (DVCs) have been developed as an effective solution to mitigate these issues caused by PVs. In order to assess the benefits of DVCs (and other such devices), this paper first introduces metrics to quantify the main benefits a DVC offers, such as a reduction in tap operation, voltage variation, voltage flicker, etc. This paper also proposes a methodology to properly place and dispatch the DVC to maximize these benefits. The case study presented illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and highlights the achievable benefits. The results indicate that it is possible to obtain multiple benefits from a DVC in distribution systems with high penetration PV.