Harmonics Mitigation Using Passive Filters in Distribution Networks Penetrated with Photovoltaic power

Due to the massive advancements in technology, the implementation of power electronics devices has become crucial in electric power systems. These devices comprise power converters, variable speed drives, uninterruptible power supplies, and so more which will produce considerable number of current harmonics in addition to distortion in voltage waveform. In this paper, the implementations of single-tuned passive filter are proposed to mitigate such individual harmonics in distribution networks along with lessening total harmonic distortion (THD). The investigated test cases are studied with installing an on-grid photovoltaic (PV) system with 6-pulse inverters technology and without PV disconnected. The harmonics analysis is performed with PV -grid connected which proves the efficacy of the proposed filter in lessening the THD by a significant value (i.e. from 16.23% to 5.47%) which is acceptable by the latest version of the IEEE Std 519. On the other hand, with same filter's ratings, the THD is reduced from 14.14% to 5.57% without connecting the PV arrays. In addition to that, the power factor improved from 0.81 to 0.95 lagging at main board. At the same time, the voltage is enhanced from 0.95 pu to 0.98 pu at main bus after installing the proposed STPFs at the main board (e.g. namely PCC). In this context, all results are performed using ET AP software modules either in harmonics calculations or in passive filter design. Finally, this paper proves the efficiency of this simple passive filter in harmonics mitigation in distribution networks penetrated with PV s.