Novel Control of PV Solar Farm Inverter as a FACTS Device for Improving Power System Performance

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PV solar farms operate only during the day and are completely idle in the nights. This research program proposes a novel utilization of the PV solar farm inverters in the nighttime as STATCOM - a Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) Device. This novel control allows the solar farm inverter to be used in the night for accomplishing a variety of power system objectives, such as improving system stability, and power transmission capability in transmission systems as well as for performing load compensation in distribution systems. During the day also, the above objectives can be achieved to a substantial extent through the inverter capacity left after production of real power. Similar STATCOM control functionality can also be implemented in inverter based wind turbine generators during no-wind or partial wind scenarios for improving the transient stability of the power system and for other objectives. Since PV solar farms operate during the days and wind farms typically produce peak power in the nights, such novel controls of the solar farm and inverter based wind farm can complement each other and facilitate increased grid connectivity of both the renewable generation systems.