This is the first of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” Right after I started my first job out of college, I found myself presenting at a meeting and talking about reactive power and VArs. These were very senior-level engineers, and, although I didn’t Read more…
Several days ago, SEIA and Wood Mackenzie released its “Solar Market Insight Report Q3 2023” report. The report projects more than 20 GW of additions in utility-scale solar in 2023, up from 11.8 GW in 2022. Last month, EIA reported that nearly 17 GW of utility-scale solar was added in Read more…
Image by Shafin Al Asad Protic from Pixabay One difficulty that solar PV and other clean-tech companies face when looking to expand their business into other states is that every state is different – different in their goals, policies, interconnection processes, technical standards, data availability, and other factors. For solar Read more…
If you work with utility-scale or community solar PV, you may have heard the utility refer to the term “power flow study”, also called “load flow study”, and wonder what that is. Utility distribution feeders are designed and operated at medium voltage, also called primary voltage, which is typically between Read more…
As increasing amounts of solar PV connect to electric distribution systems, in the forms of utility-scale solar PV and behind-the-meter solar PV, a critical question that many in the industry have is “How Much Solar PV Can a Feeder Host?” The maximum amount of Solar PV that a given distribution Read more…
The latest revision of IEEE 1547TM-2018 – IEEE Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Interfaces turns five years old this year. Many Solar PV developers and engineers that are just entering the industry aren’t familiar with the standard’s background and the requirements that Read more…
Interconnection standards for DER (Distributed Energy Resources) connecting to utility transmission and distribution systems have evolved and will continue to change in the coming decades. DER includes IBR (inverter-based resources), such as solar PV, battery energy storage, and V2G (vehicle-to-grid), but also synchronous machine-based generation and other types of generation. Read more…
IEEE 1547-2018, IEEE Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces, is the standard for interconnecting all technologies of DER (Distributed Energy Resources), including solar PV and battery storage to distribution systems. The standard is critical to the industry, since it contains requirements Read more…
For anyone that missed it, on April 22, 2022 (Earth Day) IEEE published a new standard that is important for those dealing with Electric Transmission systems: “IEEE 2800 – 2022: IEEE Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Inverter-Based Resources (IBRs) Interconnecting with Associated Transmission Electric Power Systems”. IBR’s include Solar Read more…
This five-minute video describes “IEEE 1547-2018 – Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces.” For more information on courses offered in Solar PV Interconnection and Utility Distribution Systems, go to HeatSpring.com.