Issues of Reactive Power Management in Distributed Energy Sources
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Abstract
The widely known limitations to the further development of wind power (Act [1], modest auctioning) have made photovoltaic plants very popular in quantitative terms, micro-scale units as well as systems with several hundred kW capacity or more. Unexpectedly for investors, in addition to various technical and economic problems, the charges for reactive power flow from PV sources to the grid have become an issue. The financial implications of this seemingly small scale flow can be severe for PV investors because of restrictive distribution tariffs. This paper analyses this problem from the prosumer micro-plant perspective. Potential financial burdens arising from PV system characteristics have been analysed, and the technical rationale of the tariffs has been assessed and then questioned. There are also proposals to change the policies of the operator with regard to the issue of reactive power generation by distributed sources.
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References
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