Operational reliability assessment of photovoltaic inverters considering voltage/VAR control function

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes an operational reliability assessment approach of photovoltaic (PV) inverters considering a voltage/VAR control (VVC) function. The approach aims to quantify the reliability degradation and estimate the lifetime of PV inverters when they are utilized for the VVC function. Firstly, an inverter based VVC model considering uncertain profiles of PV power generation and loads is developed and it is solved by a stochastic optimization method. Then, a long-term reliability assessment procedure of the inverters utilized in the VVC model is proposed. To assess the reliability, a power loss model considering the VVC results is developed and a modified lifetime model based on Coffin-Manson model and manufacturing information is proposed. The proposed VVC model and inverter reliability assessment approach are verified on a 33-bus distribution network. The simulation results reveal the long-term impacts of additional utilization in the VVC function on operational reliability and lifetime of PV inverters.