Chin Kim Gan

System performance comparison between crystalline and thin-film technologies under different installation conditions

This paper presents a comparison between the performance of crystalline and thin-film type photovoltaic (PV) module technologies. The rooftop and ground mounted PV system installation conditions were considered in the study. The respective system performances were compared in terms of total energy generated, energy yield and Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). The PV system installation sites meteorological parameters were obtained from Meteonorm, a comprehensive meteorological database for solar applications and system design. The key findings suggest that the ground mounted thin-film system has the highest energy yield, which is mainly driven by its lower temperature coefficient and greater airflow. However, under the current Feed-in Tariff scheme in Malaysia, the rooftop thin-film PV system installation has the highest economic benefit for the utility scale PV power plant.

Performance Assessment of Slip Mode Frequency Shift (SMS) Islanding Detection Methods

The awareness concerning the grid connected Photovoltaic (PV) has become vital and a major concern nowadays. Islanding detection is one of the most dominant challenges for distributed generation system connected to the utility grid. In addition, islanding has not been a preferable option as it may pose safety hazard and may cause damage to power generation and power supply facilities as a result of unsynchronized re-closer. Therefore, the islanding detection techniques are needed to ensure safe and reliable system operation. One of the established islanding prevention methods is the Slip Mode Frequency Shift (SMS) islanding method, which has numerous advantages over the other techniques. This paper investigates the active islanding detection methods and specifically focused on the SMS islanding method. The results show that the SMS islanding method successfully detected an unintentional fault and managed to isolate the system within the prescribed time range.

Harmonic Performance of Grid-Connected PV System under Various Penetration Levels

This paper studies the harmonic performance of grid-connected PV system under various penetration levels. The system under study was modelled in MATLAB/Simulink environment. Current and voltage distortions were studied in terms of the percentage of Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) under different PV penetration scenarios. The results showed that the Grid-Connected PV generates a different level of harmonics distortion depending on the PV penetration level that was injected to the grid.

Optimal Capacitor Allocation in Distribution System using Particle Swarm Optimization

Capacitor installation is one of the most commonly used methods for reactive power compensation in the distribution networks. In this paper, the optimum capacitor placement and its sizing has been applied in the distribution network in terms of power losses minimization and voltage profile improvement. The maximum and minimum bus voltage and the maximum possible capacitor size are the constraints of optimum capacitor placement and sizing problem. There are considered as the penalty factor in the objective function. In order to evaluate the obtained objective function, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is utilized to find the best possible capacitor placement and capacity. The OpenDSS software has then been utilized to solve the power flow through Matlab coding interface. To validate the functionality of the proposed method, the IEEE 13-bus test system is implemented and the obtained results have been compared with the IEEE standard case without capacitor compensation. The results show that the proposed algorithm is more cost effective and has lower power losses as compared to the IEEE standard case. In addition, the voltage profile has been improved, accordingly.

The impact of losses in cable selection for distribution circuit in Malaysia

This paper describes the impact of losses in cable selection for distribution circuit in Malaysia. A minimum lifecycle cost methodology is utilized as a basic for circuit design. Minimum life-cycle cost methodology is a method that balances the capital cost against the cost of circuit losses. The result obtained shows the optimal utilisation of 11kV distribution cable in Malaysia is quite low, in the range of 32% to 41%. Parametric analyses on discount rate, load factor and electricity price were carried out to validate the robustness of the results.