STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC GENERATION ON SHORT-CIRCUIT LEVELS AND PROTECTION OF THE ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM AT THE CENTRAL CAMPUS OF UFRN, USING THE SOFTWARE OpenDSS
Photovoltaic power generation, short-circuit contributions, impact on protection system, electrical distribution networks.
Three photovoltaic (PV) systems were installed in 2022 within the energy distribution network of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) Central Campus. Beyond the already connected and functional solar generators, new PV systems in Central Campus are foreseen within the next years, for the purpose the complying with sustainable goals. With the implementation of distributed generation, urges the necessity to evaluate protection parameters of the electric power system, considering that the load flow, which were essentially unidirectional – from COSERN grid to the load –, now turns bidirectional. The main focus of this work is to analyze solar plants contribution to short-circuits in the power system of the UFRN Central Campus and to define directional protection parameters of the electric substations where the photovoltaic panels were connected and of their feeders, in order to guarantee coordination between series protection devices.