Metodologia para determinação da capacidade de hospedagem de sistemas fotovoltaicos para consumidor livre

Abstract

The addition of Photovoltaic Systems (PS) to the internal networks of consumers inserted in the Free Contracting Environment (FCE), called free consumers, brings with it a set of challenges related to the planning and integration of such systems. Among these challenges, the present work aims to propose a methodology capable of determining the Hosting Capacity (HC) of PS for free consumers of the self-producer type, without injecting surplus energy produced into the distributor's network, without exceeding limits of predefined technical parameters such as overvoltage (V), overcurrent (I) and reverse power flow (RPF), and obtaining results with low data processing times, through the use of Visual Basic for Application (VBA) and OpenDSS tools. Currently, there are numerous works containing PS of HC analysis methods aimed at distribution networks, and not for private networks of free consumers; and there is a strong trend of increasing the number of consumers migrating from the captive to the free market, due to the lower cost of electricity and the recent changes in the legislation of the sector. The presented method proposes four steps, including activity planning, field survey, modeling of the existing network and determination of the HC; for the latter two, a tool was developed in VBA, called CHSFV Interface, which uses OpenDSS as a tool for calculating power flow. This tool optimizes network modeling time, automates the HC and eliminates the need for indepth knowledge of the OpenDSS programming syntax by the user. The methodology was applied through a case study, based on a theoretical circuit model and contemplating four scenarios, which simulated the insertion of PS in different buses of the circuit, including the possibility of using an energy storage system. The results indicated that the methodology proved to be effective, presenting HC values appropriate to the type of technical parameter responsible for the limitation of each scenario; it was also possible to verify that the parameter V is not applicable to the proposed method, since it did not act in any of the scenarios.