Investigation on Solar PV and Battery System
Penetration in Singapore Distribution Power
Networks
S. X. Chen Tham Tzen Woo
and H. B. Gooi and Thi Ha Yushein
Nanyang Technological University Panasonic R&D Center Singapore
Singapore
Abstract—This paper discusses the penetration of the solar
photovoltaic (PV) and battery system in Singapore distribution
power networks and its impact on grid. The distribution power
network with the installation of the solar PV and battery system
will be introduced. The effect of the voltage and power flow will
be studied based on the comparison between the results obtained
before and after the installation of the solar PV and battery
system. The frequency will also be examined by performing the
dynamic simulation of the solar PV and battery system and Load
Frequency Control (LFC).
I. I NTRODUCTION
The global installed capacity of grid-connected photovoltaic
(PV) systems has grown dramatically over the last five
years [1]. The total PV installed capacity in the Singapore
Power (SP) power grid is still less than 1% of the peak
electricity load. However, a 5% to 10% level may be attained
in less than a decade from now [2] [3]. Such penetration
levels are significantly higher than the currently assumed
limits under which net energy metering is allowed [4] [5].
Reaching those levels would likely require significant changes
to traditional inverter technologies and regulations in order for
high penetration of PV to maintain reliable and economical
grid operation [6].
The integration of a large number of embedded PV
generators will have far reaching consequences on the
distribution networks as well as on the national transmission
and generation system [7]. If the PV generators are built
on the roof tops and at sides of buildings, they will be
electrically close to loads. However, these PV generating units
may be liable to common mode failures that might cause a
sudden or rapid disconnection of a large proportion of the
PV operating capacity. Considering the recent grid codes in
Germany and Spain [8], PV generators should provide dynamic
grid support e.g. voltage stability during voltage drops. This is
often referred to as Fault-Ride-Through (FRT) and frequency
control capability [9].
In the interconnected electric power grid, generated electric
power must be consumed within milliseconds of being
generated [10]. Excess power can be accumulated with energy
storage systems such as pumped hydro and battery systems
[11], but conventional energy storage systems respond much
978-1-4673-4584-2/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE
Kenichi Watanabe
Energy Solution Center
Panasonic Corporation
more slowly than load changes, so peaking generation is
throttled back to stabilize the power flow into and out of the
grid. In addition, when the load on the utility grid reaches
new peak levels, system operators must start activating every
available generating source, and even minor throttling back of
generation may cause the grid voltage to collapse.
The designs of the grid-connected PV power system focus
on converting as much irradiant power as possible into useful
active power i.e., current flowing into the grid which is in
phase with the utility-defined voltage. The PV power system
can help to meet the typical loads supplied by the electric
power utility infrastructure [15] [12] [13] [14]. However, as
the installed capacity of this technology grows, at some point
this assumption will no longer hold true. In some small areas
of the electric power distribution system, e.g., some rural
feeders, solar electric power generation has already approached
or exceeded the local daytime load. Electric utilities have
begun to modify their physical infrastructure, e.g., bigger
wire size and voltage control settings, to adapt to this new
power flow pattern. If this trend continues, PV power systems
will be required to provide more grid support services and
to participate, to a greater extent, in utility dispatch and
operations processes [16] [17] [18].
This paper will focus on research of grid-connected PV
and battery systems in Singapore. PV systems will help make
full use of the solar power in Singapore. Battery storage
systems will overcome the intermittency of PV power output
by charging or discharging themselves. Solar PV and battery
systems will be very close to the load in Singapore. It will help
to reduce the power transmission loss. If lots of those PV and
battery systems are combined together, they can be considered
as virtual power plant (VPP), which will be able to participant
in the power system frequency market.
The PV and battery system is installed in the distribution
power system. Fig. 1 shows a common power distribution
system in Singapore. The incoming voltage is 66kV and is
lowered to 22kV by a 66kV/22kV transformer. After that
two 22kV/0.4kV transformers will step down the voltage to
0.4kV further at Bus 4 and Bus 5, which are connected to
several buildings. The power flow and voltage at each bus will
48 IPEC 2012
be studied both before and after the installation of the PV one week of Singapore is shown in Fig. 2. In the PV system,
and battery system is installed. Besides, the Load Frequency
1200
Control (LFC) will also be studied by examining the frequency
dynamics of the PV and battery system. This paper will 1000
discuss the impact of the PV and battery systems in Singapore

Solar radiation (W/m2)

distribution power networks based on the simulation results. 800

600

66kV/22kV 400

1 200

0
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
2 3
Fig. 2. The solar radiation in one week of Singapore

22kV/0.4kV 22kV/0.4kV
the maximum power point tracker will be used to obtain the
maximum power. The PV power output (ps ) is presented by
4 5
(1) [19], [20].

ps = ηSI(1 − 0.005(to − 25)) (1)

10 11
9 12
8 13
7 14
6
Fig. 1. A simple distribution network in Singapore
In section II, the PV and battery system is introduced. The
equivalent circuit of PV and its output power formulation
are presented in section II. The system analytical model
is described in section III. The distribution line model is
discussed in section III.A. The power system frequency model
is shown in section III.B. The LFC function is examined in
this section. The case study and result analysis are detailed
in section IV. The voltage and energy efficiency study are
discussed and three scenarios are compared in section IV.A.
The results of the system frequency study with VPP are shown
in section IV.B. The conclusion is drawn in section V.
II. PV AND BATTERY S YSTEM
The fundamental building block of solar photovoltaic
power is the solar cell or photovoltaic cell [12], [13]. A
solar cell is a self-contained electricity-producing device
constructed of semi-conducting materials. Light strikes on
the semi-conducting material in the solar cell creating direct
current (DC) [14].
In the calculation of the power output of a PV module,
we assume that a maximum power point tracker will be
used. Manufacturers of PV modules supply information on the
voltage and current of the maximum power point at reference
temperature and reference irradiance. The output current I can
be expressed as a function of the output voltage V from the
equivalent circuit of the PV module. The solar radiations in
where, η is the conversion efficiency (%) of the solar cell array;
S is the array area (m2 ); I is the solar radiation (kW/m2 );
and to is the outside air temperature (◦ C).
The lithium-ion battery storage system is used to
compensate the variability of solar power [21], [22]. The
excess solar energy can be stored in the battery system. It
can support the grid during the peak load hours [23], [24].
The PV and battery systems have the capability to participate
in the frequency market if lots of those systems are aggregated
together via VPP concepts.
III. S YSTEM A NALYTICAL M ODEL
A. Distribution Line Model
A distribution line model is used to calculate the power
flow and power loss for the distribution power system in Fig.
1. Fixed loads are modeled as constant real and reactive power
consumptions at each bus, Pd and Qd , as specified in the
bus matrix. The output of the PV and battery system can be
considered as the real and reactive power injections. The shunt
admittance (Ysh ) of any constant impedance shunt element at
a bus are specified by Gsh andBsh as follows:
Ysh = Gsh + jBsh (2)
Each distribution line is modeled as a standard π model.
The model has a series resistance R and a reactance X in
series with an ideal transformer of a tap ratio τ and a phase
shifter with phase shifter angle θshif t . The line has a total
line charging capacitance Bc . The model is shown in Fig. 3.
Branch voltages and currents from the f rom end to the to end
of the branch are related by the branch admittance matrix Ybr
as follows:    
Ifl Vfl
= Ybr (3)
Itl Vtl

49
  
(Ys τ12 + j B2c ) −Ys −jθ1shif t Power systems exhibit a highly non-linear and time-varying
where Ybr = τe and Ys =
−Ys jθ1shif t Ys + j B2c nature. However, for the purpose of frequency control synthesis
1 τe
and analysis in the presence of load disturbances, a simple
R+jX .
As shown in Fig. 3, Ifl is the current from the f rom side of low-order linearized model is used. In comparison with voltage
branch l. Similarly Itl is the current from the to side of branch and rotor angle dynamics, the dynamics which affect the
l. Vfl is the voltage at the f rom side of branch l. Likewise Vtl frequency response are relatively slow. They are in the range
is the voltage at the to side of branch l. of seconds to minutes. The overall generator-load dynamic
relationship between the incremental mismatch power and the
frequency deviation can be expressed as
Vf Vt
Phase Shifter dΔf (t)
From If It To ΔPT h (t) + ΔPSB (t) − ΔPL (t) = M + DΔf (t) (4)
Ending: R+jX Ending: dt
ith bus j th bus where Δf is the frequency deviation; ΔPT h is the thermal
Tap Transformer
plant power change; ΔPSB is Solar PV and battery system
BC /2 BC /2 power change; ΔPL is the load change; M is the inertia
constant and D is the load damping coefficient.
Fig. 3. A simple line model in a power system Equation (4) together with the dynamics of the thermal
power plant as well as PV and battery system can be
represented in the simulation block diagram. The LFC helps
B. Power System Frequency Model to adjust load points of governors of the generation units and
control their outputs. The actual frequency is measured at the
As mentioned before, the individual PV and battery systems load dispatch center and is sent back to the LFC function. The
at different locations will be aggregated together as a VPP LFC model is shown in Fig. 5.
so that their combined capacity is large enough for them to
participate in the wholesale regulation market. The control
of frequency and power generation is commonly referred to
as LFC which is a major function of the AGC system. The
purpose of AGC is to maintain system frequency very close
to a specified nominal value and to dispatch the generation
of individual units. LFC regulates the power flow between
different areas at the desired MW interchange values while
holding the frequency constant. In an isolated power system,
regulation of interchange power is not a control issue, and the Fig. 5. LFC Model
LFC task is limited to maintaining the system frequency to the
specified nominal value [25]. Only one area is considered in
this report and AGC will be discussed in the context of the IV. C ASE S TUDY AND R ESULT A NALYSIS
PV and battery system. Figure 4 shows the basic power system A. Voltage and Energy Efficiency Study
frequency model and it will be studied in this paper. The distribution network is shown in Fig. 1. There are three
voltage levels in this system, namely 66kV for Bus 1, 22kV for
Buses 2 and 3, and 0.4kV for other buses. Bus 1 is connected
to the upstream network. Buses 6-14 are load buses, which
Solar PV and
battery system are connected to different buildings. The load information is
-
LFC + shown in Table I.
+
Thermal Power TABLE I
Plant
L OAD I NFORMATION IN D ISTRIBUTION S YSTEM

Bus P Q Bus P Q Bus P Q

# MW MVAr # MW MVAr # MW MVAr
Fig. 4. Power System Frequency Model 6 0.23 0.07 9 0.13 0.06 12 0.2 0.05
7 0.2 0.06 10 0.3 0.07 13 0.17 0.05
8 0.2 0.03 11 0.2 0..05 14 0.08 0.03
The study system may have other generation sources in the
power system frequency model. To simplify the problem and
for the purpose of the PV and battery system research, only Figure 6 shows the simulation system in PowerWorld. A
the thermal power plant and the PV and battery system are generator is used to simulate the upstream network. Three
incorporated in the power system frequency model in Fig. 4. scenarios are simulated in PowerWorld. They are (1) a power
In addition, only one area is considered and power interchange flow study without any PV and battery system, (2) a power flow
among areas is not considered for simplicity. study with the PV and battery system at bus 8, and (3) a power

50
flow study with the PV and battery system at all load buses. 1.005
Without PV and battery system
The capacity of each PV and battery system installed in the 1
PV and battery system at bus 8
PV and battery system at each bus
distribution network is about 45kWp and 60kWh respectively. 0.995

0.99

Voltage (pu)
0.985

0.98

0.975

0.97

0.965
2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Bus

Fig. 7. Bus voltage comparison for three scenarios

in the distribution network has increased with the installation

of the PV and battery system. The more the PV and battery
systems are installed on the load bus, the higher the voltage
will increase. Bus 1 is connected with the upstream network.
Hence, it has the maximum voltage of 1.0 pu.
TABLE III
Fig. 6. Distribution network simulation in PowerWorld C OMPARISON R ESULTS OF T HREE S CENARIOS

Scenario Minimum Maximum Average Transmission Efficiency

# voltage (pu) voltage (pu) voltage (pu) loss (kW) enhanced (%)
In the second scenario, the output of the PV and battery
One 0.96799 1.0 0.98767 27 N/A
system at bus 8 is set at 39kW for active power injection and Two 0.96831 1.0 0.98804 26 +3.7%
Three 0.97352 1.0 0.99083 18 +33%
19kVAr for reactive power injection. For the third scenario,
the outputs of the PV and battery systems are shown in Table
II. Compared with the base case in scenario one, the power
loss is reduced by 1kW in scenario two. Its energy efficiency
TABLE II enhancement is 3.7%, which can be obtained by using 1kW
O UTPUTS OF PV AND BATTERY S YSTEMS IN S CENARIO T HREE
divided by 27kW. The energy efficiency for scenario three is
Bus P Q Bus P Q Bus P Q
increased by 33% compared with that of scenario one.
# kW kVAr # kW kVAr # kW kVAr There are two reasons for the improvement of energy
6 39 19 9 39 19 12 39 19 efficiency. One is because the PV and battery system is
7 39 19 10 38 19 13 39 20 installed at the load bus and the active power can be consumed
8 39 19 11 39 19 14 40 20
at the location it is generated. It avoids the power loss via the
transmission lines. The other one is that the PV and battery
The voltage values of each bus during these three scenarios system can supply reactive power at the load bus. It will
are shown in Figure 7. By comparing the results of scenario regulate the load bus voltage and thus will help to reduce the
one and scenario two, one can tell that the voltage is enhanced power loss of the transmission lines.
at the bus which was installed with the PV and battery system. The voltage dynamic analysis for the PV and battery system
The voltage at other buses without the PV and battery system bus in scenario two is simulated in Matlab Simulink as shown
is nearly the same. As shown in Figure 7, the voltage of bus in Figure 8. Two buses are simulated in Figure 8. One is the
8 is increased by 0.00354 pu from 0.98083 pu to 0.98437 pu. Bus 4, which is the substation bus and the other is Bus 8 which
The distribution loss inside the distribution network is 27kW is connected to the PV and battery system. The PV and battery
without the PV and battery system. After the PV and battery system is under the control of the AGC signal. The frequency
system is installed at bus 8, the power flow simulation shows dynamic response will be discussed in the section IV.B.
that the power loss changes to 26kW, a reduction of 1kW. The maximum voltage fluctuation at Bus 4 is from 0.0781%
In scenario three, nine PV and battery systems were to 0.1895%. Referring to the standard of IEC61000-3-3, this
installed at nine different load buses. From the curves in Fig. 7, voltage fluctuation is less than 3% and it is acceptable [26].
one can tell that the voltage has been improved by comparing
voltages of scenario one from bus 4 to bus 14 with those of B. System Frequency Study with VPP
scenario two. The total transmission loss in scenario three is The frequency response is studied by aggregating all the
18kW. PV and battery systems installed in the distribution network
Table III shows the comparison results of three scenarios. as a single generating source and injecting its active power
The minimum voltage and average voltage of all the buses output into the power system frequency model. The block

51
 Fig. 9. System frequency simulation in Matlab

(a) Frequency change (Hz)

Bus 8 0.2
Switchboard
0
Service Cable PV and Battery
of Length (L) charging System −0.2
discharging
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Bus 4 Pn Time (s)
Substation (b) PV and battery system output change (MW)
20

10

Fig. 8. Bus voltage dynamic simulation for distribution network with PV −10
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
and battery system Time (s)
(c) Thermal plant generation change (MW)
200

0
diagram shown in Fig. 9 is used to simulate the frequency
response of the VPP. The total load of the power system is −200
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Time (s)
4000MW and the load fluctuation is under 200MW which is 200
(d) Load fluctuations (MW)

5% of the total load. 4000MW is smaller than the average of

0
the demand in Singapore. The total capacity for the thermal
power plant participated in the frequency market is 200MW. −200
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Time (s)
The capacity of the PV and battery system participated in the
frequency market is 20MW which is 10% of the thermal power Fig. 10. Results of system frequency study with VPP
generation.
The results of the system frequency study with VPP are
shown in Fig. 10. The load fluctuation is shown in Fig. 10(d). adjust the system frequency with the help of the thermal power
The active power output of thermal plant and PV and battery plant. The frequency change is always regulated and controlled
system is shown in Fig. 10(c) and Fig. 10(b) respectively. They to be less than 0.2 Hz using the PV and battery system.
are controlled by the LFC. The system frequency response is
V. C ONCLUSION
shown in Fig. 10(a).
This paper introduced a sizable grid connected PV and
As shown in the Fig. 10, the output of the PV and battery battery system in Singapore. The PV and battery system is
system can vary according to the command of LFC and can installed in the distribution network. Fig. 1 is studied in this

52
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