Assessing Maximum DG Penetration levels in a

Real Distribution Feeder by using OpenDSS

Paulo Radatz∗ , Nelson Kagan∗ , Celso Rocha∗ , Jeff Smith† , Roger C. Dugan†
∗ Electric
Energy and Automation Department
Polytechnic School of University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Email: paulo.radatz@usp.br, nelsonk@pea.usp.br, celso.rocha@usp.br
† Electric Power Research Institute, Knoxville, TN 37932 USA

Email: jsmith@epri.com, rdugan@epri.com

Abstract—This paper presents an analysis of the voltage

regulation in a real feeder with Distributed Generation (DG)
for planning purposes. The original feeder has a wind turbine
connected and the study evaluated how the feeder’s voltage is
affected when a new turbine and a PV System are included
in the grid, for different levels of penetration. The distribution
system, the wind turbines and the PV System were modeled
using Open Distribution System Simulator (OpenDSS). Simula- Existing
tion results show that by using the daily simulation mode the Wind System
estimated permissible DG penetration level is higher than the
level evaluated when using the snapshot mode. In addition, if Substation
the volt-var control is considered in the PV System Inverter, the
permissible penetration level is even higher. Added
Index Terms—DER. OpenDSS. Smart Grid. Voltage Level. PV
Added
I. I NTRODUCTION Wind System

Planning and design of electric power systems have been

evolving around the world. On the one hand, there are increas-
ing environmental constraints that make large line construction
projects infeasible and add greater interest in renewable energy
sources. On the other hand, advances in communication sys-
tems enhance the knowledge about the grid state, providing
for better observability, with integrated use of its assets.
In distribution systems, this concept can be considered
in the framework of Smart Grids. Although there is not a
consensus about its definition, some aspects are common
to many proposed Smart Grid architectures. They include
the use of Distributed Generation (DG) based on renewable
resources, energy storage, automated metering infrastructure
(AMI), automated fault location and automated restoration.
Such technologies are supported by a high-speed communica-
tion to metering and control [1].
One of the major aspects refers to DG, including not only
independent generation but also prosumers. In the past, the
planning of distribution systems were based on keeping accept-
able conditions during the peak demand. With the penetration
of distributed resources, including intermittent sources such
as PV and wind power, the system must be analyzed and
designed to dynamic conditions that may occur at any time
over the year.
Besides that, many utility systems are not designed to
incorporate large DG penetration levels. There is an accep-
tance by the industry that the system’s requirements must be
altered. This new reality, with much more complex grids than
Fig. 1. Real Feeder with Distributed Generation
the traditional ones, requires the use of distribution system
analysis tools capable to model all such new features.
In this project, EPRI’s Open Distribution System Simulator
(OpenDSS) was chosen to perform the simulations in order
to analyze the impact of DG penetration in a feeder’s voltage
profile. Specifically, the real feeder already has a wind system
and the objective is to include a new wind system and also a
PV system, as shown in Fig. 1, such that the voltage profile
remains within acceptable levels.
II. T HE O PEN DSS P ROGRAM
The OpenDSS is an open source, general-purpose
frequency-domain simulation engine that has special features
for creating models of electric power distribution systems
and performing many types of analysis related to distribution
planning and power quality. It has the capability of performing
sequential-time power flow simulations, the ability to model
either n-phase lines of arbitrary configurations and general n-
phase, m-winding transformers [1].
A. PV System Model
The PV System model in OpenDSS combines a solar
PV array model with selected characteristics of the inverter

978-1-5090-3792-6/16/$31.00
2016
c IEEE 71
 eff.
P V2
Pmpp @ 1 kW/m²
Temperature
Base Irradiation
dc
Daily P ac P x eff.
Temperature(t)
Yearly
Irradiation(t)
Duty
Pmpp (T)
kV kvar PF Connection
T
Fig. 2. PV System Model
typically needed for the assessment of distribution system
impacts [2], such as efficiency curve, maximum power point
tracking (MPPT), cut-in/cut-out as function of dc voltage and
reactive power control. The latter can be set through the
InvControl element. The PV System and InvControl element
are described as follows:
1) PV System Element: The model basically injects an
active power, Pout , into the grid connection node. It is a
function of irradiation, temperature, inverter efficiency and
the rated power at the maximum power point, Pmpp , which
is defined for a selected temperature, usually 25 ◦ C and an
irradiation of 1 kW/m2 . Fig. 2 shows its block diagram and
Equation 1 provides Pout (t).
Pout (t) = P (t) × ef f (P (t)) (1) consists of a Wounded Rotor Induction Generator (WRIG)
Where
2
P (t) = Pmpp (1kW/m )×irrad(t)×irradBase×Pmpp (T (t)) connected through a converter. The main advantage of this
And
• P (t): Output power of the PV array at a specific time, t. absorbs reactive power to have its iron core magnetized.
2
• Pmpp (1kW/m ): Rated power at the maximum power
point and a selected temperature.
• irrad(t): Per unit irradiation value at t.
• irradBase: Base irradiation value for shape multipliers.
• Pmpp (T (t)): Pmpp correction factor as function of the
temperature at t.
• ef f (P (t)): Inverter efficiency for a given P (t).
2) InvControl element’s VoltVar Function: The PVSystem
element can be controlled through the InvControl element.
This element can set several inverter operation modes [3]. In
this project, the volt-var mode was used in order to regulate
the feeder’s voltage. This mode follows the curve in Fig. 3.
Below the voltage V1 , the inverter provides 100% of its
available reactive power. Between V1 and V2 , it provides
reactive power according to a decreasing ramp. A dead band
is defined between V2 and V3 . For voltages beyond V3 , the
V1
Inductive Capacitive
100%
% Available vars
V3
Percent Voltage
.
I 100%
V4
100%
.
V
Fig. 3. Volt-Var Curve
One-Line System - High Side
Substation Transformer
LTC
A B C
Fig. 4. Substation Diagram
characteristic is symmetric, except for the fact that the reactive
power appears inductive. That is, the inverter starts to absorb
reactive power.
B. Wind System Model
Reference [4] presents the OpenDSS models for the four
main wind generator technologies. In this project, Double Fed
Induction Generator (DFIG) technology was utilized. DFIG
and a back-to-back converter. The stator winding of a WRIG
is directly connected to the grid, while the rotor winding is
technology is that real and reactive power can be decoupled,
differently from the usual technologies, in which the machine
Another important factor in this technology is that only a
small portion of the power is delivered to the grid through the
converter, usually around 30% of the total power delivered,
which reduces the cost of the turbine.
Finally, the back-to-back converter can be used to control
reactive power injected into the grid.
III. T HE R EAL S YSTEM
The real distribution system consists of a substation with
three feeders. Fig. 4 illustrates the substation diagram where
feeder A, Fig. 1, is the object of study.
This section describes the distribution system modeling that
uses data provided by a US utility, which were:
• Feeder data in CYME format (host utility planning tool)
• Transmission equivalent impedance on high-side of sub-
station transformer
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 TABLE I TABLE III
F EEDER ’ S DATA T RANSFORMER ANDLTC E QUIVALENT DATA

Parameter Quantity/Value Transformer Parameter Value

Lines 1187 Primary Voltage 138 kV
Fuse 105 Secondary Voltage 12.47 kV
Recloser 6 Rated Power 24 MVA
Switch 23 Primary Tap 131.1 kV
Non-controlled Capacitor Bank 1 Z 8.17 %
Controlled Capacitor Bank 2 X/R 15.86
Load 407 LTC Parameter Value
Total Load Rated Power 8435 kW
Rated Voltage 120.0 V
Transformers 3
Set Point 124.5 V
Wind Generator 1
Band 3V
Bus 1422
Delay 60 s
Section 1441

TABLE II feeder A were neglected and the active power for its consumers
T RANSMISSION E QUIVALENT DATA
were considered according to the Equation 2 and reactive
power of each customer is related to its own power factor,
Parameter Value
Positive Sequence Resistance 0.40 Ω
obtained from the feeder data in CYME. This equation is
Positive Sequence Reactance 3.79 Ω reasonable, once that the consumers of each feeder have the
Zero Sequence Resistance 1.45 Ω same nature.
Zero Sequence Reactance 6.21 Ω
PB (t) + PC (t)
PAN ew (t) = M aximum
(2)
PB + PCM aximum
• Substation transformer including its Load Tap Changer Where
(LTC) • PA
N ew
(t): Defined active power for loads in Feeder A, in
• Three capacitor banks pu, at a specific time, t.
• Technical information on the existing wind turbine • PB (t): Actual active power measured at the feeder’s B
• Active and reactive power measurements on each feeder head, at a specific time, t.
during one year • PC (t): Actual active power measured at the feeder’s C

A. Feeder modeling head, at a specific time, t.

The feeder data was converted from CYME format using a
converter written in the Python language. It includes all the
passive components in the system, such as lines, transformers,
capacitors and loads, as shown in Table I.
B. Transmission Equivalent Model
The transmission equivalent model was defined in OpenDSS
directly from the data provided, as shown in Table II.
C. Substation Transformer and its LTC
The substation was modeled using a 138/12.47 kV trans-
former with its primary tap being fixed at the value of 0.95
pu and its secondary equipped with a LTC, as described in
Table III.
D. Load Modeling for Feeder A,B, and C
Feeder loads were modeled as constant power loads. For the
feeders B and C, the load shape used were taken straight from
the data provided. However, for the consumers of feeder A, the
data provided was not the actual consumed active and reactive
power, because of the existing wind turbine. In other words,
the data given for this feeder represents the difference between
the consumed power and the generated power by the wind
turbine. Then, the active and reactive power measurements in
M aximum
• PB : Maximum active power measured at the
feeder’s B head.
• PC
M aximum
: Maximum active power measured at the
feeder’s C head.
E. Wind System Modeling
For both existing and new wind systems, the technology
DFIG was used. The wind turbine control method utilized was
the active power factor control, in which the power factor of
the wind system was regulated to be constant and equal to
one. The study was performed defining three distinct values
for their rated power.
F. PV System Modeling
The PV system was also modeled with three distinct values
of rated power being defined on two control modes, one with
a unit power factor and the other with the volt-var inverter
function.
IV. A PPROACH OF THE A NALYSIS
In order to perform the analysis there was a tradeoff
between results accuracy and both simulation time and model
complexity. On one hand the power flow could be solved as
a time-series which provides more accurate results, but takes
a longer simulation time and also requires more information

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 Fig. 5. Load shape for the Loads in Feeder A Fig. 6. Load shape for Feeder A customers, Feeder B, and Feeder C in the
Selected Days

about the system such as load shapes, generation curves and

control functions. On the other hand, the power flow could be
solved as a snapshot which takes a shorter simulation time,
requires less information about the system, but it is likely to
give less accurate results than the times-series. In this sense,
the approach chosen was to compare the results for both of
such approaches by using the corresponding simulation mode
according to some criteria.

A. Load Shapes
As the goal was to evaluate voltage issues in feeder A, the
criteria was applied in the load shape defined by Equation 2,
shown in Fig. 5 for the whole year. To simplify the analysis,
only the load shape for two days were chosen according to
the criteria of maximum and minimum demand, which are
expected to be related to undervoltage and overvoltage issues,
respectively. The maximum demand criteria was basically
to pick the day in which the highest absolute demand was
verified. The selected day was 08/26/2014, in which there
was a demand of 1 pu at 4:15pm. This day was named as
workday. The minimum criteria was to select the day in which
the lowest absolute demand was verified between 10am and
2pm. This interval was assumed, because it is likely that the
peak PV system’s generation happens during this window and
it is known that under these circumstances, the overvoltage
problem is amplified. The selected day was 04/19/2015 in
which there was a demand of 0.39 pu at 10:30am. This day
was named as weekend. The load shape for the selected days
are shown in Fig. 6.
B. Irradiation Curve and Output Power Curve of the Wind
System
Two typical irradiation curves and output power curve of
the wind system with a 1-s step size were defined. As for the
irradiation, one curve represents a sunny day and the other one
a cloudy day. As for the wind system, one curve represents a
day with high-speed winds and the other one a day with low
speed winds. The total four curves are shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. Irradiation and Output Power Curves for the Wind Systems
V. S IMULATIONS AND R ESULTS
A. Snapshot Simulation
In the snapshot mode the power flow is calculated for a
specific condition in time. For the simulations three variables
were defined:
• Feeder loading value, 2 options: workday (1 pu) or
weekend (0.39 pu)
• Wind System Power, 4 options: 0 , 0.9 MVA, 1.5 MVA,
2.25 MVA
• PV System Power, 4 options: 0 , 1 MVA, 2 MVA, 3 MVA
Hence, two groups of 16 connections each were defined.
The first group of connections corresponds to a heavy load
(workday) and the second group corresponds to a light load
(weekend). Besides that, a base case was defined considering
no extra DG connection. To analyze the influence of a high
DG penetration in the feeder, the simulations were performed
fixing the capacitor banks control and the LTC control accord-
ing to its state obtained from the base case, as shown in Table
IV. The idea was to evaluate the worst case, in which there is
a transition between a state with no prior DG connection to a
state where the system has a maximum per unit DG penetration

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 TABLE IV TABLE VI
BASE C ASE E QUIPMENT S TATES S CENARIOS

Equipment State Options

Scenario
LTC 1 pu PV Wind Feeder Loading
Capacitor Bank 1 Off 1 Cloudy Low Workday
Capacitor Bank 2 Off 2 Cloudy Low Weekend
3 Cloudy High Workday
4 Cloudy High Weekend
TABLE V 5 Sunny Low Workday
S NAPSHOT S IMULATION R ESULTS FOR THE G ROUP WITH L IGHT L OAD 6 Sunny Low Weekend
7 Sunny High Workday
8 Sunny High Weekend
Options - Added MVA Voltage Violation with
Connection
Wind System PV System Fixed Controls
Base 0.0 0.0 -
2 0.9 0.0 No TABLE VII
3 0.0 1.0 No DAILY S IMULATION R ESULTS
4 0.9 1.0 Yes
5 1.5 0.0 Yes
6 1.5 1.0 Yes Scenario
7 0.0 2.0 Yes Connection Voltage Violation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
8 0.9 2.0 Yes Base 3 3 3 3 - - - - No
9 1.5 2.0 Yes 2 3 3 3 3 - - - - No
10 2.25 0.0 Yes 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 No
11 2.25 1.0 Yes 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 No
12 2.25 2.0 Yes 5 3 3 3 3 - - - - No
13 0.0 3.0 Yes 6 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 : No
14 0.9 3.0 Yes 7 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 No
15 1.5 3.0 Yes 8 3 3 3 : 3 : 3 : No
16 2.25 3.0 Yes 9 3 : : : 3 : : : No
10 7 7 7 7 - - - - Yes
11 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Yes
12 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Yes
and the control elements such as LTC and capacitors bank 13 3 : 3 : 3 : 3 : No
cannot operate due to its inherent delay. In summary, this 14 3 : 3 : 3 : : : No
approach identifies the worst-case voltage response that could 15 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Yes
16 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Yes
occur prior to voltage regulation response mechanisms.
For the heavy load group, there was no violation in the
voltage levels. Then, for this simulation mode, only the results
of the light load group are presented, as shown in Table system, as shown in Table VI. The results for this simulation
V, where the last column shows whether there was voltage mode are shown in Table VII, where symbols stand for as
violation or not. follows:
• -: Scenario does not exist, because there is no PV system
B. Daily Simulation
installed
In the daily mode, the power flow is calculated for a 24 • 3: Scenario has been simulated and there is no voltage
hour period. In this case, a 1-s step size was considered. Then violation
for each simulation, a total number of 86,400 power flows • :: Scenario has been simulated and there is voltage
were performed. If voltage violations were detected, the volt- violation, but the voltage violation is solved when the
var inverter function was triggered to analyze improvements in volt-var function of the PV system’s inverter is used
the voltage levels. For the daily simulation case, five variables • 7: There is voltage violation even when the volt-var
were defined: function is used
• Feeder loading curves, 2 options: workday or weekend
• Wind System Power, 4 options: 0 , 0.9 MVA, 1.5 MVA, C. Results Analysis
2.25 MVA According to Table VII, one can notice that among the
• PV System Power, 4 options: 0 , 1 MVA, 2 MVA, 3 MVA connections that can be implemented without any voltage
• Output power curve of the wind system, 2 options: high violation, some of them do not require the volt-var inverter
speed or low speed winds function. Tables VIII and IX present the three highest penetra-
• Irradiation curve, 2 options: sunny or cloudy day tion levels without and with the volt-var function, respectively.
There are still 16 possible connections according to the It can be seen that the penetration level can be significantly
rated power of the wind system and the PV System. However, increased when this function is utilized. Moreover, one can
each of them has 8 scenarios according to the feeder loading, notice that the traditional undervoltage issue, which is likely
the irradiation curve, and the output power curve of the wind to happen during heavy loads can become an overvoltage issue,

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 TABLE VIII
M AXIMUM P ENETRATION L EVELS IN DAILY S IMULATION M ODE
WITHOUT VOLT-VAR

Connection Power MVA DERs

4 1.9 Both
5 1.5 Wind
7 2.0 Solar

TABLE IX
M AXIMUM P ENETRATION L EVELS IN DAILY S IMULATION M ODE WITH
VOLT-VAR

Connection Power MVA DERs

9 3.5 Both
13 3.0 Solar
14 3.9 Both

Fig. 8. Maximum ∆V
TABLE X
M AXIMUM P ENETRATION IN S NAPSHOT S IMULATION M ODE

Connection Power MVA DERs

2 0.9 Wind
3 1.0 Solar
as it can be seen in the daily mode results for the scenarios
1, 3, 5, and 7, in Table VII.
D. Two methods comparison
In order to compare the two simulation modes, a common
scenario is needed. That being said, the results for the snapshot
mode is compared with the results of the daily mode in which
the volt-var function was not considered. In Table VIII, it can
be seen that utilizing the daily simulation mode, 2 MVA are
allowed to be connected. However, with the static snapshot
simulation, only 1 MVA can be connected, as shown in Table
X. This fact is reasonable, because the minimum demand and
the maximum penetration levels are not necessarily coincident
as assumed in the snapshot simulation mode. Furthermore, the
LTC control and the capacitors control were allowed to operate
in the daily simulation mode, differently from than snapshot
simulation, as explained in Section V-A. This fact is exposed
in Fig. 8, in which the maximum voltage difference in pu
between each simulation and the base case is shown for each
connection. For the daily mode, the worst case for overvoltage
was considered, which is scenario 8.
VI. C ONCLUSION
The Smart Grid concept aims to ensure a reliable supply
of electricity in the future, the increase in DG penetration
levels and use of new equipment to support AMI and high-
speed communication to metering and control, establishing, by
consequence, a new scenario for electric distribution systems.
In this scenario, it is essential to utilize software tools
capable of modeling unbalanced networks and distributed gen-
eration and, furthermore, to perform the power flow calculation
in a period of analysis, e.g., one day.
In this study, the software OpenDSS was utilized to analyze
the impact of a high DG penetration level in a real feeder. In
the first moment, the snapshot simulation mode was utilized
which needs few variables to represent the system. In a second
moment, the daily simulation mode was utilized. In this mode,
several variables are needed to model the system and the
analysis gets more complex.
However, it was seen that the results obtained through the
daily mode are more reasonable than the obtained through
the snapshot mode, allowing a higher DG penetration level
in the grid. Moreover, when the volt-var inverter function is
considered, an even higher penetration level can be achieved.
Finally, one should notice that DG changes the traditional
undervoltage issues in the feeder to overvoltage issues. There-
fore, planning studies should be altered accordingly. In other
words, the traditional practice of considering only the peak
demand is not suitable to systems with high DG penetration
levels.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank First Energy Corp., Akron,
Ohio USA, for providing the system’s model and data.
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[3] W. Sunderman, R. C. Dugan, and J. Smith, “Open source modeling of
advanced inverter functions for solar photovoltaic installations,” in 2014
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[4] P. Chirapongsananurak, S. Santoso, R. C. Dugan, and J. Smith, “Voltage
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