Design and Implementation of Software to Describe the Behavior of a Photovoltaic Generator Connected to the Low Voltage Grid

Abstract

A Computer Software application has been developed to simulate the behavior of a photovoltaic generator connected to the low voltage network. Although this software was devised to be used mainly in in-household installations, it could also be implemented in commercial and industrial installations. By using distributed generation concepts, the behavior of the photovoltaic generator is described through three different cases: the first case is only based on the power consumption from the distribution network. The second one is based on the energy generated by the photovoltaic system. The last one is based on the consumption along with the power generation. Furthermore, this software can determine the behavior of the photovoltaic generator by using demand curves and historical power curves. Three different options can be used to model the demand curves: data insertion from the user, choice of a default curve (given by some network operators), and generation of the curve using Artificial Neuronal Networks (ANN). ANN are also used to simulate the power generation from measurements of solar radiation provided by the Línea de Investigación en Fuentes Alterntativas de Energía LIFAE (Searching Lab on Alternative Energy Sources) from Universidad Distrital. Finally, to generate the total curve, which represents the photovoltaic user behavior, the previous curves are added (demand curve and power curve). The final curve shows sundry values per hour, according to how the initial curves have been modeled.