Abstract
Solar energy has brought a rapid growth of photovoltaic solar power plants and rooftops connection to be integrated into the existing electrical grids at distribution and transmission levels. However, the integration of solar system into the grid is likely to bring impact challenges on the operation of the grid. This research studies the steady state integration impact of PV system into the existing grid with focus on the distribution grid of Charlotte Maxeke hospital which consist of an industrial and residential loads. The distribution network of Charlotte Maxeke hospital is 11kV/400V (Volts); this means that some of the loads have an operating voltage of 11kV and other load operate at low voltage of 400V. Integration of PV system impacts the steady state conditions of system voltage drop, voltage level, voltage profile, loading on the line and system losses (technical losses) on the grid. The study approach adopted in this research to evaluate the impact of generating energy through solar and integrating it into an existing network is of mixed methods nature. This is because the quantitative research methodology suits the simulation part of the research where data regarding the generation of energy through solar is gathered. The software used to do simulation is Powerworld simulator software. Powerworld simulator is a power system software that is used for solar feasibility studies and technical analysis. The research further makes use of qualitative approach by creating two cases and comparing them to evaluate the outcome. The two compared scenarios are when distribution grid is integrated with PV generated power and without the integration of PV system. The results reveal that integrating PV solar power into an existing grid improves the voltage level and voltage profile. Grid losses and voltage drop are decreased. The steady state of Charlotte Maxeke hospital grid is also improved. In addition, the integration of PV power into the grid resulted in a decrease in the loading of the cables. From these results the energy capacity to curb the overloading of Charlotte Maxeke grid is determined. It is also proved that the grid can be fed from the Solar system in case of load shedding and in the event of fault occurrence.