1.

0 Introduction The generating stations having installed capacity up to the 25 MW are generally coming under renewable energy sources. This small and medium scale power generation i.e. small hydro projects, Biomass gasifier, wind power, photovoltaic (PV) cell, hydro power and fuel cell is categorized under Distributed generation (DG). This type of generation is always nearer to end user and hence this delivers high quality power due to lower line loses. Currently in India 10.58 % of total installed capacity is produced from various renewable energy sources. Also, large hydro power projects generate 21.54% of total Installed capacity of India. Renewable energy sources are becoming more popular now a days mainly due to two reasonsfirst is that the conventional sources of power generation are delivering high cost energy due to increase in prices of oil, gas and other related products and second is that the majority of the countries today are working on green environment concept to deliver quality power. Capital cost for some of the renewable energy sources i.e. solar, hydro is very high and requires huge investment, while running cost is quite low compared to conventional sources. Hence, to minimise the cost of energy generation from renewable sources it is essential to optimally utilize renewable sources. However, energy generation from dispersed renewable energy sources, their control and their interfacing presents certain challenges. These sources have different principles of operation and the characteristics. Also, some of them are nature dependent. For example, the energy generated from renewable energy sources like wind, PV etc. is unpredictable as they are fully dependant on weather conditions and hence, the distributed generation systems where the energy generation is dominantly from such sources may face technical problems like frequency and/or voltage instability. Dispersed sources also presents issues like interaction amongst these sources, their effects of grid and the control of power electronics interface. Such issues have attracted several researchers. Researchers have been working to answer these issues over the years in different ways. 2.0 Typical Distributed Generation System

Fig.1 General Block Diagram of Distributed Generation System [1] A typical distributed generation system is shown in fig. 1[1]. The sources may be located at one place as shown in Fig. 1 or may be located at distant places. Accordingly there may be different system configuration and their control scheme. Power conversion unit transforms into electricity. The hardware configuration of power conversion unit depends on nature of input power. Control mechanism is provided at both input as well as grid side. Input side controller is designed to extract maximum power from sources. While, grid side controllers are provided with control mechanism of active generation and reactive power transfer, grid synchronization etc.

Currently, hydro power and wind energy have largest utilization among all renewable energy sources in the world. Today, whole world has started working on concept of green energy i.e. save environment. One of the highly demanding technology based on solar energy as sun is kind of source which is available at no cost. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is one of the fastest growing technologies and in last decade it has shown exponential growth. 3.0 PV System In last two decades, demand for photovoltaic system has increased and is flourishing in more systematic approach compared to other renewable sources. A photovoltaic system (or PV system) is a system which uses one or more solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. It consists of multiple components, including the photovoltaic modules, mechanical and electrical connections and mountings and means of regulating and/or modifying the electrical output. Some of the merits and de-merits of photovoltaic system are: Merits: - Pollution free. -Low maintenance and operational cost. Demerits: -High installation cost - Lower efficiency in energy conversion. -Larger space requirement for installation. Today in India grid- Interactive solar power is only about 10MW. India stands number one along with United States in terms of solar energy production per watt install. Currently, many MNCs and Indian companies have identified high solar radiation zones and started constructing generating plants.

Fig. 2 functional Block Diagram of PV system Fig. 2 shows how PV systems are connected to the grid [2]. PV system basically contains PV array, DC-AC Inverter and MPPT controller. Irradiance (E) and Temperature (T) are inputs while current and voltage are its outputs simply. Different types of PV Configurations: Centralized inverter: It is used in 3 phase connection for power ranging from 10KW. It has high power losses. String inverters: They are used for some domestic application and power ranging from 0.5 KW to 1KW. It is reduced version of centralized inverter with one string connected to an inverter, facilitating the MPPT.

Multi string inverter: It is further development of the string inverter. Each PV module is interfaced by its own dc/dc converter and then connected to an inverter. AC module: In this concept each module unit has independent functions. It has High efficiency and more reliable.

Fig 3. PV configurations.[7] 4.0 Issues related to PV system: Due to the advantages of the PV systems mentioned previously, the small as well as large PV systems are becoming quite popular. The government are also framing and advocating the policies, which are conducive for the spreading of PV systems. However, several issues need to be answered. Some of them are discussed next. Partial Shading: Output of the PV system is dependent on the solar irradiation and operating temperature. In addition, factors like soiling and the array configuration also affects the performance of the PV array. Though these issues not explored much have great impact on the PV systems performance. Another such issue is partial shading of PV systems. Partial shading can occur mainly due to self shading between panels in parallel rows, passing clouds, environment obstruction such as trees and building, birds dropping etc. To enable high voltage and efficiency, PV modules can be connected in series and parallel. The similar type of partial shading pattern may affect the PV array of different configuration in a different manner. One such partially shaded array with the output characteristic (power-voltage) can be seen in fig.4.

Fig 4. PV array and P-V characteristic in normal and partial shading condition[8] The P-V and I-V characteristics of PV system are nonlinear. In partial shaded conditions P-V characteristics has multiple peaks, hence most of the conventional Maximum Power Point Tracking methods fail to track global peak under such condition [3]. If PV modules are shaded, than they operate in negative voltage range meaning that they acts as load to other un-shaded modules [4]. This can increase the temperature of the shaded modules. If negative voltage exceeds specific range than it can damage the shaded cell due to hot spot formation or formation of cracks. Various manufactures have come out with a solution to install bypass diodes in anti-parallel with each group of 12-18 cells in one module [4]. When output voltage of the PV module is very low due to partial shading condition than the output voltage of the inverter cannot be maintained at the desired level. This may affect the quality of the current fed to the grid. To resolve power loss problems in partial shading condition, various PV module clustering methods are in practice also power electronics converters are invented. Power electronics converter can be one converter per sub-array or centrally controlled single stage converter for whole PV module. The second is more economical and also simplifies whole the system. But it has got high energy losses. Thus, there is a need to explore the means by which the effect of partial shading on the PV system can be minimized. These include the automatic reconfiguration of the array, schemes for global peak power point tracking, designing an effective PV converter which can have higher efficiency in partial shading condition etc. Penetration: Now a days PV generators are directly connected to grid instead of utilized as standby. If any fluctuation occurs in grid than PV generators are not adjustable to it. Also, power injected into the grid can reduce if large cloud is passing over PV array. This sudden reduced power if not controlled immediately in distributed generation; it may cause grid stability problems. Also, reverse power flow condition can happen in distributed system. To reduce this energy storage devices are used. Voltage variation in grid can be substituted either with tap changer transformer or capacitor or with smart inverter volt-var control. Smart inverter has function to connect / disconnect system from grid, power output adjustment, Var management, storage management and event / history logging [5]. Penetration level is also one of the objectives of the proposed study to develop new PV inverters, controllers, and energy management systems that will greatly enhance the utility of distributed PV systems.

Power Quality: Today industry is demanding for good power quality. Power Quality is mainly dependant on harmonics generated in the system. Now-a-days, as mentioned earlier, most of the DG systems are connected to the grid through the power electronic interfaces. If power electronics interface is not designed and controlled properly, it can produce harmonics which can degrade power quality. Power electronics interface is basically a voltage source inverter. Current control method or voltage controlled method is used to control the output voltage of voltage source inverter for DG. Irrespective of control scheme, the interface being the power electronic converter that shapes the output current/voltage by switching, it injects harmonics in the utility or grid. As per IEEE 519 guidelines utilities shall ensure the total harmonic distortion (THD) in voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) with each customer must be less than 5%, with individual harmonic voltage less than 3% [power quality 2010][6]. High penetration level is preferred over low penetration level as its Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is low compare to low penetration level. The PV based converter needs special attention in this context. The reason being the harmonic content is dependent on the configuration of the power electronic converter. The different converter configuration can inject different amount of harmonics in the grid in the same scenario. In addition, partial shading and/or low insolation can have influential effects on quality of power i.e. output current of the grid connected inverter. It may lead to increase THD of the current supplied to grid. In fact, the PV converter can also be used as an active filter to supply the harmonic components needed locally by the non-linear loads. It is intended to investigate the effects of various configuration of quality of power of the PV systems and to explore the chances of minimizing it by suggesting appropriate configuration. Emulator Many investigations of the studies in past have been carried out by considering a DC source (or a battery) as a PV array. However, to have a real investigation, it is essential to connect a PV array to a PV inverter for various studies like the effect of partial shading on the PV array, the effect of configuration of PV array on its output, the efficiency of MPPT scheme, the harmonics generated by PV inverter etc. The other way is to have an emulator which can generate the output characteristic that an actual PV array can generate. The PV emulator is converter only which behaves similar to the PV array. The main advantage of PV Emulator is lower weight and volume and most importantly it is not dependant on the weather conditions. It has also got good accuracy as well as dynamic response. PV Emulator is most essential tool for laboratories dedicated to R&D in PV array and PV inverter. Presently in market available Photovoltaic Emulator are in lower ranges only. Developing Photovoltaic Emulator of high range is one of the major objectives of the proposed study.

5.0 Objective Currently, whole world is concentrating on Photovoltaic system as one of the best replacement alternative of conventional energy sources. In India the daily average solar energy incident varies from 4 to 7 KWH/m2 with about 1500 -.2000 sunshine hours per year. Proposed study focuses on various issues related to penetration and partial shading to reduce their impact in inter-connected grid system. Also, study will address issues related to power quality, design of high range emulator. References: [1] Frede Blaabjerg, Remus Teodorescu, Marco Liserre and Adrian, Overview of control and Grid Synchronization for Distributed Power Generation Systems, IEEE Trans. On Industrial Electronics, vol.53, no.5, October 2006, p.p. 1398-1409. [2] Hamed Taheri, Zainal Salam, Kashif Ishaque and Syafaruddin, A Novel Maximum Power Point Tracking Control of Photovoltaic System Under Partial and Rapidly Fluctuating shadow Conditions Using Differential Evolution, 2010 IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ISIEA 2010), October 3-5, 2010, Penang, Malaysia, ISBN NO. 978-1-4244-7647-3/10. [3] H.Patel and V. Agarwal, Maximum power point tracking system for PV systems operating under partially shaded condition, IEEE Trans. On Industrial Electronics, vol. 55, no.4, April 2008,p.p. 1689-1698. [4] Hamidreza Ghoddami, and Amirnaser Yazdani, A Single-Stage Three-Phase Photovoltaic System With Enhanced Maximum Power Point Tracking Capability and Increased Power Rating, IEEE Trans. On Power Delivery, vol.26, no.2, April 2011, p.p. 1017-1029. [5] J. W. Smith,W. Sunderman, R. Dugan, Smart Inverter Volt/Var Control Functions for High Penetration of PV on Distribution Systems, Power Systems Conference and Exposition (PSEC), 2011 IEEE/PES, May 2011, ISBN: 978-1-61284-789-4, page 1-6. [6] Jinwei He, Md. Shirajum Munir, and Yun Wei Li, Opportunities for Power Quality Improvement through DG-Grid Interfacing Converters, The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference, ISBN: 978-1-4244-5393-1/10, p.p. 1657-1663. [7] Savita Nema, R. K. Nema, and Gayatri Agnihotri, Inverter topologies and control structure in photovoltaic applications: A review, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 3, 012701 _2011_, 1941-7012/2011/3_1_/012701/23. [8] H. Patel, Challenges with Photovoltaic Systems, National Conference on Advanced Power System, NCAPS-09, 11-12 Dec., 2009, K.K. Wagh College of Engg. Education and Research, Nashik.