Solar PV and EV Controls for Reactive Power Support on Large Distribution Systems Modeled with Experimental and Synthetic Loads

Changes to electric power distribution equipment may be needed to adapt to distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Within this paper, an optimization methodology for reactive power support (RPS) controls managed by utilities for EV bi-directional charger power factor and improve substation power quality and voltage across the system is proposed. An IEEE benchmark distribution system, the 123 node test feeder, is modified to include 1,765 experimental residential profiles at typical, high resolution of 15min from smart meters, solar PV generation calculated from weather data, and EV modules based on driver behavior surveying. Two cases for RPS controls for EVs are investigated: 1) vehicle-to-grid (V2G) injection to counteract leading power factor (pf) at the main substation and 2) EV charging to improve substation pf and to avoid unacceptable system bus voltage rise. The results illustrate the benefits of RPS, which address major challenges of EV adoption.