POWER QUALITY CHARACTERIZATION OF NANO AND MICRO VOLTAGE TRANSIENTS IN DOMESTIC GRID-CONNECTED SOLAR POWER SYSTEMS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37255/jme.v21i2pp049-057Keywords:
Power Quality, Voltage Transients, Nano Transients, Micro Transients, Photovoltaic Systems, Grid-Connected Solar Systems, Transient Analysis, Power Quality DisturbancesAbstract
One of the major concerns associated with increasing photovoltaic (PV) penetration is the degradation of power quality. Poor power quality can result in system disturbances and significant economic losses. This study presents practical approaches for investigating the transient behavior of domestic grid-connected solar power systems as a power-quality issue. These issues have been widely reported in grid-connected PV systems, particularly regarding voltage disturbances and transient phenomena affecting distribution networks. A domestic solar power system located in Kaldemulla, Sri Lanka, was selected for transient measurements. Power quality was analyzed using the output voltage of the solar panels under real domestic operating conditions. The analysis was further carried out to identify characteristic signatures of transients in both time and frequency domains. A total of 54 transient waveforms were recorded and analyzed using empirical methods to extract key transient parameters. Based on burst duration, two types of oscillatory transients were identified: Nano transients (33 events) and Micro-transients (21 events). For Nano transients, the average positive peak, negative peak, and peak-to-peak values were 21.59 V, −20.33 V, and 41.92 V, respectively. For Micro-transients, the corresponding values were 27.54 V, −43.90 V, and 71.43 V. The average burst durations were 99.67 ns for Nano transients and 881.6 µs for Micro-transients. Rise times for Nano transients ranged from 1.5 ns to 10.5 ns, while Micro-transients ranged from 9.0 µs to 113.0 µs. Fall times ranged from 1.0 ns to 7.2 ns for Nano transients and 11.0 µs to 200.0 µs for Micro-transients. Continuous exposure to such transients in electronic systems may lead to both latent degradation and catastrophic failures. Therefore, the findings of this study provide important insights for the design and implementation of effective transient suppression techniques to improve power quality in solar power systems.
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