Visualisation of network loading and the impact of solar power at secondary substations in Lund.

Abstract: Electrical power distribution is currently seeing both challenges and opportunities. On one hand, the digitisation of measurement data and modern measurement devices enable deeper analysis and planning of the grid. On the other hand, the expansion of privately owned photovoltaic systems and the customers' desire to produce their own electricity is an inevitable challenge that distribution companies may face in the very near future. The distribution network companies have a need of analysing and dimensioning with the ever growing number of connected solar power installations in mind. The purpose of this project is to create a proof of concept tool that visualises the historical consumption data to give an overview of the network load and whether the existing capacity is adequate for future scenarios of more connected solar power installations. This project was carried out at the distribution network company Kraftringen in Lund, Sweden, with the use of power consumption data of several secondary substations in the span of almost a year. Using the Qlik Sense platform an user interface was created to visualise in detail the hourly power consumption for each and every secondary substation over 2018 excluding December. Raw consumption data was then filtered and processed to give the most useful analysis of the network loading. Through calculation using weather data from SMHI and a data-sheet from a solar plant model provided by the distribution company, a solar power production profile was created. This profile was then imported to the Qlik Sense app to visualise the impact it has on the network based on the number of installations and the amount of power they produce. The findings indicate that most secondary substations in Lund have much capacity remaining for load increase at their current state but can be put to their limit as the photovoltaic systems become more efficient and the customers being more willing to utilise them. The calculation of solar power profile is reasonable to represent average consumers in a network and it's possible to predict the impact of future solar power installations on the network. Furthermore, the calculation of tax reduction limit for producing customers provides economical value and hopefully even more incentives to utilise solar power. The visualisation tool is a proof of concept that can have other uses with future installations of new measurement devices as more data can be gathered and analysed. An example is voltage and current data that can be used to analyse the impact of photovoltaic systems in other aspects than just the load.