Passive Islanding Detection Approach for Grid Integrated SPV System

This study presents a passive islanding detection technique (IDT) which is based on voltage ripple content at the point of common coupling (PCC) for grid integrated solar photovoltaic (SPV) system. While conventional passive detection techniques are commonly employed, they are not particularly effective at identifying islanding, especially when a minimal power mismatch exists. Furthermore, they may produce false detection in certain instances that are not islands. If islanding is not detected quickly, it may result in extremely hazardous and adverse situations. Passive detection techniques rely on power system parameters and might fail to detect islanding in certain scenarios. This research presents an efficient passive islanding detection approach for grid-integrated solar PV system. This technique employs time-domain spectral analysis to monitor the ripple component of the voltage source inverter (VSI) voltage at the PCC and identify discrepancies. In the presented research work islanding is detected when the ripple content is found to be more than a predetermined threshold level for a specific period of time. The performance of the presented method has been tested under different operating conditions. Within the given delay period of 3ms, the proposed technique was able to identify all forms of islanding cases and did not exhibit any form of non-detection zone.