Estimation of voltage sensitivities in low voltage feeders with photovoltaics

With increasing penetration levels of photovoltaic panels (PVs) in low voltage (LV) networks, voltage statutory limits are likely to be violated. To avoid this, most strategies rely on the capacity of inverters to modify power injections as needed. In cases for which the required set points are not obtained from a constrained formulation of the power flow problem, voltage sensitivities to power injections are required. Therefore, recent publications have proposed methods to estimate these sensitivities in residential LV feeders. However, as they rely on extensive monitoring and communication infrastructure, they may result impractical for operators to implement. This paper introduces a novel methodology that allows every PV to autonomously estimate voltage sensitivities based merely on the real-time local voltage at the customer point of connection. A robust accuracy assessment under multiple system states is performed and benchmarked against a more traditional method.