IEEE Electrification - June 2021 - 61

lifespan of inverters. However, markets are evolving
around the world to provide financial compensation for
dynamic reactive power support. Such support is expected
to more than compensate PV-STATCOM for the additional
costs incurred in transforming the solar PV system
into PV-STATCOM and for its various potential STATCOM
services. It is noted that PV-STATCOM operation does not
require energy storage systems (ESS), although if ESSs are
available they can augment the active power modulation
capabilities of PV-STATCOM.
PV-STATCOM is thus shown to be a new smart inverter
and also a new member of the FACTS family, which can
provide the functionalities of shunt-connected FACTS
controllers on a 24/7 basis. The FACTS functionalities provided
by PV-STATCOM, in a dedicated manner in some
cases, is expected to reduce the need for expensive STATCOMs
and SVCs required to deliver the same functionalities.
This will bring substantial financial savings for
utilities and open potentially new revenue streams for
solar systems by providing FACTS functionalities.
PV-STATCOM and other similar emerging technologies
with advanced grid support functions represent yet unexplored
capabilities of grid-following inverters. Such smart
inverters in combination with grid-forming inverters can
lead to a faster realization of decarbonized power systems
with extremely high penetration of IBRs.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by the Ontario Centers of
Excellence, Bluewater Power Distribution Corporation, Sarnia,
under grant CR-SG30-11182-11, in part by the University
of Western Ontario WSS-NSERC-Accelerator Grant,
and in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
For Further Reading
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Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Rep., Abu Dhabi,
UAE, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.irena.org/public
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N. G. Hingorani and L. Gyugyi, Understanding FACTS. New
York: IEEE Press, 1999.
R. K. Varma, V. Khadkikar, and R. Seethapathy, " Nighttime
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IEEE Trans. Energy Conversion (Lett. ), vol. 24, no. 4, pp.
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R. K. Varma, B. Das, I. Axente, and T. Vanderheide, " Optimal
24-hr utilization of a PV solar system as STATCOM (PV-STATCOM)
in a distribution network, " in Proc. IEEE Power and Energy
Soc. General Meeting, 2011, pp. 1-8.
R. K. Varma, S. A. Rahman, A. C. Mahendra, R. Seethapathy,
and T. Vanderheide, " Novel nighttime application of PV solar
farms as STATCOM (PV-STATCOM ), " in Proc. IEEE Power and
Energy Soc. General Meeting, 2012, pp. 1-8.
R. K. Varma, S. A. Rahman, and T. Vanderheide, " New control
of PV solar farm as STATCOM (PV-STATCOM) for increasing
grid power transmission limits during night and day, " IEEE
Trans. Power Del., vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 755-763, 2015. doi: 10.1109/
TPWRD.2014.2375216.
R. K. Varma and R. Salehi, " SSR mitigation with a new control
of PV solar farm as STATCOM (PV-STATCOM), " IEEE Trans.
Sustain. Energy, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1473-1483, 2017. doi: 10.1109/
TSTE.2017.2691279.
R. K. Varma and E. M. Siavashi, " PV-STATCOM: A new
smart inverter for voltage control in distribution systems, "
IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 1681-1691, 2018.
doi: 10.1109/TSTE.2018.2808601.
" Reliability guideline: BPS-connected inverter-based
resource performance, " NERC, Atlanta, GA, 2018. [Online].
Available: https://www.nerc.com/comm/RSTC_Reliability_
Guidelines/Inverter-Based_Resource_Performance_Guideline
.pdf#search=IRPTF
" Reliability guideline: Improvements to interconnection
requirements for BPS-connected inverter-based resources, "
NERC, Atlanta, GA, Sept. 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www
.nerc.com/comm/PC_Reliability_Guidelines_DL/Reliability_
Guideline_IBR_Interconnection_Requirements_Improve
ments.pdf
R. K. Varma and E. M. Siavashi, " Enhancement of solar
farm connectivity with smart pv inverter PV-STATCOM, " IEEE
Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 1161-1171, 2019. doi:
10.1109/TSTE.2018.2862405.
R. K. Varma and H. Maleki, " PV solar system control as
STATCOM (PV-STATCOM) for power oscillation damping, " IEEE
Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1793-1803, Oct. 2019.
doi: 10.1109/TSTE.2018.2871074.
R. K. Varma, S. Mohan, and J. McMichael-Dennis, " Multimode
control of PV-STATCOM for stabilization of remote critical
induction motor, " IEEE J. Photovolt., vol. 10, no. 6, pp.
1872-1881, Nov. 2020. doi: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2020.3013975.
R. K. Varma and M. A. Kelishadi, " Simultaneous fast frequency
control and power oscillation damping by utilizing PV
solar system as PV-STATCOM, " IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol.
11, no. 1, pp. 415-425, Jan. 2020. doi: 10.1109/TSTE.2019.2892943.
R. K. Varma and S. Mohan, " Mitigation of fault induced
delayed voltage recovery (FIDVR) by PV-STATCOM, " IEEE Trans.
Power Syst., vol. 35-6, pp. 4251-4262, Nov. 2020.
R. K. Varma, E. M. Siavashi, S. Mohan, and T. Vanderheide,
" First in Canada, night and day field demonstration of a new
photovoltaic solar based flexible AC transmission system
(FACTS) device PV-STATCOM for stabilizing critical induction
motor, " IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 149,479-149,492, Oct. 2019. doi:
10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2935161.
C. Loutan et al., " Demonstration of essential reliability services
by a 300-MW solar photovoltaic power plant, " National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, Tech. Rep. NREL/
TP-5D00-67799, Mar. 2017.
J. Parnell. " Lightsource BP makes solar pay at night. " Green
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Biographies
Rajiv K. Varma (rkvarma@uwo.ca) is with the University
of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A5B9, Canada.
Ehsan M. Siavashi (ehsan.siavashi@gmail.com) is with
the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario,
N6A5B9, Canada.
Sibin Mohan (mohansibin@gmail.com) is with the University
of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A5B9, Canada.
Janice McMichael-Dennis (JMcMichael-Dennis@blue
waterpower.com) is with the Bluewater Power Group of
Companies, Sarnia, Ontario, N7T 7L6, Canada.
IEEE Electrification Magazine / JUNE 2021
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