ABSTRACT
This chapter presents challenges that project developers or building owners face when they implement a high penetration of renewable energy (RE) on utility circuits. Challenges become greater as the renewable system gets larger, gets farther away from a substation, and gets farther away from a local voltage regulation device. The implications for the utility are that distributed generation increases cycling of the equipment that regulates voltage, undermines previous voltage regulation and overcurrent protection schemes, and changes the power factor required of the utility. Cities are energy intensive, and many of the approaches to reduce fossil fuel use involve electrification of loads that were previously based on fuels. The chapter discusses some of the cost and efficiency issues the utility encounters. Radial utility power systems are based on one-way power flow—real power always flows from the central generation plant, through substations, and on to loads.
