ABSTRACT
The central electricity generating stations in most countries are located far away from the sites of domestic and commercial loads.. With the increase in population, along with the up-grading of life style, there is an increase in demand for electricity. Conventional distribution systems in many countries are now inadequate to meet this demand. The quality of the power supplied is degraded to such a level that it is often unable to meet the load requirement. It is not uncommon for the line voltage, frequency or the power quality to be outside the legal limits, producing problems for customers. The conventional solution to this problem is to up-grade the transmission lines, introduce a set up transformer at the feeder point and use an individual voltage stabiliser. This creates a problem at the off-peak period and generates a significant no load loss. A parallel connection of a constant voltage source to the service line can stabilise the network voltage and maintain the quality of power. This can be done through embedded power generation using photovoltaics. These issues, using preliminary data recorded at a commercial office complex in a typical city and a suburban residential complex, are discussed in the text of the paper.
