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U.S. Department of Energy
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The Cost of Distribution System Upgrades to Accommodate Increasing Penetrations of Distributed Photovoltaic Systems on Real Feeders in the United States

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1432760· OSTI ID:1432760
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  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

The increasing deployment of distributed photovoltaic systems (DPV) can impact operations at the distribution level and the transmission level of the electric grid. It is important to develop and implement forward-looking approaches for calculating distribution upgrade costs that can be used to inform system planning, market and tariff design, cost allocation, and other policymaking as penetration levels of DPV increase. Using a bottom-up approach that involves iterative hosting capacity analysis, this report calculates distribution upgrade costs as a function of DPV penetration on three real feeders - two in California and one in the Northeastern United States.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1432760
Report Number(s):
NREL/TP--6A20-70710
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English