Redesign of Electrical Installations to Maximize the Use of Photo Voltaic (PV) Cells at the End Use of Consumers in Kuwait

Abstract

A new idea of redesigning the electrical installations inside residential premises is presented in this paper. The idea is based on having two separate circuits' installations. The first is A.C circuit which can be served by electric grid at standard operating voltage of 230 volts. While the second is D.C circuit being feed directly from the PV cells to meet the demand of all electrical appliances operated at tapered voltage between 12, 24 and 48 volts. The problem of unavailability of PV cell generation during the absence of sun is discussed and solved by introducing a smart interface between the power utility and the consumer having this micro generation PV cells. Smart bidirectional kWh energy meter is used to register the energy consumed by the consumer and the energy being produced by PV cells owned by the consumer himself. In this paper ten years were used to assess the advantages of using this method in Kuwait power systems. Besides the reduction in expansion cost for the power system, a significant release of system capacity was also assessed. Computer software was used to perform the load flow for typical days of the year to show clearly the behavior of the system under these new conditions. As a result of applying this new technique, generator units, transformers, over headlines and underground cables capacity were released. The voltage drop and energy losses through the power system network were reduced as result of reducing the current flow in them. A comparison between continuing to meet the expansion of the system in Kuwait with conventional electric power equipment and using new technique is presented in this paper.