Solar PV is proving invaluable in the generation of renewable energy in geographically remote, or isolated, locations. These so-called ‘insular’ power systems are defined by conditions that make it financially unattractive to invest in new or upgraded interconnections with established large power systems.
Solar PV is being deployed at an accelerating rate in such insular power systems for a number of reasons including reduced cost, improved versatility in deployment scale, and ease of maintenance and operations.
Storage is an enabler for integrating large shares of non-dispatchable energy in insular power systems. As renewable generation sources increase on an isolated grid, the inherent benefits of synchronous generators, that typically contribute significantly to grid stability, diminish. Power electronics and fast frequency response are replacing the legacy approaches to maintain system reliability.
Australia is a prominent test subject for these PV insular power systems due to its remote communities, many of which have had renewable focused power systems installed with great success. Two Australian test sites, Coober Pedy and King Island, have featured in a report “Best practices for high penetration PV in insular power systems – 2021’” from the International Energy Agency PV Power System Programme.
The full press release can be found here
The full report can be found here