The increasing penetration of Photovoltaic (PV) generation results in challenges regarding network operation, management and planning. Correspondingly, Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are in the need of totally new understanding. The establishment of comprehensive standards for maximum PV integration into the network, without adversely impacting the normal operating conditions, is also needed. This review article provides an extensive review of the Hosting Capacity (HC) definitions based on different references and estimated HC with actual figures in different geographical areas and network conditions. Moreover, a comprehensive review of limiting factors and improvement methods for HC is presented along with voltage rise limits of different countries under PV integration. Peak load is the major reference used for HC definition and the prime limiting constraint for PV HC is the voltage violations. However, the varying definitions in different references lead to the conclusion that, neither the reference values nor the limiting factors are unique values and HC can alter depending on the reference, network conditions, topology, location, and PV deployment scenario.

The uptake of electric vehicles (EV) is increasing every year and will eventually replace the traditional transport system in the near future. This imminent increase is urging stakeholders to plan up-gradation in the electric power system infrastructure. However, for efficient planning to support an additional load, an accurate assessment of the electric vehicle load and power quality indices is required. Although several EV models to estimate the charging profile and additional electrical load are available, but they are not capable of providing a high-resolution evaluation of charging current, especially at a higher frequency. This paper presents a probabilistic approach capable of estimating the time-dependent charging and harmonic currents for the future EV load. The model is based on the detailed travel activities of the existing car owners reported in the travel survey. The probability distribution functions of departure time, distance, arrival time, and time span are calculated. The charging profiles are based on the measurements of several EVs.

The direction taken towards sustainable power system and renewable energy generation is now irreversible. The power grid needs to host more renewable energy sources, such as solar power, and tackle power quality problems that come along with it. In this paper, firstly, the Hosting Capacities (HCs), of Photo-Voltaic (PV), were found for various regions and their limiting constraints were defined. Afterwards, comparison was made with the HC values obtained for different voltage value standards defined by various countries. Next, single-phase PV connection percentages in the network were defined that makes the voltage unbalance the limiting factor for HC. Lastly, the HC of the solar generation coupled with a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) was assessed for the Finnish Low-Voltage (LV) grids. Different BESS-based scenarios were employed and their impact on voltage unbalance and HCs were observed. Finally, also the load voltage unbalance was incorporated to make the approach realistic and its impact on HC was analyzed. Results reveal that, depending on the connection strategy, the BESS can increase as well as decrease the HC based on voltage unbalance criteria. However, the load voltage unbalance has little effect on the solar HC values.

The electrification of the transport sector to control the carbon footprint has been gaining momentum over the last decade with electric vehicles (EVs) seen as the replacement for conventional internal combustion engines. Economic incentives, subsidies, and tax exemptions are also paving the way for rising EV penetration in the power distribution networks. However, the exponential EV adoption requires careful technical and regulatory analysis of traditional networks to satisfy the network reliability constraints. Therefore, it would be vital to find EV hosting capacity (HC) limits of networks from a multifaceted approach involving various market players, mainly distribution system operators and EV owners. This review provides a systematic categorization of EV hosting capacity evaluation and improvement methods, thus enabling researchers and industry personnel to navigate the advancing landscape of EVs. This novel framework extends beyond the theoretical implication of diverse objective functions and HC improvement methods to the actual numerical values of EV HC across varying geographical settings. Therefore, this unique synthesis of varying aspects of EV HC facilitates the in‐depth understanding of the integration of sustainable energy and transport sector.

Power distribution networks are transitioning from passive towards active networks considering the incorporation of distributed generation. Traditional energy networks require possible system upgrades due to the exponential growth of non-conventional energy resources. Thus, the cost concerns of the electric utilities regarding financial models of renewable energy sources (RES) call for the cost and benefit analysis of the networks prone to unprecedented RES integration. This paper provides an evaluation of photovoltaic (PV) hosting capacity (HC) subject to economical constraint by a probabilistic analysis based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to consider the stochastic nature of loads. The losses carry significance in terms of cost parameters, and this article focuses on HC investigation in terms of losses and their associated cost. The network losses followed a U-shaped trajectory with increasing PV penetration in the distribution network. In the investigated case networks, increased PV penetration reduced network costs up to around 40%, defined as a ratio to the feeding secondary transformer rating. Above 40%, the losses started to increase again and at 76–87% level, the network costs were the same as in the base cases of no PVs. This point was defined as the economical PV HC of the network. In the case of networks, this level of PV penetration did not yet lead to violations of network technical limits.

The upcoming network investment decisions and regulatory framework adopted by distribution system operators (DSOs) are most likely to be impacted by the integration of fluctuating distributed generation. The economical hosting capacity (HC) improvement method is investigated in this paper as a trade‐off between curtailment and upgrade using a Monte Carlo simulation procedure. The associated costs of both methods are vital indicators for network operators that are trying to maximize the HC and minimize cost. In addition, the breakeven point where curtailment and upgrade costs intersect is the decisive point at which network upgrade becomes sensible as marginal curtailment cost exceeds upgrade cost. A shift in global climate conditions can impact the photovoltaic (PV) levels that motivate network operators to investigate PV penetration, especially in colder climate regions. Thus, the primary objective of this paper is to investigate the shift of the breakeven point to guide DSOs to either adopt PV curtailment as a temporary measure or grid upgrade as a risk aversion strategy considering Finnish climate and load patterns. The real‐time load and PV generation data are utilized for the simulations to consider the dynamic performance indication of three Finnish distribution networks. Curtailment remains a low‐cost option to obtain a percentage HC rise of 13%, 7%, and 8% for rural, suburban, and urban regions, respectively, beyond which curtailment compensation cost surpasses upgrade cost. In essence, PV curtailment serves as an immediate and least‐cost solution to relieve network violations and defer network investment until the HC level (118%, 106%, 97%) making the upgrade a practical option afterwards.