1 October 2025
New research prepares the power grid for more solar power
As more people want to connect solar panels, electric vehicles and other new technologies, power grids face major challenges. New research provides improved methods to calculate grid capacity, enabling safer planning and a fairer distribution of resources.
The concept of hosting capacity is used to describe how much new production or consumption a power grid can handle without running into problems such as overloading or overvoltage. But because power grids are complex and future usage is hard to predict, the calculations involve many uncertainties. This makes the results difficult to interpret and compare.
"My research focuses on better understanding these uncertainties and developing models that make the calculations more reliable," says Taís Tavares de Oliveira, PhD student in Electric Power Engineering at Luleå University of Technology.
From low to medium voltage
In her thesis, Tavares de Oliveira explores both low-voltage and medium-voltage grids and how they affect each other. One method introduces a time-dependent background voltage, which represents the voltage level before any new installations are connected. This allows the calculations to account for the impact of existing solar panels or consumption in nearby grids.
"The results show that the choice of calculation method strongly influences how we interpret grid capacity. By using more realistic models we can provide better input for planning," says Taís Tavares de Oliveira.
Taís Tavares de Oliveira, doctoral student in electric power engineering at Luleå University of Technology.
Fairer distribution of grid capacity
The research also shows how large installations at the medium-voltage level can restrict the available capacity in low-voltage networks. A new visualization method makes it possible to see how capacity is shared between voltage levels and to estimate a global value that can be fairly allocated among customers.
"This gives us a clearer picture of how the grid’s capacity should be shared and how different types of installations affect each other," says Taís Tavares de Oliveira.
Strengthening the grid for the future
By analyzing both active and reactive power and their interaction, the research also introduces new tools for assessing grid strength. Together, the findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of hosting capacity and how it can be applied in practice.
"The goal is to use methods that allow power grids to be planned smarter and used more efficiently. This is crucial if we want to integrate more solar power while maintaining a stable and reliable electricity system," says Taís Tavares de Oliveira.
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