Power Factor Support in PVsyst

[AditiT]

I wanted to get an understanding of how power factor support is provided in PVsyst. I ran 2 cases (for same system design and loss assumptions with only difference being, case 1: had leading power factor of 0.98 and case 2 had leading power factor support of 0.95) to check the power factor feature in PVsyst and found that the apparent power output in both cases is different, which I would have thought to be same. I have attached the waterfall page for both cases for reference. Please let me know why is the apparent power difference in both cases and is PVsyst accounting for power factor support correctly.

Case 2: 0.95 pf

Case 1: 0.98 pf

[unilhexio]

It seems that in the 2nd case you don't have AC losses...

Anyway, I think that PVsyst only considers power factor in terms of Active = Aparent * cos (Phi). It does not take into account how the equipments, cables, etc... affect to reactive power.

[André Mermoud]

This is quite normal. The produced energy at the output of the inverter is the Active energy.

The treatment of the Power factor is explained in detail in the Help, or in the FAQ Can I define a Power Factor in PVsyst ?

[dtarin]

Hello, I have a question on PF implementation and thought I would keep it in this post.

I have a Power Electronics central inverter which requires a 0.97 lagging PF. In PVsyst, do I select "limit in active power", or "limit in apparent power" on the "Grid Power Limitation" tab? Inverter Pnom is defined as apparent power.

[André Mermoud]

This is a property of the inverter.

If the PNom is specified as apparent power [kVA], you should define "Inverter PNom defined as Apparent Power" in the Miscellaneous tools of course.