July 2020 San Fernando Solar PV Reduction Disturbance

​On July 7, 2020, fault events on the bulk power system occurred in the Southern California area causing around 1,000 MW of BPS-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) to reduce power output and likely some distributed energy resources to also trip off-line. The widespread reduction of power output from solar PV facilities across a relatively large geographic area led NERC and WECC in coordination with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and other affected entities to perform a detailed analysis of this event that was categorized as a Category 1i event in the NERC Event Analysis Program. The primary reduction of solar PV output was attributed to momentary cessation with relatively long times to recovery power to predisturbance levels. Multiple facilities also experienced partial tripping of inverters due to ac overcurrent, dc low voltage, and ac low voltage protection. The disturbance report documents the analysis conducted and provides key findings and recommendations for industry.

Click here for: July 7, 2020 San Fernando Solar PV Reduction Disturbance Report