Abstract
<jats:p>The article presents an intelligent control strategy for a photovoltaic (PV) inverter for its integration into smart power systems. The proposed control system includes a controller on the side of the photovoltaic installation, which tracks the maximum power point, as well as a network controller designed to regulate the active and reactive power transmitted to the electrical grid through the inverter. A Volt-VAR regulator is proposed to control reactive power exchange depending on the voltage at the point of common connection (PCC). The coefficients of proportional-integral (PI) regulators are tuned using a genetic algorithm through adaptive online optimization. The effectiveness of the proposed control method has been verified on a 33-node radial distribution network in the MATLAB/SimPowerSystems environment. The simulation results showed that the optimized Volt–VAR control strategy provides stable dynamic characteristics under changing climatic conditions, improves voltage control quality, and contributes to the efficient use of photovoltaic distributed generators by maximizing power extraction and supporting grid voltage.</jats:p>