Patent attributes
A method for estimating an amount of solar generation capacity on a portion of the electrical grid such as a feeder. The method calculates maximum irradiance conditions for the feeder's geographic location and the time of year, and also records actual changes in electrical load measured periodically at a source over a time span such as a month. An additional analysis of active power against reactive power on the feeder is used to identify changes in load which were driven by real consumption versus those driven by changes in solar generation. A comparison of the actual changes in electrical load due to solar generation variation to the maximum irradiance curve yields a scaling factor and provides an estimate of the solar generation capacity on the feeder.