Development and opportunities of distributed generation fuelled by renewable energy sources

The key issue to the widespread of distributed generation (DG) is the ability to safely, reliably and economically interconnect new energy sources with the existing distribution network 'utility grid'. With the rising prices of petroleum fuel sources, a high expected penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind and solar as part of the emerging DG fuel resource are expected to be shaped. DG current issue is how to increase the penetration level to gain the highest benefits with a minimal disturbance and risk. This paper presents the various issues relating the integration of DG fuelled by RES. It discusses the penetration of DGs and addresses RES availability, conversion technologies and quality control of DG systems.