OPEN ACCESS Research article Transient analysis and simulation of a grid-integrated large-scale photovoltaic (PV) energy system Shady S. Refaat*, Haitham Abu-Rub*, Amira Mohamed ABSTRACT Photovoltaic (PV) power generation is the fastest growing technology in the distributed generation sector. In addition to integrating renewable energies, current grid is required to be reliable, stable, and of high-quality power. The large-scale integration of PV power into the grid is bound up with problems of the safe operation of the grid, bringing new challenges to the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) system. The objective of this paper was to study and analyze the integration of large-scale PV facilities into the GCC power grid and to address their energy security and environmental challenges. A new simulation model was developed to analyze and investigate the impact of integrating large-scale solar PV facilities into the distribution power grid and to carry out transient stability analysis. Keywords: transient stability analysis, large-scale photovoltaic, distribution grid, GCC power grid Cite this article as: Refaat SS, Abu-Rub H, Mohamed A. Transient analysis and simulation of a grid- integrated large-scale photovoltaic (PV) energy system, QScience Connect, Shaping Qatar’s Sustainable Built Environment – 2 2017:8 http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/connect.2017.qgbc.8 http://dx.doi.org/ 10.5339/connect.2017.qgbc.8 Submitted: 15 May 2016 Accepted: 14 August 2017 ª 2017 Refaat, Abu-Rub, Mohamed, licensee HBKU Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Texas A&M University at Qatar, Doha, Qatar *Email: shadysamir@ieee.org, haitham.abu-rub@qatar.tamu.edu