The imminent evolution of the conventional power system is being driven by load growth, aging infrastructure and proposed legislation to increase taxation of greenhouse gas emissions. The traditional electric power system operates in a centralized manner with a radial topology where a group of consumers are supplied from a single power source, in a uni-directional power flow paradigm. However, with this evolution the passive low voltage (distribution) network is undergoing a transition into an active circuit with the proliferation of distributed energy resources (such as solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays and wind turbines) resulting in a bi-directional power flow. This transition by this game-changing technologies calls for interconnection studies and a careful re-engineering in operation and planning of the monolithic power system. The consumers have now become prosumers with the capacity to generate power locally and export excess power back to the grid. The overall goal of this thesis is to develop a model that integrates solar photovoltaic (PV) system with the low voltage network (LVN) of the conventional electric power system (EPS) for smart grid applications. The central theme of this thesis is to carry out a steady state analysis of the impact of grid-connected PV on the LVN taking into consideration the inherent intermittency of solar irradiance and temperature using the IEEE distribution bus system. The optimization problem of voltage and reactive power control within the LVN to minimize power loss is also considered.