Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Grid-Friendly
Utility-Scale PV Plants
Mahesh Morjaria & Dmitriy Anichkov, First Solar, Tempe, Arizona, USA
13 August 2013
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Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Power Plant Controller Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Dynamic Voltage Regulation Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Active Power Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Frequency Droop Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Fault Ride-Through Capability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Grid-Friendly PV Plants Are Operational Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
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Utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants that support grid stability and reliability
are becoming available as PV generation grows to the point of making a significant
contribution to the grid, and grid-friendly features are clearly needed. Examples
are voltage regulation, active power control, ramp-rate control, fault ride-through,
frequency control and others. A plant-level control system which controls a large
number (in hundreds) of individual inverters to affect plant output at the grid
connection point is a key enabler.
Introduction
Grid-friendly
PV plants help
stabilize the grid
by incorporating
voltage regulation,
fault-ride though,
reactive and real
power control,
and frequency
response.
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Dynamic voltage and/or power factor regulation of the solar plant at the point
of interconnection (POI)
Real power output curtailment of the solar plant when required, so that it does
not exceed an operator-specified limit
Ramp-rate controls to ensure that the plant output does not ramp up or down
faster than a specified ramp-rate limit, to the extent possible
The plant controller implements plant-level logic and closed-loop control schemes with
real-time commands to the inverters to achieve fast and reliable regulation. Typically
there is one controller per plant that is controlling the output at a single high-voltage
bus (referred to as POI). The commands to the plant controller can be provided through
the SCADA HMI or even through other interface equipment, such as a substation remote
terminal unit (RTU).
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Figure 2 on the following page illustrates a block-diagram overview of the control system
and its interfaces to other devices in the plant. The power plant controller monitors
system-level measurements and determines the desired operating conditions of various
plant devices to meet the specified targets. It manages capacitor banks and/or reactor
banks, if present. It manages all the inverters in the plant, ensuring that they are
producing the real and reactive power necessary to meet the desired settings at the POI.
When the plant operator sends an active power curtailment command, the controller
calculates and distributes active power curtailment to individual inverters. In general, the
inverters can be throttled back only to a certain specified level of active power and not
any lower without causing the DC voltage to rise beyond its operating range. Therefore,
the plant controller dynamically stops and starts inverters as needed to manage the
specified active power output limit. It also uses the active power management function
to ensure that the plant output does not exceed the desired ramp rates, to the extent
possible. It cannot, however, always accommodate rapid reduction in irradiance due to
cloud cover.
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Substation
POI Measurements
POI Voltage,
Current & Frequency
Substation RTU
Set Points
Plant Controller
RTU Data
SCADA HMI
Set Points
HMI Data
Set Points (Power,
Voltage or PF)
Plant Network
PCS #1
Inverter Commands
PCS #n
DAS/PLC
Inverter #1
Legend
Inverter #2
DAS/PLC
Inverter #1
Inverter #2
DAS
HMI
PCS
PLC
POI
Point of Interconnection
RTU
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In the voltage-regulation mode, the controller maintains the specified voltage set
point at the POI by regulating the reactive power that is produced by the inverters as
well as other devices such as capacitor banks. In the power-factor regulation mode,
the controller maintains the specified power factor. The operation of the controller is
illustrated in Figure 4 below, which shows field data from a PV plant producing about
212 MW of active power at that time.
Total VARs
-10
MVARs
1.000
0.995
Commanded
Power Factor
-20
0.990
-30
Power Factor
10
0.985
-40
-50
0.980
-4
-2
10
Time in Seconds
Figure 4: Dynamic Power-Factor Regulation
The controller
commands the
inverters to change
their reactive power
output to meet the
new power factor
set point, using a
closed-loop control
mechanism.
The figure illustrates the response of the plant when the power factor set point is
changed from 0.98 to 1.0. The controller commands the inverters to change their
reactive power output to meet the new power factor set point, using a closed-loop
control mechanism. The figure illustrates that the inverters respond very rapidly.
Within a few seconds (< 4 s) the new set point is achieved in a closed-loop control
mode. More specifically, the rise time to reach 90 percent of steady-state value
shown above is about 3.2 s.
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Figure 6 below illustrates field data from a PV plant operating at around 90 MW power.
The curtailment limit is initially changed from 100 MW to 82.5 MW. The plant controller
turns down the inverters (and turns off some of them if required) to achieve the new set
point. Note that the turndown of power is gradual to meet the specified ramp-rate limit.
100
100
95
95
90
90
85
85
80
80
75
Power (MW)
75
70
70
0
10
12
14
16
18
20
Time in Minutes
Figure 6: Power Curtailment at different levels
The controller
can minimize the
impact of cloud
cover by increasing
the output of other
inverters that are
not impacted.
The curtailment limit is reduced again to around 75 MW, and the controller responds as
expected. When the limit is raised, the controller adjusts the output of the inverters to
increase the total plant output. Finally, when the limit is raised to 100 MW, the plant is
no longer curtailed since the plant is producing less than the limit.
In all the control actions, the controllers command to each inverter is unique, given
the specific conditions each inverter is experiencing. In the case of curtailment due to
cloud passage, where the plant has additional generating capacity but is restrained to a
specified limit and curtailment is limited to part of the plant, the controller can minimize
the impact of cloud cover by increasing the output of other inverters that are not
impacted. This will result in increased energy yield as illustrated in Figure 7 on the
next page.
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85
80
80
75
70
Inverters are
turned off in
sequence;
ramp rates
are controlled
65
60
70
65
60
Plant Start
Command
55
0
75
Inverters are
started in
sequence
Power (MW)
Commanded MW
85
90
Plant Stop
Command
55
8
10
Time in Minutes
Figure 8: Plant Shut-Down and Start-up Controls
The above figure also illustrates the plant start command that results in the controller
gradually increasing the plant output by adjusting the inverters output and turning on
the inverters in sequence.
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T his is in line with the recommendation Encourage or mandate reduction of active power in response to high frequencies
(Piwko & others, March 2012)
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The ability to ride through specific low and high voltages or low- and high-frequency
ranges is being designed effectively into all modern variable generators. Most utilityscale inverters have this capability. With proper design practices, the PV plant is
engineered to ensure that all components besides inverters also have the ability to
ride through short-term grid events.
Grid-Friendly PV Plants
Are Operational Today
These grid-friendly
capabilities,
essential for
increased
penetration of
large-scale PV
plants into the
electric grid, are
operational and
available today
for utility-scale
PV plants ranging
from several
megawatts to
several hundred
megawatts.
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Inquiries
First Solar
Tel: Tel: 1-877-850-FSLR (3757)
Email: info@firstsolar.com
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