Hybrid Test Bench - SMA Solar · function is performed by diesel generators. Starting up the...
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Hybrid Test Bench Niestetal, Germany The SMA Solar Technology AG headquarters in Niestetal, Germany, is home to a one-of-a-kind test center for hybrid power systems. The five-megawatt facility is packed with many different features and options for testing new system technologies for hybrid electricity supply systems. It is also used to certify new products for megawatt-class hybrid and storage systems The test bench simulates standard hybrid stand-alone grids—the kind used to supply villages in off-grid regions. It also simulates hybrid grids to supply commercial and industrial loads. The SMA Fuel Save Solution provides the control functionality needed for solar power and diesel generators to run alongside one another, with a high share of solar power.
Transcript of Hybrid Test Bench - SMA Solar · function is performed by diesel generators. Starting up the...
Hybrid Test BenchNiestetal, Germany
The SMA Solar Technology AG headquarters in Niestetal, Germany, is home to a one-of-a-kind test center for hybrid power systems. The five-megawatt facility is packed with many different features and options for testing new system technologies for hybrid electricity supply systems. It is also used to certify new products for megawatt-class hybrid and storage systems
The test bench simulates standard hybrid stand-alone grids—the kind used to supply villages in off-grid regions. It also simulates hybrid grids to supply commercial and industrial loads. The SMA Fuel Save Solution provides the control functionality needed for solar power and diesel generators to run alongside one another, with a high share of solar power.
Technical Description of the Grid Simulation An electricity supply system always needs a grid-forming power source. In hybrid energy supply systems, this function is performed by diesel generators. Starting up the generators forms the grid. The infrastructure of the SMA Hybrid Test Bench was designed for a 1.6 MW generator. Once a grid has been formed by the generators, it is connected to a resistive base load of 100 kW. Next, the battery inverter and the PV inverter synchronize with the generator grid and begin supporting the hybrid grid. To simulate a load, power is drawn from the hybrid grid and fed into the utility public grid using another inverter. This PV inverter, which has been converted into a “load inverter,” can simulate various load profiles.
The test system can run performance tests with different configurations and load characteristics up to a total power output of approximately 5 MVA. It can simulate energy supply systems for industrial applications or off-grid communities. In the process, it can both conduct megawatt-range performance tests and can also verify communications interfaces with infrastructures such as battery management systems or diesel generator control-lers. Variable impedance is also used to simulate different cable lengths.
Sunny Central inverters and Sunny Central Storage battery inverters are connected to the main busbar. Inverters are able to serve as PV and load inverters.
A variable resistor is part of the cable length simulation, which, in a compact test center, is the only way to simulate the long distances often found in PV power plants.
Transformer with variable inductive grid impedance to simulate different cable lenghts up to several kilometers.
The busbars, rated at 4000 A nominal current, enable extensive short-circuit testing. All this equipment allows the SMA products used in various system solutions to be tested under highly realistic conditions. The behavior of inverters, generators and SMA Fuel Save controllers is analyzed carefully, and the software is modified as needed.
The simulation covers multiple grid scenarios, software modifications and errors caused by in-teractions between system components such as diesel generators, PV systems, solar and battery inverters and storage media. The test results sup-port smooth operation of real-life future photovol-taic diesel hybrid systems and allow necessary changes to be made right during installation.
The Hybrid Test Bench even simulates operation of SMA components in challenging ambient con-ditions so SMA can take advance precautions to keep hybrid systems operating properly.
The Hybrid Test Bench vividly mimics the functionality of an SMA Fuel Save Controller as well as the special issues involved in operating a PV-diesel hybrid system—such as maintaining a minimum load on the diesel generators or providing reserve power to compensate for generation fluc-tuations.
Any hybrid system can be remotely monitored and main-tained if requested by the customer. The Hybrid Test Bench also ensures that the SMA Fuel Save Solution and SMA storage integration solutions always meet international mar-ket requirements.
Diesel generator during a test run. Power output: 800 kVA from both generators.
The SMA Hybrid Test Bench tests various battery technologies for use in hybrid energy systems—not just these lithium-ion batteries or NiCl high-temper-ature batteries.
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SMA Solar Technology AGSonnenallee 1
34266 NiestetalTel: +49 561 9522-0
Fax: +49 561 9522-100E-Mail: [email protected]
www.SMA.de
