TECHNOLOGYINVERTERS
important as the penetration of renewable energy increases over the coming years. The inverter can concentrate a wide variety of sensed data and either communicate this data for remote analysis or correlate the data itself to benchmark the normal and detect or predict the abnormal in terms of system operation and performance. Diagnostics can be run within the inverter itself or on external hardware, and they can determine a system’s state of health and likely causes of diminished
performance, thus greatly enhancing the ability of maintenance personnel to arrive on site equipped and prepared.
The second area of opportunity for inverters in renewable energy production results from the significant output variation that energy sources can produce because of environmental factors, such as intermittent wind and weather patterns. These energy sources have clear cycles during which their production output ranges from significant to dormant. This characteristic both differentiates alternative energy sources from the more linear production of traditional energy sources, which are ideal for base level energy production, and complements traditional energy, since the cyclical nature of alternative production ideally coincides with peak demand periods. Given this complementary nature between base and peak level production traits, the challenge then becomes how to optimally manage these alternative energy systems so that each source produces maximum output across the longest power production period available.
Inverters are capable of functionality well beyond that of transferring real power to the grid. This functionality includes reactive power, phase balancing, harmonic cancellation, and so on. If an inverter connecting to a renewable energy source is underutilized, it can be an available resource to the utility as an active filter that can be under utility control. This fast or “dynamic” reactive power is critical to grid voltage stability. This was evidenced in the reports on the blackout of 2003, when inserting leading or lagging reactive power at key points could have enhanced the ability to rapidly compensate for voltage disturbances. As a distributed and dynamically controllable resource, grid connected photovoltaic systems are inherently positioned to enable this valuable capability.
The third area of opportunity for inverters in alternative energy production results from the challenges presented by the distribution and overall quality of the energy itself. Alternative energy sources are often located away from population and load centres. This distributed dynamic extends across both the supply and demand sides of the energy network and places increased importance on the point where the two sides connect, the inverter.
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www.solar-pv-management.com Issue V 2010
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