SYSTEMBALANCE
energy sources, such as those powered by fossil fuels, have in turn created huge markets and opportunities for alternative power generation as the world comes to grips with its growing energy needs. Solar energy has become a popular alternative to meet the fast growing energy demand. Unlike fossil fuels, which are a limited and diminishing resource, solar energy is limitless and readily available.
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There are variety of ways to use solar energy for both consumer and industrial needs. One of the ways that utility scale energy is being drawn from the sun’s power is so called solar farms that are typically integrated with agriculture and use innovative tracking systems that follow the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed mounted systems. By connecting different systems the overall effect can be enough to power a city.
In a solar farm power generation system there is a huge amount of energy created with the multiple interacting systems. Finding and making use of the appropriate galvanic insulation has become an extremely important issue to ensure the system’s quality and reliability. Using fibre optic as the galvanic insulator offers protection by providing insulation from high-voltage glitches and unwanted signals into power equipment control and communication.
lobal warming and climate changes from CO2 emissions of traditional
Controlling solar panels that require sun tracking movement also require long distance link connections within a solar farm set up. To maintain an acceptable reliability and supply of energy it is only feasible if fibre optic is utilised due to the distance required.
Key applications for fibre optic components in solar energy system include the follwing:
Power electronic gate driver for inverters Sun tracking control and communication boards Solar farm substation automation and protection relays to ensure integrity
Solar Power Generation
Solar panels collect solar energy and convert it into electrical energy through photovoltaic modules or solar thermal collectors. In order to integrate the power generated from solar panels and the existing power transmission lines, the power need to be converted into utility-grade AC power (Figure 1).
An inverter is used in this particular solar energy system to provide AC power, while the transformer steps up the voltage to medium/high voltage for long distance transmission. Circuit breakers are also installed to protect the system in case there is a fault in the transmission lines.
The inverter, which is made of power semiconductor devices, is the key component in the solar energy system. The switching of these
Figure 1. Solar Power Generation Block Diagram
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www.solar-pv-management.com Issue III 2010
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