Frauenhofer’s megawatt laboratory for PV inverters begins operation

Share

It is the first and currently only laboratory in Europe where manufacturers can commission certification, says the institute, in accordance with the medium-voltage grid codes that have applied since July 1, of inverters with a power rating of up to one MW.

The 250 m2 megawatt laboratory is equipped with three medium-voltage transformers, each with a power rating of 1.25 MW, which are connected to the 20 kV grid. One transformer supplies power to the solar array simulators, which supply the inverters to be tested with a voltage of up to 1,000 V and a current of up to 1,000 A. The other two transformers are used to feed the electricity into the medium-voltage grid. Their voltage can be adjusted between 255 and 790 V. This range covers all voltages that are commonly used internationally.

“Power is drawn and fed in via two separate medium-voltage transformers,” explains Prof. Bruno Burger, in charge of power electronics development at Fraunhofer ISE. “This prevents the solar simulators and inverters from mutually affecting each other, and avoids measurement errors.”

The control unit for the megawatt laboratory resembles the control room of a power station, according to the institute. The scientists can reportedly connect and disconnect 20 kV transformers by remote control and create voltage dips of varying depth and duration.

“With a so-called ‘Low-Voltage Ride-Through’ test unit, we can investigate the performance of inverters with regard to voltage dips in the medium-voltage grid, as is required by the new regulations,” stated laboratory manager, Sönke Rogalla.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.

Popular content

Rooftop PV installations could raise daytime temperatures in urban environments by up to 1.5 C

09 October 2024 New research from India shows that rooftop PV system may have "unintended" consequences on temperartures in urban environments. Rooftop arrays, for ex...

Share

Leave a Reply

Please be mindful of our community standards.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.

Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.

You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.

Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.