Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE announced it will open a testing facility for power electronic devices, including inverters.
PV inverters are crucial elements for the connection of solar system to the grid and to storage systems. These devices, along with power conversion technology more generally, Fraunhofer ISE notes, must be tailored to meet the increasingly complex requirements that ensure the flexible and reliable operation of future energy systems.
In the new laboratory, which will be located in Freiburg, Germany, Fraunhofer ISE experts will conduct tests on grid integration of renewable power, including controls for the low, medium and high voltage grids. Most of the required infrastructures have already been installed at the facility.
The construction of the new laboratory is being financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the German Research Ministry (BMBF) with €10 million ($10.5 million). In addition, Fraunhofer ISE is financing the project with €5 million ($5.2 million) in own funds.
Popular content
In the TestLab Power Electronics the scientists of the research center have tested for many years several power converters up to 1 MW. The new testing facility is intended to expand Fraunhofer ISE’s testing services in the field of electrical energy systems in the multi-megawatt range. In particular, the German scientists will test the efficiency and grid code compliance of power converters.
“The lab shall contribute to creating the technical prerequisites for a stable and efficient grid operation under a wide range of varying feed-in conditions,” said Fraunhofer ISE in its press release.
Power electronics and grid technologies are increasing their range of applications. These are widely used for large-scale PV plants, storage systems, electromobility and micro-grids. At the new facility, Fraunhofer ISE also intends to test and research feed-in inverters for renewable power, battery inverters, converters for electrolysis processes as well as stationary and mobile inverters for grid feed-in and control in the low and medium voltage range.
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.
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.