New Controls of Photovoltaic Solar Farms for Transmission and Distribution Applications

由于昂贵的基础设施没有得到利用，光伏（PV）太阳能农场在夜间处于闲置状态。一种利用太阳能农场在夜间和白天作为动态无功补偿器的新技术，由我们命名为PV-STATCOM，已经在以前的发现基金中开发出来。2016年12月，在安森那州蓝水电力公司（Bluewater Power）的公用事业网络中，这一技术在世界上首次在一个10千瓦的光伏太阳能农场上进行了演示。该技术已在不同国家获得7项授权专利，11项正在申请中。******该研究项目旨在开发一种接近市场的PV-STATCOM技术，该技术可用于具有新功能的多兆瓦太阳能发电场，并具有优化的储能系统。PV-STATCOM可以提供柔性交流传输系统（FACTS）设备通常提供的所有功能（通常为±200 MVA额定值，成本为5000万美元），成本低50-100倍。这些电网支持功能包括：(1)改善现有输电线路的稳定性和电力传输，从而避免/推迟建造昂贵的新输电线路（约250万美元/公里）；(2)减轻同步发电机和风力发电场的次同步共振，从而防止对发电机轴和风力发电场控制造成代价高昂的损坏；(3)避免关键电机的电压不稳定和不稳定。从而避免了客户的重大经济损失（石化行业电机停机通常为100万美元/小时），iv)提供组合频率调节和功率振荡阻尼，从而有助于避免系统分裂和停电，v)增加配电馈线的承载能力，从而大大增加光伏太阳能和风力发电场的电网连接。******“智能逆变器”是一种新兴技术，用于为光伏太阳能农场提供真实和无功功率控制，正在北美迅速部署。该研究计划还旨在开发PV-STATCOM作为一种新型的现场验证的“智能逆变器”，它提供了几种新的智能逆变器（FACTS-like）功能，以及传统智能逆变器功能，速度快50-60倍。******光伏太阳能技术是世界上发展最快的技术。结果表明，在现有太阳能发电场的逆变器上安装价值50万美元的PV-STATCOM控制器可以将太阳能发电场转换为价值5000万美元的等效STATCOM。****** PV- statcom技术在太阳能发电场的应用可能会带来：***i)为加拿大公用事业公司节省大量费用，避免安装昂贵的FACTS设备（加拿大已经有超过30个这样的svc / statcom）， ***ii)通过在夜间和白天销售实际电力之外提供几种电网支持功能，为加拿大光伏太阳能发电场创造新的收入机会，***iii)加拿大逆变器制造商的新业务线。******该计划将培养8名博士，2名MESc， 10名孟和5名NSERC USRA学生。

Photovoltaic (PV) solar farms are idle in night with their expensive infrastructure unutilized. A novel technology of utilizing solar farms both in the NIGHT and day as a dynamic reactive power compensator named by us as PV-STATCOM, has been developed in previous Discovery Grant. This was demonstrated on a 10 kW PV solar farm for the FIRST-TIME-IN-THE WORLD in Dec. 2016 in the utility network of Bluewater Power Sarnia, ON. This technology has got 7 granted patents and 11 pending in different countries. ******This research program aims at developing a near market ready PV-STATCOM technology validated for multi MW solar farms with novel functions, and with optimized energy storage systems. The PV-STATCOM can offer all the functions normally provided by Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices (typically costing $50 Million for ±200 MVA rating) at 50-100 times LOWER cost. These grid-support functions include i) improving stability and power transfer in existing transmission lines, thereby avoiding/deferring construction of expensive new transmission lines (about $2.5 Million/km), ii) mitigation of subsynchronous resonance in synchronous generators and wind farms, thus preventing costly damages to generator shafts and wind farm controls, iii) obviating voltage instability and destabilization of critical motors, thus avoiding major financial losses to customers (typically $ 1 Million/hr of shutdown for motors in petrochemical industries), iv) providing combined frequency regulation and power oscillation damping, thus helping avoid system splitting and blackouts, and v) increasing hosting capacity of distribution feeders, thus enabling significantly increased grid connections of PV solar and wind farms.******“Smart inverters” is emerging technology for providing real and reactive power controls on PV solar farms, which is rapidly being deployed in North America. This research program also aims at developing PV-STATCOM as a novel field-validated “Smart Inverter” which offers several new smart inverter (FACTS-like) functions, and also conventional smart inverters functions at 50-60 times FASTER speed.******PV solar technology is the fastest growing technology worldwide. It is shown that installation of PV-STATCOM controller worth $ 0.5 Million on inverters of an existing solar farm can transform the solar farm into an equivalent STATCOM worth $ 50 Million. ******Application of PV-STATCOM technology on solar farms can potentially bring: ***i) Huge savings to Canadian utilities in avoiding installation of expensive FACTS devices (there are more than 30 such SVCs/STATCOMs in Canada already), ***ii) New revenues making opportunities to Canadian PV solar farms by offering several grid support functions both during NIGHT and in addition to sale of real power in daytime, and ***iii) New line of business for Canadian inverter manufacturers. ******This program will train 8 PhD, 2 MESc, 10 MEng and 5 NSERC USRA students.