Application of smart grid in photovoltaic power systems

The 20% renewable in 2020 - goals set by the European Commission give rise to the stress on the existing transmission and distribution networks, due to distributed power generation. This burden can be mitigated either by upgrading the networks, or by introducing the SmartGrid technology, or the combination. The development of the essence of SmartGrid is still at infancy, and many projects regarding SmartGrid are currently in progress or are being initiated, in order to develop the required technologies and standards, and demonstrate the current state.

The background for the PVNET.dk project is the ongoing EcoGrid EU project, the Danish Cell Project, and Photovoltaic (PV) Island Bornholm project, in which the target is to install app. 5 MWp of PV on the island of Bornholm corresponding to a penetration of 9% which again is close to the EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) goal of 12% PV power for entire Europe in 2020.

The PV systems are to be installed as rooftop systems on private buildings, on buildings/facilities of the municipality of Bornholm and a single or few larger PV power plants. The PV plants are configured so that they can be integrated into a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) on Bornholm.

The target of the proposed project is to study how to integrate large amount of PV (and other Renewable Energy Sources (RES)) into the network, without having to reinforce the network. This is done by examining different types of grid voltage control, applying Smart Grid functionalities and introducing other ancillary services integrated into the RES. Besides, other aspects of high penetration of RES, such as frequency stability, sub-synchronous oscillations, etc. will also be investigated. It will be ensured that the developed solutions are compliant with the EcoGrid EU SmartGrids-concept, which is expected to be rolled out at Bornholm in parallel with this project.

The knowledge gained in the project is later on to be used for paving the road for high penetration of RES into the networks.