Solar Plant Supervisory Controller for Grid Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional solar power plant control systems struggle to maintain supply-and-demand balance and stabilize the power grid due to unpredictable solar power generation, as they rely on predictions that may fail when weather conditions differ from forecasts, leading to inappropriate output suppression and grid instability.
Innovation Solution
A control system for solar power plants that includes multiple power conditioning systems and a supervisory controller, which receives urgent requests for output adjustments and calculates target output values to maintain interconnection point electrical power within permissible limits, ensuring stable grid operation by smoothing output changes and compensating for shortages with surplus power from other systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If output suppression is controlled based on predicted supply-and-demand balance, then power grid stability can be maintained under normal conditions, but when predictions fail or weather differs from forecast, the suppression amount becomes inappropriate and grid stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the supervisory controller continuously monitors actual power generation amounts from multiple solar power plants and compares them with predicted values. When deviations are detected, the controller dynamically adjusts suppression amounts for individual plants based on real-time conditions, enabling the system to adapt to unexpected weather changes while maintaining overall grid stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system transitions from static predetermined suppression schedules to dynamic real-time control. The supervisory controller continuously calculates optimal suppression amounts based on current power generation data, weather conditions, and grid demands, allowing the system to flexibly respond to changing conditions rather than relying on fixed predictions.
2Productivity
If the number of solar power plants is increased to maximize power generation, then total energy production increases, but it becomes more difficult to maintain supply-and-demand balance and stabilize the power grid
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the solar power plant system into multiple independently controllable units. The supervisory controller manages each power plant individually, assigning different suppression amounts to different plants based on their current generation status and environmental conditions. This segmentation allows the system to maintain high total production while flexibly adjusting individual contributions to preserve supply-demand balance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes operational parameters (suppression amounts) for each solar power plant based on real-time conditions such as irradiance levels, temperature, and predicted power demand. By continuously adjusting these parameters, the system can maximize total generation while maintaining grid stability even with a large number of plants.
3Speed
If abrupt output changes are allowed to respond quickly to grid conditions, then response speed improves, but it causes instability and fluctuations in the power grid
Solution Approach 1:
The supervisory controller performs preliminary calculations to determine optimal suppression amounts before implementing changes. By predicting the impact of suppression actions and pre-planning the adjustment schedule, the system can respond quickly to grid conditions while avoiding abrupt changes that would cause instability. The controller prepares suppression schedules in advance based on forecasted conditions and executes them smoothly.
Data Source
AI summary
A control system for a solar power plant includes: plural power conditioning systems performing grid connection control of transmission of electrical power generated by a solar power generator to a power grid; and a supervisory controller which issues a target output command to each power conditioning system so that interconnection point electrical power, electrical power fed to the power grid, becomes equal to or smaller than an upper limit output value. The supervisory controller: receives an urgent request including information related to a time of day at which the upper limit output value is scheduled to be changed and the scheduled upper limit output value; and calculates a target value of the interconnection point electrical power for each time of day so that the interconnection point electrical power conforms to the scheduled upper limit output value by the scheduled time of day.