UTILIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATOR INVERTERS AS STATCOM

摘要

The invention provides a method and system for operating a solar farm inverter as a Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) device—a STATCOM—for voltage control. The solar farm inverter can provide voltage regulation, damping enhancement, stability improvement and other benefits provided by FACTS devices. In one embodiment, the solar farm operating as a STATCOM at night is employed to increase the connectivity of neighbouring wind farms that produce peak power at night due to high winds, but are unable to connect due to voltage regulation issues. The present invention can also operate during the day because there remains inverter capacity after real power export by the solar farm. Additional auxiliary controllers are incorporated in the solar farm inverter to enhance damping and stability, and provide other benefits provided by FACTS devices.

主权项

1. A distributed power generation source for operatively connecting to a power grid system at a point of common coupling, said distributed power generation source comprising:
a voltage inverter; and a controller that operates said voltage inverter as a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) when said distributed power generation source is providing less than a maximum rated active power of said distributed power generation source to said power grid system;wherein
a voltage at said point of common coupling is regulated by said controller, said STATCOM prevents said voltage at said point of common coupling from exceeding a specified voltage range when at least one additional distributed power generation source is operatively connected to said power grid system, said STATCOM produces an excess amount of power relative to an amount of power required by at least one load on said distributed power generation network.