High Penetration Solar Deployment Projects
The High Penetration Solar Deployment activities focus on increasing the growth of grid-tied solar photovoltaic systems. The goal is to accelerate the placement of these systems into existing and newly designed distribution circuits in the electrical grid.
The High Penetration Solar Deployment project supports the mission of the Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP or Solar Program) to increase widespread commercialization of clean solar energy technologies.
Background
Project success requires developing both modeling tools and actual performance and validation data, so the focus is on three research and development areas: improved modeling tools development, field verification of high-penetration levels of photovoltaics (PV) into the distribution grid, and demonstration of PV and energy storage for smart grids.
This effort has three goals:
- Develop modeling tools and database of experience with high penetration scenarios of PV on a distribution system;
- Develop monitoring, control, and integration systems to enable cost-effective widespread deployment of small modular PV systems;
- Demonstrate integration of photovoltaics and energy storage into Smart Grid applications.
Awardees
DOE will invest up to $24.7 million in the following new High Penetration Solar Deployment projects. The investment is part of $117.6 million in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, which was announced in May 2009. Awardees will cost share more than $10 million for these projects.
Arizona Public Service Company ($3,328,000)
This project will develop, construct, manage, and study a high penetration of 1.5 megawatt (MW) of distributed photovoltaic generation on a typical residential feeder in Flagstaff, Arizona, including a mix of residential and commercial systems, as well as a 0.5 MW utility system. The model and evaluation will be according to utility standard practice.
Commonwealth Edison Company ($5,000,000)
This 1-year project will evaluate consumer reactions when a utility provides advanced metering and price signals for electric power without PV, with PV, and with both PV and energy storage. The impact will be a utility-based understanding of market response for photovoltaics.
Florida State University ($3,599,957)
The project will characterize the variation and impact of solar power as a function of system size (both kilowatt and MW), location, installation type and technology, including examination of variation within larger systems. The result will be technical solutions, from protection and control strategies and technologies, to converter, converter control, and PV system technologies, to address any issues identified with high-penetration levels of grid-connected photovoltaics.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory ($3,600,000)
This project will utilize modeling and simulation, laboratory testing, and field demonstrations to determine the effects of high penetrations of up to 500 MW of mostly commercial-scale rooftop PV on electrical distribution systems, including prototypical distribution circuits and a circuit with SmartGrid functionality.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District ($4,300,971)
This 1-year project will evaluate the value of advanced metering infrastructure, PV, and storage for homes with advanced metering infrastructure and PV along with the variables of no storage, home-based storage, or community-based storage. Actual utility-collected data will be available to assess the performance and market impacts of these options.
University of California San Diego ($1,750,000)
This project will develop advanced modeling tools and electric power control strategies to optimize electric power value and remove or reduce the impact of PV-sourced electricity on existing microgrids and the SmartGrid. Factors to be modeled and evaluated include monitoring of micro-climate effects and sky imaging systems to enable 1-hour-ahead PV-sourced electric power output forecasting in conjunction with a utility's dynamic price signals.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ($3,206,108)
The project will evaluate existing and Virginia Tech prototype power conditioners to identify cost-effective approaches to address issues associated with high-penetration PV systems, such as voltage regulation, reverse power flow, unintentional islanding, false inverter trips, reactive power control, fault contribution, protection, communications, and intentional islanding operation.