As a rule, renewable energy and battery storage are connected to the grid via power electronic devices. Current trends indicate that plants are becoming larger. For example, PV power plants with a nominal power of 500 MW are a reality today. Fraunhofer ISE develops and analyzes not only the system technology for more efficient and cost-effective structures for large complete systems (large PV power plants) but also develops hardware and software solutions for the necessary power electronics. We test the operation and characterize such converters in our state-of-the-art Megawatt Laboratory at Fraunhofer ISE.
Distributing the growing amount of renewable electricity is a new challenge for the grid. A sustainable, future-oriented power grid will have a large amount of power electronics at the supply and demand side connection to ensure reliable and safe operation at all times. With this in mind, Fraunhofer ISE investigates the interaction between electronic devices and the power grid. It develops new control approaches for grid-supportive and grid-forming inverters as well as new methods of analysis for such functions.
Fraunhofer ISE and its research in this field make an important contribution to the progress of the energy transformation, e.g., how to optimally feed renewable electricity into the public grid and how grid stability can be guaranteed.
Our R&D services:
- Develop and analyze new system technology approaches for large PV power plants and other electricity supply systems
- Develop hardware for converters up to the megawatt range
- Converter controls for new requirements from the grid code regulations (e.g., fault ride through)
- Analyze grid perturbations such as harmonics and interaction effects such as resonance and electric stability
- Characterize the electric characteristics of high power converters
- Analyze electric problems in PV parks