ABSTRACT
Stand-alone PV and hybrid systems can efficiently supply power for small remote consumers. Besides applications with a low power demand of up to some 100 W which can be covered by the well known solar home systems there is a demand for a new generation of standard island systems which are able to deliver single-phase or three-phase AC power of high quality. These systems should be able to supply power above about 2 kW e.g. for small workshops, small clinics and establishments for tourism. The produced power should be comparable to standards fulfilled by interconnected grids and the systems should also have the capability to form micro grids. The realisation of this task with the Modular Systems Technology (Kleinkauf 1999) requires further development and adaptation of appropriate electronic inverters which are able to form inverter dominated grids. The necessary features and adaptations for the power components battery inverter, PV-inverter and diesel genset are analysed in the two projects which are described here. Laboratory test concerning the grid quality of such AC PV battery systems and PV diesel hybrid systems are evaluated and compared to utility grid standards and to standards for diesel genset power quality. Further investigations include the comparison of different operational control strategies applying a newly developed modular simulation tool. Another aspect that is examined is the applicability of the European Installation Bus (EIB) for control purposes. In the experiments the EIB control is not only applied on the loads side but also on the generators side.
