RENEWABLE ENERGY SITE REACTIVE POWER CONTROL

• Main Authors: RUDOLPH BENJAMIN D, BIXEL PAUL S
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 16.04.2015
• Subjects: APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC,OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWERSUPPLY SYSTEMS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTINGELECTRIC POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUTPOWER; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER; ELECTRICITY; GENERATION; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY

Methods, systems, controller devices, and computer program products for reactive power control at a renewable energy site are provided. Embodiments address dynamic performance problems associated with control loop delay and the changing modes of operation for meeting utility voltage and reactive power constraints. Provided is a method for reactive power control involving: (a) determining a site-wide reactive power command comprised by a sum of a reactive power feedforward or compensation term and an integrator term; and (b) distributing the site-wide reactive power command among inverters. Embodiments can include a reactive power control term based on the sum of a single integrator and feed-forward compensation term, an integrator anti-windup mechanism based on the status of individual inverters, a means for decreasing detrimental effects of loop delay during reactive power reference changes, and/or a means of implementing voltage and power factor limits with smooth transfer between reactive power operating regions.