Study of Energy Compensation Techniques in Photovoltaic Solar Systems with the Use of Supercapacitors in Low-Voltage Networks

Luis Gerardo González, Rommel Chacon, Bernardo Delgado, Dario Benavides and Juan Espinoza
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Luis Gerardo González: Department of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering (DEET), Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador
Rommel Chacon: Department of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering (DEET), Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador
Bernardo Delgado: Department of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering (DEET), Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador
Dario Benavides: Department of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering (DEET), Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador
Juan Espinoza: Department of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering (DEET), Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-15

Abstract: The power generated by photovoltaic solar systems is exposed to high variability of irradiance mainly due to weather conditions, which cause instability in the electrical networks connected to these systems. This study shows the typical behavior of solar irradiance in an Andean city, which presents considerable variations that can reach up to 63% of the nominal power of the photovoltaic system, at time intervals in the order of seconds. The study covers the application of 3 techniques to reduce power fluctuations at the point of common coupling (PCC), with the incorporation of energy storage systems, under the same irradiance conditions. Supercapacitors were used as the storage system, which were selected for their high efficiency and useful life. A state of charge control is also applied by means of a hysteresis band. The three algorithms studied show similar behaviors; however, the ramp control technique has the best performance. The storage system was dimensioned based on the photovoltaic system’s nominal power and the desired rate of change in the PCC, whose capacity can be estimated from P nom /12 [kWh] and a maximum power that can reach up to 0.63 P nom . The study determines that based on the storage capacity and the irradiance characteristics under study, the storage system could use at least 5.76 daily charge/discharge cycles. In the study, it is possible to reduce the rate of change of the photovoltaic energy injected into the PCC about 6.66 times with the use of the proposed energy storage system.

Keywords: Photovoltaic solar system; power fluctuations; supercapacitors; ramp control; low pass filter; moving average (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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