Solar PV Grid Tied Training System is a compact version of an actual Solar PV Grid Tied power plant. The system enables user to study wiring and interconnections of different components involved in the system to develop basic understanding of working and operation of a Grid connected system. A user can understand underlying principles power electronics, its applications in power system and challenges like harmonics and grid synchronisation by doing various experiments. The system also provides scope for further research.

The system utilises a 500 Watt. solar PV panels installed at a rooftop which connects to the control unit installed in the lab. The control unit has a grid tied inverter and a measurement panel with various measuring instruments that calculate production and consumption of energy. If the total power produced by solar panels exceeds power consumed by loads then the extra power is transferred to the grid whereas is if power produced by solar panel is less than the power consumed then the loads will consume power from solar panels as well as the grid.

As several institutions don’t allow to feed the power generated by solar panels to their utility grid, Ecosense utilises a virtual grid installed in the Grid box connected to control unit. The virtual grid acts as the utility grid for experimentations. User can switch between actual and virtual grid anytime.

Technical Characteristics ≫

• Active measurement panel to measure different voltage, current and power analysis
• Can observe voltage & current waveforms for linear or non-linear loads and calculations
• Impact of transmission line inductance on voltage quality at PCC
• Power factor improvement using capacitor bank and its impact on power quality at PCC
• Grid Synchronisation of Solar PV Inverter and its performance analysis
• Evaluation of Active, Reactive and apparent power flow between PV Grid and Virtual Grid
• Net Metering
• Anti-islanding protection
• Built-in MPPT grid tied inverter
• Three way connect/ disconnect for PV panels
• IP 65 protected PV Panels
• Can work with actual grid as well as virtual grid
• Equipped with a handheld Solar insolation measurement instrument
• Equipped with an angle measurement instrument
• Overcharge/ over discharge protection for battery bank
• Equipped with autotransformer to record response of system at different voltages
• 2 power analysers with power import /export readings
• Facility to plug-in DSO directly to the system without using differential probes

Technical Advantages ≫

• If connected with actual grid, system can run continuously as an additional renewable energy source to the lab
• System is rigorously tested and can work continuously without switching off
• Require very less space for installation
• Reliable Quality: Basically, no after sales service is required
• System comes with an illustrated experiment manual detailing every wiring connection to be made
• Specifications can be customized as per requirement
• Detailed demonstration and training of system is done during commissioning of the system

Experiments ≫

• Observation of Current Waveform for Linear & Nonlinear Loads and Calculations
• Impact of Transmission Line Inductance on Voltage Quality at PCC
• Power factor improvement using capacitor bank and its impact on power quality at PCC
• Grid Synchronization of Solar PV Inverter and its Performance Analysis
• Evaluation of Active, Reactive & Apparent power Flow between Grid-Tied Inverter, Grid &Load and Net Metering concept
• Demonstration of Anti-Islanding protection of Grid-Tied Inverter for Sudden Grid Failure and running the system using virtual grid

Research Options ≫

• Synchronization process for single phase solar Grid tied PV system
• Development of Micro-grid and smart grid control
• Study of power quality & impacts while using capacitor for power factor improvement

Specifications ≫

S. No.	Components	Sub-Components	Specifications
1	Power generating unit	Solar PV Module
		Number of modules	2
		Type	Poly-crystalline
		Total power	500 Wp
2	Solar PV Grid Tied Inverter
		No of Grid Tied Inverter	1
		MPPvoltage range	45 Vto 100V
		Rated gridvoltage	230V
		Maximum outputcurrent	2.5A
		Rated power	300W
		Rated frequency	50Hz
		Feedingphases	single-phase
3	Virtual Grid
		Nominal Output Voltage	230V AC
		Frequency	50Hz
		Capacitor Bank
		Transmission Line Inductance
4	Measurement Unit	Isolated Sensors
		AC Voltage Sensor
		AC Current Sensor
		Power Analyzers – 2
		Ammeter –AC
5	Accessories	Manual