Adroit Market Research - Industry Insights

One of the key benefits of DC coupling is permitting more energy to be delivered to the grid by stowing energy which otherwise might have been trimmed. In several regions, solar developers by now have overbuild their systems along with added PV panels to upsurge the entire energy output of the system. For instance, it is usual to perceive solar projects with almost 1.3 MW of PV panels/1 MW of inverter competency. This outsizing of the PV panels in association to the inverter size will possibly maximize the overall energy output of the system all through the year, especially during months with abridged solar radiation. Inappropriately, growing the inverter loading ratio that is the DC capa

One of the key benefits of DC coupling is permitting more energy to be delivered to the grid by stowing energy which otherwise might have been trimmed. In several regions, solar developers by now have overbuild their systems along with added PV panels to upsurge the entire energy output of the system. For instance, it is usual to perceive solar projects with almost 1.3 MW of PV panels/1 MW of inverter competency. This outsizing of the PV panels in association to the inverter size will possibly maximize the overall energy output of the system all through the year, especially during months with abridged solar radiation. Inappropriately, growing the inverter loading ratio that is the DC capability of the solar panels distributed by the AC capability of the inverter, leads in losing certain amount of energy or else clipped over the sunniest hours of the year.

One of the biggest advantages of a DC-coupled solar plus storage system is that the battery might store this energy which will typically be clipped, but an AC-coupled system can’t. In addition, a DC-coupled solar along with storage system will perhaps permit the developer to upturn the whole inverter loading ratio meant for the project that augments the volume of energy delivered to the grid devoid of the threat of clipped energy.

As soon as the size of your energy storage system has been decided, there is a requirement to take the decisions about the number of panels as well as inverters to be install so as to improve the pricing. Moreover, this optimization will perhaps take into consideration the added energy a DC-coupled system might deliver. Also, the optimization is alike to the one for done solar projects only, with a slight rise in intricacy to make up the state of charge of energy storage. The inverter loading ratio regulates the amount of added energy that could be sold at cost-effective rates. Normally, a large number of inverter loading ratio for solar along with the storage systems might have their output restricted via:

• Land: a restricted amount of land over which to set up the solar panels.
• Interconnectivity: an interconnectivity agreement that limits the amount of power that can be injected into the grid.
• Finances: Is there any chance for enough added revenues in order to cover the additional costs as well as a rational rate of return.

For instance: there is a project developer who needs to pair a 50 MW/4hr stowage system along with her 100 MW (AC) solar project. However, she is uncertain regarding the optimal inverter loading ratio for the project as well as eventually how many solar panels she ought to buy on the basis of the configuration. Besides, project would be restricted by the 100 MW interconnection, also she has got space to add equal to 250 MW (DC) of panels and thus finances will help her in determining the preeminent inverter loading ratio.

Below are some of the steps she can follow in order to analyze:

• Income: Determine the added income that would be grossed at diverse inverter loading ratios

• Ascertain the volume of energy delivered at diverse inverter loading ratios: This will necessitate a granular analysis, probably at per hour basis, in order to determine how much energy has been delivered for diverse inverter loading ratios, either via adding extra panels or else decreasing the quantity of inverters. However, it is recommended to start with the inverter loading ratio that might use without storage that is normally around 1.3. Thus, hourly analysis would simply result as:
   

1. Delivered Energy is equal to Minimum (DC Solar Generation, Inverter Size plus Battery Capability)
   Depending upon the stowage size, the battery would be capable of absorbing all the energy, nevertheless over the sunniest days, it possibly will be incapable of absorbing all of it. The study also needs to take into account time required for the delivery of energy to the grid as per the preferences of energy offtaker’s.
   1. Ascertain the marginal variation in energy delivery for modification in inverter loading ratio: Discover how much energy has been delivered for every single surge in inverter loading ratio. For instance, if the overall energy delivered for around 1.6 inverter loading ratio is 254,400 MWh & for a 1.7 inverter loading ratio is 269,600 the minimal variation in energy delivery will be around 269,600 MWh minus 254,400 MWh that will result as 15,200 MWh.
   2. Ascertain the value of firm and non-firm solar energy: This will perhaps be based upon the pricing of current generation, anticipated PPA price, tariff price, and the costs projected for other projects that will be substitutes. However, for this project it is assumed that the cost of firm & non-firm solar energy are both approximately $50/MWh.
   3. Ascertain the value of the marginal energy changes: For each and every single inverter loading ratio, multiply the assessment of the energy premeditated in step a ($50/MWh) by the minimal energy premeditated in step b.
   4. Ascertain the net present value of these cash flows across the length of the contract.
2. Ascertain the added price for varying inverter loading ratios. For interconnection limited, discover the marginal rise in pricing, adding extra panels to upsurge the inverter loading ratio. For the land restricted, fix the minimal reduction in costs of the inverters as well as other balance of plant equipment for every single rise in the inverter loading ratio. But the developer in this instance is interconnection limited and she anticipates that it would cost an extra cost of around $600/kW for adding additional panels & the equivalent DC balance of plant. To upturn the inverter loading ratio by .1 it involves an added 10 MWdc that would cost around $6 million.
3. Ascertain the inverter loading where the worth of the minimal energy growth or decrease equals the minimal costa: At this point the price of adding extra panels is improved, comprising a rate of return via additional energy which could be captured through the energy stowage.