Recently, the PAT2023 Advanced Technology Seminar organized by the China Electricity Enterprise Federation and the China Photovoltaic Industry Association was held in Hefei. The reporter learned from the meeting that currently, the Fengguang Base project is facing problems such as high investment costs, long construction cycles, and insufficient equipment reliability. Several industry experts have pointed out that technological innovation will be the key driving force to solve many problems. Among them, solar inverters, as key power electronic devices in photovoltaic power generation, will also bear more responsibilities.
Further highlighting the role of solar inverters under high proportion photovoltaic conditions
According to the latest data released by the Electric Power Design and Planning Institute, in 2022, the newly installed capacity of wind and solar power in China reached 125 million kilowatts; As of February 2023, the cumulative installed capacity of wind and solar power in China has reached 780 million kilowatts, of which the installed capacity of solar power is as high as 410 million kilowatts.
Photovoltaic power generation has grown into the “main force” driving the growth of power generation installation. According to Wang Shujuan, the founder of Zhihui Photovoltaics, in 2022, the installed capacity of new photovoltaic units in China reached 87.41 million kilowatts, setting a new historical high; At the same time, photovoltaic has accounted for 45% of the country’s newly installed electricity that year, becoming the power source with the highest proportion of newly installed electricity.
In the face of the requirements for building a new energy system, according to Wang Jixue, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Electric Power Design and Planning Institute, solar inverters are destined to take on more and more responsibilities. The role of electricity in the new energy system is gradually improving. When constructing a high proportion of renewable energy and a high proportion of power electronic systems, the role of solar inverters as key equipment will be further highlighted
Modular solar inverters solve industry development pain points
Wang Jixue pointed out: “On the one hand, from a technical perspective, solar inverters have always been mainly responsible for the role of a ‘bridge’, converting solar resources into clean and economical energy supply. On the other hand, in the process of building a new type of power system, more consideration needs to be given to system balance and stability, and solar inverters need to undertake more functions
With the development and growth of China’s entire photovoltaic industry chain, solar inverter technology has undergone several generations of changes. Shi Xiaofeng, Vice President of Sunshine Power Storage Group, told China Energy News that in recent years, solar inverter technology has undergone rapid changes, with increasing power. At the same time, there have also been relatively flexible series inverters in system design. But now, facing the high proportion of photovoltaic grid connection requirements and entering more complex and harsh environments such as the “Sago Desert”, solar inverters can no longer be limited to traditional styles. It is necessary to further reduce the cost of electricity consumption and better adapt to the development needs of energy systems.
To address these challenges, Sunshine Power combines the characteristics and advantages of centralized inverters and string inverters, and introduces a ‘1+X’ modular inverter, which defines a single unit as 1.1 megawatts. Similar to building blocks for modular design, it can flexibly form 2.2 megawatts, 3.3 megawatts, 4.4 megawatts up to 8.8 megawatts, and also achieve low-cost and convenient operation and maintenance purposes
Shi Xiaofeng said, The system cost of modular inverters is lower than that of string inverters, and it can be more convenient for operation and maintenance. Under the same conditions, the power generation is also improved. The deep innovation of equipment modular design and application technology will become a future trend, not only can it maximize the adaptability to various complex environments in the future, but also can improve the overall operation and maintenance efficiency, significantly reduce the cost of electricity consumption, and achieve maximum investment income of power plants
What is the direction of the next generation solar inverter technology?
In the industry’s view, the construction of a new energy system is a process of complementary integration between traditional fossil fuels and new clean energy, and is a dynamic and complex system engineering. Technology empowerment and promoting multi-energy integration are key measures to solve these problems.
Reducing costs and increasing efficiency is an eternal theme in the photovoltaic industry, “Shi Xiaofeng pointed out.” From the perspective of future industry demand, solar inverters will continue to pursue a reduction in electricity consumption costs, and high voltage and high power density will also become a major direction for the development of solar inverter technology
Shi Xiaofeng reminds that the demand for intelligent solar inverters is also gradually increasing for the huge wind and solar power base projects. From the perspective of long-term operation and maintenance, there are significant challenges in the operation and maintenance of photovoltaic projects mainly located in the ‘Sha Ge Huang’ area. The intelligence of solar inverters will help photovoltaic projects achieve self diagnosis, self judgment, provide specific operation and maintenance requirements, and achieve rapid response and maintenance
Wang Jixue believes that in the face of the development requirements of new energy systems, solar inverters not only need to play a traditional “bridge” role, but also the key to the future development of solar inverter technology will be the change from adapting to the power grid to grid construction capacity.
Shi Xiaofeng also stated that with the increasing proportion of new energy, power electronics and other equipment connected, the stability of the power system will face greater challenges. In the future, the photovoltaic equipment industry will continue to innovate around the dimensions of computing power and algorithms. Through the combination of big data, high computing power, and intelligent algorithms, the grid connection characteristics of new energy equipment will gradually adapt from the current weak grid to active support and intelligent grid construction, achieving system self-healing.