Book Description

A reliable and secure protection and control system is a paramount requirement for any electrical network. This book discusses protection and control schemes of various parts of Solar Power Plants (SPP) namely solar generator, inverter, and SPP network connected to the grid. For this purpose small, medium, and large size of solar power energy sources have been considered. This includes residential, commercial buildings and large power plants. There are significant literature about solar energy, modeling and different aspects of integration of SPP to grids. But there is no book to address directly the setting/design of protection and control schemes, testing techniques and fault findings of solar generators and its networks. The topology and characteristics of solar generators and their networks are different from conventional ones. This has caused the following issues: - Conventional protection & control scheme may fail to detect different type of faults which may occur on solar cells/panels/arrays, DC cables, and inverters. This necessitated the requirement of special schemes for the detection of faults in blind spots, - Fault findings required tests, and testing equipment for solar generators are different from conventional ones, - The fault current contribution from solar generators is low (1.1-1.2 pu) as compared to conventional ones. The above problems have caused significant challenges for appropriate setting and design of protection & control scheme of SPP network which in some cases have resulted to several major plants shut down, safety risks and fire incidents. This book discusses the above challenges and proposes mitigation techniques to rectify the deficiencies of existing industry practices for the protection and control systems of solar generators. Most of the content of this book has been observed or successfully applied in the field for various SPPs projects worldwide and consequently can be used or considered as a practical guideline for future projects. Main Objectives of the Book The main objectives of the book are: - To familiarize engineers, technical officers, testers, and project managers with required power system protection and control schemes of solar power plants (SPP). - To provide a guideline for preparation of standards, technical specification, business case, functional scope, test, and commissioning plan as applicable to the installation of new SPP; - To provide adequate information to electricity companies, consultants, contractors, relay manufacturers,s and SPP owners about the requirement of protection and control systems of SPP. Acknowledgment The author wishes to acknowledge that the contents of this book are based on utilizing the following resources: 1) Extensive research of the author for design, specifications, and commissioning of SPPs 2) Experiences of other individuals, electricity companies, and consultants Disclaimer The author is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, up-to-dateness, or quality of the information provided. The author is therefore not liable for any claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided. The information in the book should only be used as a guideline and may not be suitable for a specific case. Copyright The material made available is intended for the customer’s personal use only. Author reserves all rights to the book. Therefore the book can not be reproduced or replicated or processed or distributed without the author’s written permission.