Danfoss Solar Inverters has just released a new application paper explaining how to design power plants advantageously using the FLX inverter. The benefits are exemplified by detailed plant descriptions of various 15 MVA plants. These are scalable both up and down in size, and the benefits apply across various applications both ground mounted and rooftop.
A key feature of the FLX inverter is the large number of maximum power point trackers (MPPTs). Combined with the PV Sweep feature integrated in the inverter the 3 MPPTs per inverter will ensure that the power potential of the panels is utilized. This is especially beneficial in situations where area is a limiting factor. This could easily be the case in rooftop applications or in large plants where panels are placed close together. The many trackers allow you to accept shading situations, while keeping losses at a minimum. The losses incurred by the time spent in a deliberate shade are counterbalanced by the ability to place more modules in the same area. Any periodic shade brought about by chimneys or trees, only have limited impact due to the advanced PV sweep feature, which ensures the global MPP is always kept. This increases the overall yield of the plant.
The new paper is available for download free of charge in the Danfoss knowledge center.
In an FLX network you only need to configure one inverter, the master. All individual and accumulated system parameters are accessible through this master inverter, providing a single point of access for up to 99 followers. The master inverter is also where control and grid management parameters are set. This means that subplants of up to 1.7 MVA can be monitored, controlled and managed, using a single master inverter. The consequent network simplicity, and reduced HW costs for monitoring are add-on benefits. This single point of access also provides service and commissioning capabilities for software updates, configuration changes, remote fault analysis, replication of settings from master to follower inverters, etc. Additionally, string combiners and detailed string monitoring as well as a full plant monitoring system along with FTP upload are integrated in the FLX.
The above mentioned advantages are only a selection of the topics covered by the recently released FLX concept paper. The paper contains more detailed descriptions of the various designs of plants including system drawings and electrical diagrams. The paper is available for download free of charge in the Danfoss knowledge center.