In view of the accelerating growth in the PV industry worldwide, the smooth operation and management (O&M) process is of central importance for plant operators. It saves time and helps to increase the yield of environmentally friendly energy production. With the help of more efficient operations management, plant operators can react more quickly to errors. Just in time for Intersolar Europe, the world's leading trade fair for the solar industry, meteocontrol is therefore presenting the new 'Smart Alarms' function in the VCOM Cloud: with the machine learning-based data and component-based solution, possible failures and the corresponding causes can be intelligently detected and specific instructions for action can be sent.
Intelligent alarm function
The new function in VCOM Cloud scores with several special features, as Tobias Brüser, Vice President Products at meteocontrol explains: "The Smart Alarms update their status depending on the severity. This means that there are no redundant alarms for a failure, but only one alarm that adapts." Other features include easier failure detection at system and inverter level, a streamlined user interface for easy configuration of alarms, and the ability to use pre-configured default alarms or create custom alarms yourself. This makes it possible to generate only those alarms that are actually of importance.
Connecting PV systems to the grid quickly and securely
As a further highlight, meteocontrol will be showing the modular package solution 'REvolution Booster Kit' at its stand. This scalable solution allows PV systems of up to one megawatt to be quickly connected to any grid operator and direct marketer in Germany. "Our goal is to drive the energy transition forward," says Rouven Lenhart, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing at meteocontrol. "The REvolution Booster Kit simplifies planning processes, reduces workflows and interfaces, facilitates cost calculation, shortens delivery times and makes projects effortlessly scalable." The package includes a complete, standardised hardware solution as well as all services necessary for planning and commissioning the power control connection. The range of functions can be flexibly expanded and adapted to any project-specific plant topology. All interfaces are modular in design and thus enable a high degree of scalability. The package is available at a fixed price and can be delivered within two weeks after order confirmation.
See also: EV charging and energy management in one system
Coordination of the power plant controller concept with all relevant stakeholders such as grid operators, direct marketers or EPCs is handled by meteocontrol, as is the commissioning of the PPC solution. Further services such as measuring point verification are available as required. The Power Plant Controller is certified according to the technical connection rules for medium voltage (VDE-AR-N 4110) and high voltage (VDE-AR-N 4120) valid in Germany. Depending on the bridging time requirements, different variants (DC) with battery buffer times of four or eight hours are available.
Efficient monitoring and control of energy storage systems
One of the most important tools for reliable round-the-clock supply is energy storage. Here meteocontrol offers tools to monitor not only PV systems but also the batteries. New battery functions that will be available in the VCOM in the future can be seen at the trade fair: new standard diagrams to display the charging and discharging behaviour of the system, as well as new portlets to visualise the power flow in the system and to check the most important battery values at a glance. (mfo)
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