Microgrid control systems
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General information
| Name of company | Phoenix Contact |
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| Website of company | www.phoenixcontact.com |
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| Name of product | PLCnext Hybrid Control |
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| Product is hardware and/or software-platform | hardware & software platform |
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| Product standardized or project-specific? | both |
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| Distribution in which countries? | typical PV-markets |
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| Unique selling proposition of the product | modular in hardware and function |
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| Comments | The system is based on our latest standard PLC platform which allows to use pre-defined function sets as well as own code based on IEC61131, High-level language or even Matlan Simulink |
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Services of the company
| Company produces microgrid control hardware | yes |
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| Company programs microgrid control software | yes |
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| Company provides system integration of microgrid control hardware and software | yes |
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| Company provides EPC services for microgrid projects | no |
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| Company provides operations and maintenance of microgrids | no |
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| Comments | due to the specific demands in such projects, we prefer to have a solar/Hybrid EPC in order to do the individual adaption |
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Scope of control system
| Central monitoring and control unit (Hardware) | yes |
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| Control unit is standalone product or integrated into other device (if latter, which device?) | stand-alone as IP20 set or boxed version for wall mounting |
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| Other hardware components (e.g. smart meters, sensors, switches, domestic appliances, …) | wheather sensors, load flow sensors, protection relays, energy meters, demand site management |
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| Software-Platform for monitoring and control of the microgrid | yes |
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| Software-Platform is a cloud solution or installed on own server or computer? | installed on own server or computer |
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| Software compatible with third party hardware? | yes |
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| Hardware compatible with third party software? | yes |
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| Monitoring and/or control of microgrid via smartphone app? | opt. |
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| Comments | modularity in terms of hardware means: usability of all brands of PV-Inverters, genset controllers via standard interfaces or extra I/O points, modularity in terms if software means: pre-defined functions in libriaries or as individual code for specific functions, operator can use own existing code or can create exclusive code for his application |
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Microgrid layout
| Which customers is the product aimed at? (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, community, campus, military, …) | the simpliest system is interlocking PV Power Generation with Gensets in order to avoid reverse power, that is starting pricewise at around 1000€, due to modularity there are no boundries upwards, depending on the optimization goal |
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| Focus on offgrid, grid-connected or mobile microgrids? | all variants are possible |
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| How many kilowatts of installed generating power can be integrated? (FROM - TO) | unlimited |
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| How many different generators can be integrated? | unlimited |
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| AC bus system | yes |
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| DC bus system | opt. |
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| Hybrid AC and DC bus system | opt. |
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| Which control strategy is used to run the microgrid? (e.g. central control, master/slave control, distributed control, …) | central control with opt. distributed sub-controls, using rule-based control strategy with machine learning as further optimization |
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| Which components are needed for grid forming in islanding operation? (e.g. battery, diesel generator, …) | Diesel or Gas Gensets, batteries, island-inverters as voltage sources |
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| Can the system be retrofitted to existing energy system assets? | yes |
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| Can the system be expanded modularly after initial commissioning? | yes |
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| Comments | modularity is the key, as mentioned before |
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Connectivity
| Supported communication protocols (e.g. Modbus TCP, Sunspec, KNX, Zigbee, …) | support of physical interfaces an their typical protocols, the system can be adopted to proprietary protocols |
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| Supported communication interfaces (e.g. RS485, Ethernet, Wireless LAN, analog inputs an outputs, …) | support of physical interfaces an their typical protocols, the system can be adopted to proprietary protocols |
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| Connectable generators (e.g. solar PV, wind turbines, CHP, diesel generators, fuel cells, hydro power plants, …) | all of them in terms of communication, which asset makes sense when at what size depends on the simulation results |
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| Connectable storage systems (e.g. batteries [lead, lithium, redox flow, …], flywheels, heat storage, …) | all of them in terms of communication, which asset makes sense when at what size depends on the simulation results |
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| Connectable loads (e.g. heat pumps, heating boilers, charging stations for e-mobility, refrigerators, …) | all of them in terms of communication, which asset makes sense when at what size depends on the simulation results |
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| What components/brands can be integrated 'plug & play'? | PV inverters and wheather sensors from Solarworx libriary, Gensets with Cummins Power Command or Woodward easYgen and many more |
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| What components/brands have to be integrated manually? | that is to be checked depending on interface, protocol and revision of third party device |
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| How are components integrated manually? (e.g. connection boxes, command-line interface, ...) | if there is a physical interface existing, we will need the appropriate protocol description in order to create a driver function block which will be afterwords included in the libriary |
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| Software-Platform has graphical user interface for integration and configuration of external devices? | yes |
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| Software-Platform has graphical user interface for programming energy management options? | yes |
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| Communication between control system and energy system assets is wired or wireless? | both |
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| SCADA integration possible? | yes |
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| Other options to connect the microgrid to a higher-level distribution grid (e.g. smart meter gateway, CLS-interface, ...) | via standard protocols |
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| Can smart home systems be integrated into the microgrid? | yes |
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| Is the data encrypted during data transfer? If so, how? | no encryption required on the field level if the communication lines to not go beyond the network boundaries |
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| How is the system protected against threats from outside? | VPN, TLS 1.2 |
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| How are firmware updates realized? | manually update if demanded |
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| Comments | |
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Functions
| Grid conntected operation | yes |
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| Islanding operation | yes |
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| Automated transition from islanding to grid-connected mode and back | yes |
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| Time required for transition from grid-connected to islanded mode (in seconds) | |
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| Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) | |
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| Operation is also possible without connection to the internet | in grid connected and islanding mode |
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| Operation is also possible without connection to control room of higher-level distribution system operator (DSO) | in grid connected and islanding mode |
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| Asset control of distributed energy resources | yes |
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| Load management defining curtailable loads and priority loads | yes |
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| Automated dispatch control and optimization | yes |
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| Automated Re-dispatching in response to external orders or unplaned internal events | yes |
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| Internal voltage and frequency regulation in islanding mode | yes |
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| Real time active and reactive power control | yes |
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| Control of power exchange and voltage levels at point of interconnection | yes |
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| Aggregated ramp rate control at point of interconnection | yes |
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| Phase balancing between different AC phases | opt. |
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| Black start capability | yes |
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| Comments | mainly due to function of used third party assets |
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Energy management options
| Increase in self consumption | yes |
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| Increase of self-sufficiency | yes |
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| Peak Shaving | yes |
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| Charging of electric vehicles | yes |
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| Energy management of thermal energy assets? (e.g. heat pumps, thermal storage, ...) | yes |
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| Backup power | yes |
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| Zero feed-in | yes |
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| Ancillary services for public grid (e.g. frequency regulation, reactive power control, …) | |
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| Consideration of weather forecasts | yes |
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| Consideration of energy load predictions | yes |
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| Consideration of changing energy prices on the energy market | opt. |
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| Use of AI or self-lernings algorithms | yes |
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| Blockchain based billing and/or pay as you go solution | no |
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| Participation in the energy market | no |
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| Comments | |
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Price indication
| Hardware: One-time acquisition costs for central control unit (without VAT) FROM - TO (approx. retail price in Euro) | from 1000 onwards |
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| Hardware: Monthly maintenance costs for central control unit (without VAT) FROM - TO (approx. retail price in Euro) | no mounthly costs |
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| Hardware: Costs for other necessary system components? (e.g. smart meters, switches, …) | |
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| Software: One-time acquisition costs (without VAT) FROM - TO (approx. retail price in Euro) | from 2000 onwards |
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| Software: Monthly maintenance costs (without VAT) FROM - TO (approx. retail price in Euro) | no mounthly costs |
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| Are there renting or leasing options? If so, what are those options? | not via Phoenix Contact |
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| Comments | |
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| Price information available | yes |
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Best practice project
| Information on reference projects available | yes |
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| Best practice project - ongrid | |
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| Best practice project - offgrid | Softdrink producer in Nigeria, 10MW Diesel/Gas
Gensets with 1MWp PV power and load management |
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Data update
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