Solar Integration: Inverters and Grid Services Basics
As more solar systems are added to the grid, more inverters are being connected to the grid than ever before. Inverter-based generation can produce energy at any frequency and does not
In order to provide grid services, inverters need to have sources of power that they can control. This could be either generation, such as a solar panel that is currently producing electricity, or storage, like a battery system that can be used to provide power that was previously stored.
Be sure to confirm inverter compatibility if you're installing a hybrid solar system tied to the grid that also uses a battery bank. The two most common inverters are string inverters and microinverters. String inverters install easily and connect several panels together, but one panel's failure affects the whole circuit.
Traditional “grid-following” inverters require an outside signal from the electrical grid to determine when the switching will occur in order to produce a sine wave that can be injected into the power grid. In these systems, the power from the grid provides a signal that the inverter tries to match.
In a large-scale utility plant or mid-scale community solar project, every solar panel might be attached to a single central inverter. String inverters connect a set of panels—a string—to one inverter. That inverter converts the power produced by the entire string to AC.
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