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Scientists from Australias national science agency and Googles research and development division have developed a new "smart" inverter that they claim is nearly twice as fast and about 50% more efficient than existing commercial inverters.
A team of scientists from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Tapestry, part of Google X’s innovation hub, have created an advanced grid inverter prototype that they say is faster and more responsive than current inverters and has the potential to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
According to the CSIRO, the new inverter prototype, based on embedded intelligence technology used in electric vehicles and autonomous drones, incorporates signal detection and filtering hardware, as well as network and microgrid formation software.
According to the scientists, this allows inverters to communicate with other devices on the grid, such as solar panels, batteries and traditional generators, to more accurately detect voltages and currents, and act on that information to maintain grid stability.
CSIROs director of energy systems research John Ward says this capability is critical as coal and gas generators exit the system and more dynamic and unpredictable renewable resources such as solar and wind power come on board.
“Unlike their predecessors, grid inverters can communicate with the grid,” he says. “They can accurately discern when to increase power delivery.”
The teams say laboratory tests have shown their prototype can coordinate with devices across the grid to maintain stability, could be 50% more cost-effective to produce, and does not compromise conversion efficiency. The laptop-sized prototype has a power output of 300kW, equivalent to the capacity of 164 inverters currently available on the market.
Tapestry chief scientist Leo Casey, who designed the smart inverter prototype, attributed the capacity boost to switching from silicon used in traditional inverters to silicon carbide, a change that could also reduce costs because of its ability to better withstand high operating temperatures and voltages than silicon-based devices.
“We have designed an inverter with 50% higher energy density and 50% faster response time with 99% efficiency, all at half the cost of a traditional commercial inverter,” he explains.
The next phase of the project will be to explore opportunities to partner with energy distribution companies to deploy the inverters on the ground and test their real-world performance.
Stephen Craig, director of CSIROs smart energy mission, said he expects electricity distribution network operators and third parties such as virtual power plant operators to take an interest in the technology, as grid-forming inverter technology will be vital to managing the flow of renewable energy into a traditional electricity grid to avoid oversupply, meet demand and eliminate blackouts.
“Australia currently has a goldmine of renewable energy, but much of it is wasted because of our inability to harness it effectively,” he says. “In the future we will need technology that can improve grid stability, increase efficiency, integrate energy storage and enable remote monitoring and control.” |
