Hangzhou Dianzi University is located in Hangzhou city, at the southern end of the Grand Canal of China which runs to Beijing. The PV microgrid system is a brilliant example of the collaboration between the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in Japan and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in China. This field demonstration was built in partnership with the Shimizu Corporation in 2007.
Located on the university campus, the system is powered mainly by PV (120kW) and complemented with a small diesel generator (120kW) and fuel cells. The PV system consists of 728 solar panels, totaling up to an area of 946m2. Thus it is the world’s first microgrid to achieve a 50% PV penetration rate.
Coupled with a 100kW capacitor and a 50 kW storage battery, the system’s goal is to maintain a constant flow of electricity at the coupling point with the grid. The actual fluctuation during the operation was restrained to less than 5kW above or below the targeted power flow. The microgrid is monitored and managed by a power control system, with active power quality control and voltage compensation. When isolated, the system could maintain a constant load, voltage and frequency.
Hangzhou Dianzi University’s PV microgrid system proves the concept of a stable microgrid system with high penetration of intermittent power.