1668

IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-102, No. 6, June 1983 ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR A CENTRAL STATION PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANT

Edward J. Simburger, Member, IEEE Richard B. Fling, Member, IEEE The Aerospace Corporation Los Angeles, California

Abstract - The engineering design effort presented in this paper is an attempt to bring the various components and subsystems that would be required in a Central Station Photovoltaic Power Plant together in the form of a complete preliminary engineering design for the plant. The design identifies all of the subsystems and defines the interfaces required for integrating each subsystem into the total plant system. The resultant preliminary engineering design can be used for further subsystem optimization and tradeof f studies.

INTRODUCTION
Many previous design studies have been conducted for photovoltaic applications, but relatively few have been performed for central station power plants. Most of the work was conducted for decentralized applications in residential, commercial, and These studies, however, have industrial settings. been in sufficient detail to permit the development of requirements for power conditioning and interface equipment necessary for integration of these systems into the electric power grid. Although relatively little effort has been expended in the design of complete central station systems, there have been several important studies performed which identify design options and examine cost tradeoffs among the various subsystems(l 2, 3, 4). It was the purpose of this study, therefore, to utilize the previous work to conduct an engineering design of a full size central station power plant so as to provide more detail in the definition of the major electrical subsystems and subsystem interfaces.

Large -photovoltaic power plants are inherently modular in design. The definitions of the system elements used in this study are as follows: (a) the basic building block unit is the module, which is the smallest complete environmentally protected assembly of solar cells used to generate DC power, (b) a panel is a collection of modules, factory preassembled and wired, forming a field installable unit, (c) an array is a mechanically integrated assembly of panels together with support structure (including foundations) to form a free-standing field installed unit, (d) a string is a group of modules wired in series to provide DC power at the DC voltage level of the power conditioning unit; (a string may involve the interconnection of modules located in several arrays) , (e) a subf ield is a collection of strings and, for central station applications, will be sized in the multi-megawatt range.

The system characteristics which were assumed for the station are listed in Table 1. Table 1.

System Characteristics Assumed

Plant Location: Southwestern U.S. (Barstow, Calif ornia insolation data used) Plant Size:

200 MW (nominal)

Collector Type: Fixed-tilt flat plate panels consisting of 8 x 20 ft arrays (8 ft high x 20 ft wide) assembled from 4 x 4 ft modules

Utility design practices are used wherever possible, and equipments are defined sufficiently to permit engineering cost estimates to be prepared in future studies, if desired. Single-line electrical and functional site layout drawings, diagrams, diagrams are provided for a station nominally rated
at 200 MW.

Tilt Angle:
Cell Type:

Local latitude (here taken to be

340)

Single crystal silicon

Subfield Output Voltage: 34.5 kV

Plant Output Voltage: 230 kV

major subsystems identified for the plant (1) site-related civil items (roads, grading, drainage, etc.), (2) array support structures and foundations, (3) PV arrays, (4) DC wiring system, (5) power conditioning equipment, (6) AC wiring system, and (7) plant control system. Subsystems (1) and (2), for which designs may be quite sitespecific, were not considered in great detail so that more emphasis could be placed on the more generic items.
The
are:

SYSTEM DESIGN

Plant Size
The basic plant size for a commercial scale central station photovoltaic power plant was assumed to be in the range of 200 to 300 MW. The reasons for this size selection are as follows: The output of a PV plant is expected to be similar to an intermediate load conventional fossil fuel generating station. The average size of a conventional cycling oil fired or coal fired unit is on the order of 200 MW in existing utility systems.

82 SM 495-0 A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE Power Generation Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE 1982 Summer Meeting, San Francisco, California, 18-23, 1982. Manuscript submitted January 28, 1982; made available for printing June 9, 1982.

PES

July

From the standpoint of a maximum practical limit, the size of a single PV plant can also be derived by examining existing bulk power substations that supply Urban the subtransmission and distribution systems. and suburban power systems suppling subtransmission

0018-9510/83/0600-1668$01.00

1983 IEEE

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1669 networks generally provide a bulk power substation for each 200 to 300 MW of peak demand. A central station PV plant AC power collection system is to be much expected like an very urban subtransmission system with a bulk power substation for interconnection to the high voltage grid. Photovoltaic Arrays Tradeoff studies in previous central station PV analyses indicate that subfield voltage levels between 1000 and 3000 VDC and a subfield power rating between 5 and 15 MW would be cost effective with .respect to power conditioning equipment and the DC wiring system(4).
The design developed in this study was based on the use of Block V solar cell modules, currently being developed by the DOE-funded Flat-Plate Solar Array Project(5 b). The Block V Module assumed has the characteristics shown in Table 2 under standard conditions of 1000 W/m2 insolation at an ambient temperature of 250C.

Table 2.

Summary of PV Module Parameters 12 12 12% 0.7

Cells in series Cells in parallel Cell efficiency Cell packing factor Module efficiency Module open circuit voltage Module voltage at maximum power Module current at maximum power Module maximum voltage to ground Module size

The next consideration in laying out the sub fields would be the physical spacing of the strings. A baseline design was prepared using installation and maintenance vehicle access as a minimal spacing criterion. This resulted in a requirement for a minimum of 10 ft clearance between rows of strings and a minimum of 20 ft between ends of strings. The effects of string spacing on shadowing effects upon the PV modules were also analyzed. This analysis was done utilizing a well tested Aerospace Corporation computer code, "Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant Simulation Model", that takes into account the effects of shadowing of arrays by others in the field. This program models the power output of a photovoltaic power plant in response to insolation data inputs. Since this design effort is for a plant assumed to be located in a southwestern desert area, Barstow, California, insolation data were used in the simulation. The array spacing was varied and the megawatt-hour plant output for a year was determined as a function of array spacing. Figure 1 provides the results of this paramatric study. This figure shows a flattening in the curve at about a centerline spacing of 16 ft between strings, for a tilt angle of 340. At this tilt angle, the requirement that 10 ft vehicular clearance be provided leads to a minimum centerline spacing of 17 ft. A centerline spacing of 17 ft was used in this design effort, thereby satisfying both the shadowing and vehicular clearance criteria.

8.4% 6.4 VDC

25 A 1500 VDC 4 x 4 ft

5 VDC

1.0_

0.9_
0.8

07
0.6
2 2

Accordingly, a nominal operating voltage of 1000 VDC above ground was selected for the PV strings. This resulted in an open circuit voltage within the insulation rating of the module. To obtain the 1000 VDC, 200 modules will have to be connected in series. The power output of such a string at standard conditions would be 25 kW.
For many sites in the Southwestern desert area actual insolation on average is in the 750 to 850 For equipment sizing and design W/m2 range. considerations the peak power rating is of more Also insolation importance than average values. levels are extremely site specific and actual site data will be required for the design of a plant at a For the Barstow, California site specific site. selected a hourly simulation of the output of this plant indicated that 16% of the energy would be produced at power levels between 100% and 110% of the peak power rating of the plant.

0.5 jH

0.4 0.3
0.2
0.1

10 20 CENTERLINE STRING SPACING

30

Figure 1.

String Spacing vs Per Unit Plant Energy Output for One Year

DC Wiring Subsystem

Subfield Layout From a wiring standpoint the physical layout of the individual strings should be such that all connections to the strings are made along the central axis of the subfield in order to minimize the wire length and necessary trenching for cable installation.
Thus the proposed string connection is such that an 8 ft high by 20 ft wide array with 4 by 4 ft modules, the top row of modules would be connected in series and the bottom row would be connected in The polarity of the top row would be series. opposite of the bottom row, thereby allowing one end hookup of the string to the DC wiring system.
for

There are a number of possible subfield DC wiring configurations, and important parameters in making a choice are the location (or absence) of the DC bus ground, the quantity and configuration of the blocking diodes, overcurrent protection, surge suppressors and switches.
A center-grounded DC bus with a minimum of one blocking diode, overcurrent protective device, disconnect switch and surge suppressor per string was selected to provide sufficient protection for the individual strings and give the flexibility that will be required for efficient maintenance. The centergrounded DC bus will operate at + 1000 VDC and will require that each string be grounded at one leg. This configuration will reduce the voltage that each PV module must tolerate with respect to ground to

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1670

1000 VDC at standard conditions while the nominal line to line voltage on the power conditioning bus would be 2000 VDC.
In addition, to provide ground fault protection to the individual modules in a string, a ground fault detection system was also selected which would open both the hot leg and the ground leg. The ground leg must be opened to interrupt the ground fault. However, to provide a continuous ground reference and to prevent static charge buildup, a ground connection is required. This can be accomplished by having a high resistance ground connection in parallel with the ground leg switch. Figure 2 presents the resultant circuit configuration for a single PV string with a rated output of 25 kW at 1000 W/m2 insolation with an ambient temperature of 250C. The voltage level is 1000 VDC at 25 A. The issues related to the design of the DC wiring system in the PV field include the method of installation (plug connectors, screw-type lugs, conduit vs direct burial), the actual circuit configuration (location of string connections, location of ground), and the maintainability of the resultant system (wiring in cable trench, location of disconnect switches, fault detections).

otherwise this type of system will cost the same as or less than the baseline design. The costing of this type of system is beyond the scope of this project; however, if precast cable trench sections were used, the extra cost of this system could be minimized and would probably be offset by reduced maintenance costs over the life of the plant.

maintenance that it provides. The cost of such a system would be more than that of the baseline design because of the cost of the concrete cable trench;

Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the physical layout of a subfield and the location of the major system comIn the design of any wiring system, ponents. constraints are imposed upon the designer by the current carrying capacity of a single feeder or bus. There is a large cost penalty for increasing the current above certain levels at various points in the system, irrespective of voltage level. Thus, one can design a DC wiring system independent of voltage level on the basis of current handling capacity. That is, wire size and overcurrent protection can be coordinated. The voltage level will then define the power level of a particular subfield and will affect the cost of the DC wiring system for that subfield.
For the design presented in Figure 6, there are three levels of wiring from a current capacity standpoint. The first level is the cable connecting the PV strings to the PV panel board located in each subfield. For this design effort the wire size selected was #10 copper/XHHW, which has a current handling capacity of 40 A(8). This selection was made to accommodate a maximum current of 25 A in each string while maintaining a maximum load factor of 80% as required by the National Electric Code. The I2R losses for the portion of the subfield supplied by an individual panel board is 5.5 kW for the design configuration presented. This loss is independent of voltage level.
The second level is the feeder from the panel board to the power conditioner. Figure 7 shows the increase in current carrying capability as a function of wire size for copper/XHHW conductors in a The raceway(8). increase in current carrying capacity falls off rapidly for conductor sizes above 1000 MCM; therefore the feeder size selected is 700 MCM which has a current capacity of 500 A. At a load factor of 80% of rated, which is the maximum continuous load allowed by the National Electrical Code for feeders, the total I2R loss attributable to these feeders is 11.0 kW for an entire subfield containing 10 such feeders.

MH

VOLTAGE O.C. + 1580 VDC NOMINAL OPERATING VOLTAGE +lOOOVDC

BLOCKING DIODE 2000V, 30A

STRING INTERFACE
DEVICE AUX CONTACT

CURRENT SHUNT INSOLATION DETECTOR

--

GFI SENSOR
i

---i2P,A
~
,

200k, 1W

VARISTOR SURGE SUPPRESSOR

TO DC POWER COLLECTION BUS

TROUBLE INDICATION TO MULTIPLEX UNIT

Figure 2.

String Wiring Diagram

In selecting the DC wiring system presented in this design effort a number of alternatives were considered. The baseline design was an underground wiring system where the individual power and instrument cables from the strings to the power collection panel and control multiplex units would be of the direct-burial type. The large feeders and communication links from these panelboard/multiplex units would be installed in PVC conduit.
A second alternative considered was to use an exposed bus duct system for power collection and exposed conduit and cable for instrumentation and communications. This type of installation, however, would impede vehicle access and would be more than twice as costly as the baseline design. (Engineering cost tradeoffs were done with the aid of Reference 7.) A third alternative, which is attractive from a maintenance standpoint, would be the use of cable the cable trench for in a trays power, instrumentation, and communications cabling. This type of system is widely used in utility substation design because of the ease of modification and

The third level of the DC wiring system is the connection of the feeders to the power conditioners. Commercially available metal-enclosed switchgear units are readily available with current handling capacities of up to 5000 A. Thus the maximum current that would be economically practicable would be 4000 A (80% of 5000 A). The resulting subfield would comprise 10 groups of PV strings with each group containing 32 strings. Thus the total I2R loss for an entire subfield at standard conditions would be 66.0 kW, independent of voltage level. This power loss will be an ever declining percentage of peak power output as the voltage increases. Figure 8 shows the percent I2R loss as a function of DC voltage level.
Power Conditioning Equipment
to meet

'When the entire power processing system necessary the power rating, power quality and power

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1671

Figure 3.

Subfield Physical Layout

DB

PRECAST CONCRETE CABLE TRENCH

4-COMMUNICATION ,Fl-: 'r

TRAY

INSTRUMENT TRAY

in. PVC, 1-2 #1D CABLE AND 1-2 # 16 CABLE A

2 in*.

i.' 12q

L-

.i

DETAIL A - SWITCHBOARD AND REMOTE MULTIPLEX UNIT

24 in

48 in. 6 n1 SECTION A - CABLE TRENCH DETAIL

Sin

V~
AND REMOTE MULTIPLEX UNIT

CABLE TRENCH PARTSLIST

Q CHANNEL, SINGLE UNISTRUT, GALVANIZED CABLE TRAY, LADDER TYPE, 24 in. WIDE CABLE TRAY OIVIDER STRIP RJ BRACKET, UNISTRUT, GALVANIZEO @ 500 MCM RARE COPPER GROUNDING CABLE

SWITCHBOARD W132A P-30A CAB.

CONCRETE BASE

(D)

S4in.
LA

in34

4 3 in. PVC CNDAIT

alSin.
Cable Trench and Switchboard Details

SECTION 8 - SUBARRAY SSWITCH80ARD TETAIL

Figure 5.

Figure 4.

Power Conditioning Layout for Subfield

factor requirements is considered, the indicates that self commutated inverters approximately equal in cost to line inverters (LCI)(4). Also, a number of advantages are described which favor SCI

literature (SCI) are commutated

operating
over

LCI

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1672

32 TOTAL P.V. STRING 1

POWER COLLECTION PANELS IN SUB-ARRAY FIELD

c----2P, 5O0A

I~~ ~~TYPI

'1-1._~

+1500
125A

3P,

5000A BUS 1500 VDC

4000A - 1000 VAC, 3I 4 MVA 1 kV134.5 kV TRANSFORMER POWER CONDITIONING UNIT CONFIGURATION

TO POWER COLLECTION PANELS IN SUB-ARRAY FIELD 2

DC BUS FOR SUB-ARRAY
Single Line Diagram
-

Figure 6.

DC Wiring System

2000 [-

1500

commutated inverters were chosen for this central station photovoltaic plant design. Previous analyses of Power Conditioning Unit (PCU) size and voltage rating vs cost only indicate that, for multi-megawatt installations, a cost effective power rating is in the 10 to 25 MW range and that voltage level does not affect the cost of PCUs in this power rating range over a voltage range of 1000 to 5000 VDC(4).

c 1000

500
250

500

1000

CURRENT CAPACITY, amperes

Figure 7.

Conductor Size vs Current Capacity for 900C Rated Wire

systems, such as power factor control, low harmonic injection, simpler protection requirements, and stand alone capability.
Because absence of
of
any

Another aspect of power conditioner selection is the determination of the value of maximum power fixed tracking versus voltage operation. The literature indicates that the annual loss in energy for a power conditioning system with seasonally adjusted fixed voltage operation versus an ideal maximum power tracking power conditioning system would be 1.0% for a southwestern desert site.[91 Field experience with the existing DOE fund-ed intermediate level experiments have shown that many inverter outages are related to the maximum power tracking function. In addition to this a real maximum power tracking system is somewhat less efficient than an ideal one. Thus a power conditioning system with seasonally adjusted fixed voltage operation is selected. However, the adopted- size and voltage ratings of the power conditioning units are 4 MW and 1000 VDC The selection of the 4 MW rating is respectively. based on the limitations imposed upon the current capacity of the DC wiring system and safety

these

operating advantages and the apparent cost disadvantage, self

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1673
which dictate that the power considerations Thus, for an conditioners have one leg grounded. 8 MW subfield, the power conditioning equipment would be connected in the circuit as shown in Figure 6.

AC Power Wiring

under normal operations the low sides would be isolated. The bus tie breakers would allow parallel operation in the event of extremely high output or, in the event of transformer outage, the supply of power from the entire plant through the remaining transformer (up to its rating).

Tradeoff analyses for an AC wiring system with to voltage level, power conditioner unit (PCU) rating, and installation type (overhead vs underground) have been done in previous central station design studies and have shown that the following parameters would be appropriate for the AC wiring system for a plant of this power rating(4).
respect

Figures 9 and 10 show the resulting single line diagram and physical layout of the AC power wiring system.
Grounding
The array support structures, the DC wiring system, and AC wiring system require adequate Standard utility grounding for personnel safety. practice is assumed, and the grounding practice recommended is IEEE Standard 80.
It is assumed that the ground wire network will be buried over the AC power wiring and under the DC cable trench. In addition, a ground conductor will be required to be bonded to the cable tray structure and the PV support structure along their entire lengths.

Voltage: PCU rating: Installation type:

35 kV 5 - 10 MW Underground

4.0r
Cln

C:)

CD CX. CM
LLJ
13=

-3:

LU

3.0

C)

2.0

The grounding system will have to be engineered for each specific site because of differences in soil type, terrain, and soil resistivity.

t
LLJ

M.cn
LU

Equipment Power Rating

1.0

C/) Cl)

cl.
l

500

1000 DC VOLTAGE

1500

2000

Figure 8.

I2 Losses

vs

DC Voltage Level

The resulting design developed was for a 34.5 kV system and includes provisions for the substation configuration, cable type, and method of equipment installation. Standard utility practice is used in this design.

information, which is summarized in Figure 11, allowed the optimization of equipment power handling capabilities. Figure 11 shows that 79% of the total available energy is produced at power levels equal to or less than the baseline plant rating of 192 MW4, and 97% of the available energy is produced at power levels equal to or less than 110% of the specified power rating.
It is an accepted utility practice when specifying equipment that a time related overload rating be required. This practice has been applied to certain photovoltaic power plant equipment in this study. A 4-hr overload rating of 110% was selected for transformers and power conditioners and will allow a capture of 97% of the available energy without increasing the basic fuli load rating of this Another consideration supporting this equipment. selection of equipment rating is that PV plant peak output occurs during the spring and fall periods when low ambient temperatures prevail. In some cases, some of the equipment is not stressed to full rated capability. For example, the 34.5 kV/230 kV trans-

A secondary output of the simulation computations that were carried out in the string spacing study was This the energy output at various power levels.

There are a number of different bus configuration The options in use on utility systems. considered were ring bus, breaker and a half, and double breaker configurations.
types

The ring bus presents the lowest cost system. However, it has serious drawbacks from reliability standpoints. Where and system flexibility are considerations and flexibility reliability important to the operation of the system, a ring bus is generally not used. The breaker and a half configuration provides greater reliability and flexibility at additional The double breaker configuration is the most cost. Because the economic reliable and flexible system. viability of a Central Station Photovoltaic Power Plant is related to the ability of the plant to perform when the resource is available (i.e., the sun a is shining) double breaker configuration is selected, in order to provide the maximum operating
flexibility.

formers have some extra capacity in that the full load output of the 12 subfields is only 96 MVA, while the ratings of the transformers are 100 MVA.

Plant Control System

A central control room for the power plant is a necessary facility from which the various plant control and maintenance functions are directed. The plant operations should be automated to the greatest extent practicable. Because of the large size of the plant (1312 acres) and relatively long distances between the control room and the controlled process, it seems reasonable that the plant control system would resemble existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems currently in use by the utility industry for control of distribution and subtransmission systems. Figure 12 provides a func-

To reduce the fault current available on the 34.5 KV system and to prevent an outage on any one element from causing a total plant outage, the interconnection to the bulk power system was selected to Each transbe through two 100 MVA transformers. former would serve one-half of the total plant, and

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1674

I 2 11~

Fs]
I
i 1

SE
-

E FIGURE 1

SUB-AR RAY

250 A 34.5 kV FUSIBLE DISCONNECT WI250A FUSE

'

I'A

6
J
I

3 - 1000 MCM H-GAS 34.5 kV UNDERGROUND CABLE ITYPI 100 MVA ; 34.51230 kV TRANSFORMER 3.45 kV SWITCHGEAR SPECIFICATIONS POS 1, 6, & 11 20O0A DISCONNECTS CIRC BRKR TRIP SETTING 1700A POS 2, 3, 5, THRU 9 1200A DISCONNECTS CIRC BRKR TRIP SETTING 450A POS 4 1200A DISCONNECT CIRC BRKR TRIP SETTING 60OA
-

08 >

10

11
>

-^

34.5 kV 3 - 1000 MCM H-GAS 34.5 kV

UNDERGROUND CABLE ITYPI

100 MVA 34.51 230 kV TRANSFORMER

230 KV SWITCHGEAR SPECIFICATIONS POS 1 & 4- 1000A DISCONNECTS CIRC BRKR TRIP SETTING 270A POS 2 & 3- 2000A DISCONNECTS CIRC BRKR TRIP SETTING PER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSMISSION LINE

230 kV

1.

230 kV LINE 2

230 kV LIN IE

NOTE: ALL 34.5 kV CIRCUIT BREAKERS TO HAVE 20,000 AMPS INTERRUPTING CAPACITY

Figure 9.

Single Line Diagram

AC Wiring System

tional block diagram for the components of such a control system as applied to the design developed in this study.
The control system will be divided into several These are the trouble alarms hierarchical levels. for the individual strings, the individual subfield control system, and the central control computer.

String Instrumentation
not a An individual provide string will significant percentage of the total power output of a photovoltaic station power plant central and, therefore, the operating condition of individual strings will not be a critical operating concern. However, from a maintenance standpoint, indication of string malfunction or failure is mandatory. Therefore, a system which provides indication of string malfunction or failure is warranted. This system should be capable of indicating at a central location the tripping of overcurrent protection, ground fault occurrence, or serious degradation of string output. Since the overcurrent protection and ground fault protection will be combined into a circuit breaker, the circuit breaker can an auxiliary contact on The provide status indication for these devices. degradation of string output can be sensed with a current shunt which could be coupled with an The output signal of this insolation detector. device should also be a contact closure. Figure 2

substation, DC switchgear, and the PV array. At this level in the control system, it is necessary to collect at a central point the necessary alarm and status data and to provide readouts and control capability at the central control room for real power output, voltage, and reactive power output of the In addition, status indication power conditioners. and control of the AC and DC switchgear are necesParameters such as the status and temperatures sary. of the power conditioner, transformers, and auxiliary systems should be monitored and the information made available to the plant operators.
These functions could be accomplished with a microprocessor-based remote station located in the power conditioner area of each subfield. With this approach, some of the control system processing can be done at the remote location, thereby reducing the demand upon the central control computers. At a minimum, the remote station should be capable of maintaining the system in an operating condition in the- event of central system failure or of independent startup and shutdown of the subfield under local operator command. Also, during a failure of the central system, the local system should be capable of subfield shutdown in the event of a problem in the subfield or in the AC power connection between the subfield and the station AC switchyard.

shows these trouble indication contacts schematic for the string interface device.

Central Control Computer This part of the plant control system would have direct control of the 34.5 kV switchyard, the 230 kV switchyard, and each of the remotes located in each The system man-machine interfaces should subfield. consist of an appropriate control board and electronic input/output devices. The system should include dual CPU computer systems to ensure reliability and backup.

in

the

Subfield Control System

In the central station plant design there are 24 identical subfields. At each of these subfields there are two power conditioners, a 34.5 kV

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1675

LEGEND

(D
M.H.
Figure 10.

INDICATES NUMBER OF 3-1000 MCM H-GAS 34.5 KV CIRCUITS UNDERGROUND DUCT BANK l0 ft x l0 ft x l0 ft UNDERGROUND VAULT

200 MW Photovoltaic Power Plant Site Layout CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY

This effort has shown some of the interrelationships between various subsystems that comprise a central station power plant. The interrelationships can and in many cases have affected the role and this and subsystems, the various function of information is critical for the overall success of plant power photovoltaic station the central development effort.

zZ110_v z 100_
c 90 _

80
CD

70
60 -

;c 2
CD
cc
Cl

50 -

=cl

40 30
20

The overall characteristics of the central station photovoltaic power plant which resulted from this engineering design are summarized in Table 3.
While specific cost data for this engineering design is not available it can be utilized to generate ballpark cost estimates for the various subsystems.

Figure 11.

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 PERCENT OF TOTAL ENERGY GENERATED Percent of Total Energy Available vs Plant Output in Percent of Standard Conditions Plant Rating

10

I Ii

The plant presented provides a baseline design which includes a minimum of balance of plant subsystems deemed necessary for safe and efficient

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1676

COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL TO SYSTEM DISPATCH COMPUTER

PLANT CONTROL ROOM
|
POWER SUBSTATION INTERACE

COMMUNICATION
MODEMO

I
1

<|POWER
7

kV BUlK ||34.5SUBSTATION

ALARM ANNUNCIATOR 1 | | L IANALOG DISPLAYS.

CNRLCONPTERO
_ 1 INEFC

CPU'sl {~~~~~~~~~~ ~~DUAL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PRINE

COMMUN ICATION
MODEMl

POWER CONDR NoNEN1

CRT

[7WER CONDITIONER No. 25

COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

LOCAL 110
N DITIOIIER

INTERFACE

UNIT No. 1

2 TO 23 t

NTFIt I IRFNT RFmnlTFI UNIT No.i

I
-I

|~ ~ ~~UI No. 12TO9

l DEVICE l No. 1l
2 2#16

PO r~~~~~2 ~~~~MULTIPLEX
l

TEL PAIR

NT

UNITNo.10|

MULTIPLEXI

32 POINT'

2TO031l
2

l INTERFACEllI

STRINGl

lNo.32

DEVICEl

Figure 12.
Table 3.

200 MWS Pheitovoltaic Power Plant Functional Control Diagram operation using generally accepted utility pactices. A rational for each design selection has been

L~_

Summary of Plant Parameters

Plant
Power Rating:

presented.
Nominal
Peak

REFERENCES

Standard Conditions

200 MW AC 192 MW DC* 241 MW AC

1. Bechtel National,

Annual Energy Production AC Power Collection System Voltage Area

506,296 MWh 34.5 kV 1312 acres

Operation, Life-Cycle

954848-78/1, August 1978.

Inc. Research and Engineering Terrestrial Central Station Array DOE/JPLAnalysis Support Study,j

Subfield
DC Power Rating DC Voltage Level

8MW*
+

Number of Strings
Area

Size

2800 x 820 ft 54 acres

320

1000 VDC

2. Bechtel National Inc., Research and Engineering and Definition Requirements Operation, Preliminary Design of a Photovoltaic Central National Sandia Facility, Test Station Laboratories, Report #SAND79-7012, April 1979.

3. General

String:

DC Power Rating DC Voltage Level

Size

1000 VDC 8 x 400 ft

0

25 kW*

Division, Space Company, Electric Requirement Definition and Preliminary Design of a Photovoltaic Central Power Station Experimental Sandia National Laboratories, Test Facility, Report #SAND79-7022, December 1979.

Insolation at 1000 temperature of 250C.

W/m2

with

ambient

air

4. Stolte, W. J., Bechtel Group Inc. Research and Engineering Operation, Photovoltaic Subsystem Optimization and Design Tradeoff Study, Sandia National Laboratories, Report #SAND81-7013, March 1982.

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Authorized licensed use limited to: AALTO UNIVERSITY. Downloaded on February 15,2010 at 09:44:40 EST from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.