Importance of energy storage system

ATESS Power highlights case in Brazil with inverter, battery and accessories installed in a container

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One of the great advantages that Brazil has in terms of energy potential comes from the several different climatic zones. A dry, sunny climate in the Midwest provides opportunities for the solar sector to be developed, and windy coasts, especially in the Southeast, allow for great wind potential.

With high electricity prices (mainly in the most developed states such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais), the competitiveness of photovoltaic and wind sources is increasing rapidly.

A problem for both is that they are not dispatchable, which puts high pressure on the local electrical infrastructure and brings the system down even further. Therefore, a energy storage system is required.

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Location – Rosana (SP);
Network condition – unstable;
Charging – 250 kW peak;
Photovoltaic installation – 160 kWp;
Wind installation – 100 kW;
Equipment installation – outdoor concrete base.

System solution

The system is made up of multiple energy sources. At peak irradiation, there is abundant electricity that cannot be consumed to maximize renewable energy consumption.

Therefore, a storage system is proposed, which consists of battery inverter, battery, container and also switching cabinet. The system, on the other hand, can provide backup power supply for local loads, switching loads and battery to off-grid mode.

System setup

Container: built-in air conditioning refrigeration, lighting and fire extinguishing system, IP54

Figura 1 - Contêiner integrado com os componentes. Fonte: ATESS. — Figure 1 – Container integrated with components. Source: ATESS.

In addition, inverters, batteries and their accessories have also been installed;
Inverter: ATESS PCS250 250 kW hybrid inverter, Bypass 250;
Monitoring data logger: ATESS Shinemaster, EMS control center;
Solar energy: 160 kWp;
Wind energy: 100 kW;
Battery: type – LFP / capacity – 722 kWh, 0.7 DOD, 500 kWh usable / configuration – 32*134.4V*168 Ah.

Characteristics

To save time and cost for civil works, ATESS proposed a solution with inverter, battery and accessories installed in a container, with IP54 protection level, and can be applied outdoors with air conditioning cooling. The solution can handle hot as well as rainy weather. All pre-assembled in the factory. Installing the container on site is extremely easy;
To handle all system functioning logic, an EMS control center is equipped. This center can communicate with all system units, including PCS, PV inverter, wind controller and also bypass cabinet to optimize the auto consumption rate and obtain the highest profit from the system;

System operating mode

When solar and wind energy are sufficient (solar + wind > electricity load) solar powers the load and the surplus charges the battery;
Figure 2 – Solar/Wind Generation with surplus stored in the battery. Source: ATESS.
In other words, the drums serve as a backup organ;
When solar and wind power are not available, the battery supplies power to the load separately until the battery discharges to the preset SOC value.

Figura 3 - Backup de baterias alimentando o sistema. Fonte: ATESS. — Figure 3 – Backup of batteries powering the system. Source: ATESS.

Result

The system was successfully commissioned and has been in operation since April 2019 using battery power. The self-consumption rate of renewable energy is estimated to increase to more than 90%, compared with the original field data of 65%.