Methods and apparatus to protect solar power plants
First Claim
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1. A method of providing online surveillance to protect a solar power plant with solar panels and solar power inverters, comprising:
- a) enabling the solar power inverters to keep powerline communication with a powerline communication device;
b) monitoring the status of the solar power inverters in real-time; and
c) triggering surveillance alarms and actions when a predetermined number of the solar power inverters are detected to lose the communication at a plurality of preselected times;
wherein each of the solar power inverters comprises;
i) at least two DC input channels, each of which comprises a DC-DC boost converter, measurement circuits, supporting circuits, and cables and connectors to connect to a solar panel;
ii) an AC power output port arranged to supply AC power to the electric grid through an external AC powerline;
iii) a DC power combiner connected to said DC-DC boost converters for combining the DC output from all DC-DC boost converters;
iv) a DC power supply connected to the DC power combiner, an AC/DC power supply connected to the external AC powerline, and a power supply selector, arranged to work together and supply DC power to internal electronic circuits of the inverter either by the DC power supply with input power from one or more solar panels or by the AC/DC power supply with input power from the grid through the external AC powerline; and
v) a digital microcontroller connected to the DC-DC boost converters and the power supply selector, said digital microcontroller arranged to measure input voltage and current to calculate DC input power for each input channel, constructed to run the inverter in a normal mode or a night mode based on calculated DC input power; and
keep powerline communication of the inverter to the outside world as long as the inverter is connected to the external AC powerline.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus is disclosed that can monitor the solar power inverters in real-time both day and night, and generate surveillance alarms and actions when a solar power inverter is removed or disconnected from the AC powerline for unknown reasons. It offers a low cost and reliable surveillance means to help guard a residential-scale, commercial-scale, or utility-scale solar power system in real-time at all times.
37 Citations
4 Claims
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1. A method of providing online surveillance to protect a solar power plant with solar panels and solar power inverters, comprising:
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a) enabling the solar power inverters to keep powerline communication with a powerline communication device; b) monitoring the status of the solar power inverters in real-time; and c) triggering surveillance alarms and actions when a predetermined number of the solar power inverters are detected to lose the communication at a plurality of preselected times; wherein each of the solar power inverters comprises; i) at least two DC input channels, each of which comprises a DC-DC boost converter, measurement circuits, supporting circuits, and cables and connectors to connect to a solar panel; ii) an AC power output port arranged to supply AC power to the electric grid through an external AC powerline; iii) a DC power combiner connected to said DC-DC boost converters for combining the DC output from all DC-DC boost converters; iv) a DC power supply connected to the DC power combiner, an AC/DC power supply connected to the external AC powerline, and a power supply selector, arranged to work together and supply DC power to internal electronic circuits of the inverter either by the DC power supply with input power from one or more solar panels or by the AC/DC power supply with input power from the grid through the external AC powerline; and v) a digital microcontroller connected to the DC-DC boost converters and the power supply selector, said digital microcontroller arranged to measure input voltage and current to calculate DC input power for each input channel, constructed to run the inverter in a normal mode or a night mode based on calculated DC input power; and
keep powerline communication of the inverter to the outside world as long as the inverter is connected to the external AC powerline.
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2. An online surveillance system for protecting a solar power plant, comprising:
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a) one or more solar power inverters connected to one or more solar panels through DC input channels, said one or more solar power inverters also being connected to an AC powerline for delivering AC power to the electric grid; b) an AC power service panel configured to combine one or more AC power branch circuits and deliver AC power to the electric grid through a main AC powerline, each said branch circuit being connected with a plurality of solar power inverters and solar panels; c) one or more powerline communication devices, connected to an AC branch circuit or the main AC powerline isolated by a circuit breaker, each said powerline communication device being configured to communicate with a plurality of preselected solar power inverters through the AC powerline; and d) one of more computers, network routers, alarms, cameras, Internet, Internet servers, Internet terminal devices, and police dispatch service stations, configured to activate surveillance alarms and actions when a predetermined number of solar power inverters are detected to lose the communication at a plurality of preselected times; wherein each of the one or more solar power inverters comprises; i) at least two DC input channels, each of which comprises a DC-DC boost converter, measurement circuits, supporting circuits, and cables and connectors to connect to a solar panel; ii) an AC power output port arranged to supply AC power to the electric grid through an external AC powerline; iii) a DC power combiner connected to said DC-DC boost converters for combining the DC output from all DC-DC boost converters; iv) a DC power supply connected to the DC power combiner, an AC/DC power supply connected to the external AC powerline, and a power supply selector, arranged to work together and supply DC power to internal electronic circuits of the inverter either by the DC power supply with input power from one or more solar panels or by the AC/DC power supply with input power from the grid through the external AC powerline; and v) a digital microcontroller connected to the DC-DC boost converters and the power supply selector, said digital microcontroller arranged to measure input voltage and current to calculate DC input power for each input channel, constructed to run the inverter in a normal mode or a night mode based on calculated DC input power; and
keep powerline communication of the inverter to the outside world as long as the inverter is connected to the external AC powerline. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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Specification