IWT Tetra

The market of small-scale renewable decentralized energy production was until recently dominated by the photovoltaic panels (PV). Due to the reduction of subsidies and the additional distribution cost the sector is struggling. Nevertheless, the inverter technology, the current commonly used technology in the distribution network, is required to provide a qualitative and continuous voltage.

Through research, D3O aims to reconcile the electricity demand and supply by means of inverter/battery combinations, which will result in a decongestion of the current distribution network. These systems can as well guarantee an uninterrupted power supply in case of a short failure of the distribution network.

The target audience of D3O is very wide, as a win-win situation is assumed for the end-user, the distribution system operator (DSO) and the installers of photovoltaic panels. The use of smart grids for the pricing of the distribution costs will be crucial. The suppliers of inverter/battery combinations are important stakeholders as well, to accelerate the launch of new products.

D3O wants to concretize the above solution by building a demonstrator. Lemcko Ghent University developed an ambitious test set-up which led to a fairly programmable, real life, residential distribution network. This test set-up is used to monitor both the residential customer and the distribution network and is thus perfect to integrate inverter/battery combinations in the network, to validate proposed solutions and to convince both the end consumer and the DSOs of such innovative converters.
The demonstrator is being extended to introduce these new converters to installers, through workshops and hands-on sessions. Due to well-designed tools, the installer is able to choose the optimal inverter/battery combination. Finally, the practical implementation is thought on the developed platform.

Partners

• Ghent University, Lemcko
• Ghent University, Power-Link
• KAHO Sint-Lieven

Further information

This project is supported by the IWT for the period January 2014 – December 2015.