Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE| Duration: | December 2014 - May 2019 |
| Contracting Authority/ Sponsors: | Federal Ministery for Economic Affairs Energy (BMWi) |
| Project Partners: | TÜV Rheinland Energie und Umwelt, TÜV Rheinland LGA Products GmbH, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie e.V., Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung |
| Website: | www.speichersicherheit.de |
| Project Focus: |       |
SPEISI – Safety and Reliability of PV Plants with Storage Systems with Special Consideration of Fire Risks and Extinguishing Strategies
Energy conversion within a residential PV power plant with electrical energy storage.
Stress test of diverse electrical connectors, switches and fuses of stationary battery systems
Arc fault simulator for reproduction of prerecorded noise signals in various DC systems
The demand of storage solutions for grid-connected PV plants has continuously grown over the last years. Such solutions represent an important component for energy supply which is increasingly based on fluctuating renewable energy sources: to increase the self-consumption of the generated solar power by owners in the short term and as active element to secure grid stability in the medium term. A requirement for a growing distribution of these storage solutions is the possibility of safe and economic operation over the entire operation period of the plant with consideration of component ageing. In light of the high energy densities, suitable quality and safety standards and fire protection concepts are extremely important.
The goal of the joint project is to analyze the safety of PV battery systems in all conceivable application scenarios and to develop measures for improvement. This applies to normal operation and behaviour in case of disturbances. It is relevant for players who are immediately affected, such as manufacturers, builders and operators, as well as those who are indirectly affected, such as firefighters and other emergency personnel. The results achieved by this project will support all affected groups in the safe handling of new storage technologies. Fraunhofer ISE supports these processes with the following intermediate objectives:
- Overview of battery types and their dangers
- Determination of weaknesses through inspection and analysis of damage cases
- Improvement suggestions for components, system and installation on the basis of solar and battery ageing tests
- Definition of current profiles for determining the ageing of batteries
- Development of assessment parameters for system comparison
- Identification of the components and plant parts of PV battery systems which are most subjected to the dangers of flashing arcs and development of counter-measures
- Development of a test process and test equipment for arc protection sensors which are also suitable for PV house battery systems
- Development of an extensive catalogue of requirements for components, system and installation in order to keep the risk of fire as low as possible
- Identification of gaps in standardization and corresponding closure of such gaps
- Distribution of the results through expert lectures and publications