Method and photovoltaic inverter for determining the system capacity of a photovoltaic system to ground

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11656256-B2
Application number	US-202117640913-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2021
Priority date	Mar 11, 2020
Publication date	May 23, 2023
Grant date	May 23, 2023

Abstract

A method and a photovoltaic inverter determines the system capacitance of a photovoltaic system relative to ground. The voltage required for the measurement can be provided by the intermediate circuit in the form of the intermediate circuit voltage, and the measuring device is designed to actuate an input short-circuit switch for short-circuiting the DC input with the AC disconnector open, as a result of which the intermediate circuit voltage can be applied to the DC input in the reverse direction, and the measuring device is configured to determine the system capacitance from the temporal waveform of the measured voltage after the switch of the voltage divider is closed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for determining the system capacitance (C PV ) of a photovoltaic system ( 1 ) relative to ground (PE), having a photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ) with at least one DC input ( 3 ) for connecting to at least one photovoltaic module ( 4 ) or a string ( 4 ′) of a plurality of photovoltaic modules ( 4 ), a DC/DC converter ( 5 ) with an input diode (D Boost ), an intermediate circuit ( 6 ), a DC/AC converter ( 7 ), an AC disconnector ( 8 ), an AC output ( 9 ) for connection to a supply network ( 10 ) and/or consumer ( 11 ), a control device ( 12 ), and with a measuring device ( 13 ) with a voltage divider ( 14 ) containing at least two resistors (R 1 , R 2 ), a switch (S iso ) for connecting a resistor (R 1 ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) and a voltage measuring unit ( 15 ) for recording measured voltages (U Mi ) on at least one resistor (R 2 ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) with the switch (S iso ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) open and closed, and for determining the system capacitance (C PV ) from the temporal waveform of the recorded measured voltages (U Mi ), the method comprising the steps of:
providing the voltage required for the measurement by the intermediate circuit ( 6 ) in the form of the intermediate circuit voltage (U ZK ),
recording measured voltages (U Mi ) with the AC disconnector ( 8 ) open while short-circuiting the DC input ( 3 ) with an input short-circuit switch (S Boost ), which applies the intermediate circuit voltage (U ZK ) to the DC input ( 3 ) in the reverse direction, and
determining the system capacitance (C PV ) from the temporal waveform of the measured voltage (U M2 ) after the switch (S iso ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) is closed.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of only closing the AC disconnector ( 8 ) if a defined maximum system capacitance (C PV_max ) is not exceeded.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the stops of measuring the voltage (U DC ) at the DC input ( 3 ) of the photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ), and if the voltage (U DC ) is below a preset limit value (U DC_limit ), short-circuiting the DC input ( 3 ) with the input short-circuit switch (S Boost ).

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining the insulation resistance (R iso ) of the photovoltaic system ( 1 ) relative to ground (PE) from the measured values of the two measured voltages (U M1 , U M2 ) recorded with the switch (S iso ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) open and closed.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of connecting an energy storage device ( 18 ) by closing a battery disconnector ( 17 ), recording the measured voltages (U M1 , U M2 ) and using the measured voltages (U M1 , U M2 ) to determine the system capacitance (C PV ) and, if applicable, the insulation resistance (R iso ).

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising the step of determining each of the falling below of the defined maximum system capacitance (C PV_max ), the absolute system capacitance (C PV ), the exceeding of the defined minimum insulation resistance (R iso_min ), and/or the absolute insulation resistance (R iso ) with and without the energy storage device ( 18 ) connected.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of averaging the measured voltages (U M1 , U M2 ) over a defined period of time (Δt m ).

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of displaying and/or storing the falling below of the defined maximum system capacitance (C PV_max ), the absolute system capacitance (C PV ), the exceeding of the defined minimum insulation resistance (R iso_min ), and/or the absolute insulation resistance (R iso ).

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining the falling below of the defined maximum system capacitance (C PV_max ), the absolute system capacitance (C PV ), the exceeding of the defined minimum insulation resistance (R iso_min ), and/or the absolute insulation resistance (R iso ) within a measuring time (t m ) of a maximum of 10 s.

10. A photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ) for determining the system capacitance (CPV) of a photovoltaic system ( 1 ) relative to ground (PE), the photovoltaic inverter comprising:
at least one DC input ( 3 ) for connecting to at least one photovoltaic module ( 4 ) or a string ( 4 ′) of a plurality of photovoltaic modules ( 4 ),
a DC/DC converter ( 5 ) with an input diode (D Boost ),
an intermediate circuit ( 6 ),
a DC/AC converter ( 7 ),
an AC disconnector ( 8 ),
an AC output ( 9 ) for connection to a supply network ( 10 ) and/or consumer ( 11 ),
a control device ( 12 ), and
a measuring device ( 13 ) with a voltage divider ( 14 ), the measuring device comprising at least two resistors (R 1 , R 2 ), a switch (S iso ) for connecting a resistor (R 1 ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ), and a voltage measuring unit ( 15 ) for recording measured voltages (U Mi ) on at least one resistor (R 2 ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) with the switch (S iso ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) open and closed, and for determining the system capacitance (C PV ) from the temporal waveform of the recorded measured voltages (U Mi ),
wherein the voltage required for the measurement is provided by the intermediate circuit ( 6 ) in the form of the intermediate circuit voltage (U ZK ), and the measuring device ( 13 ) actuates an input short-circuit switch (S Boost ) for short-circuiting the DC input ( 3 ) with the AC disconnector ( 8 ) open, as a result of which the intermediate circuit voltage (U ZK ) is applied to the DC input ( 3 ) in the reverse direction, and the measuring device ( 13 ) determines the system capacitance (C PV ) from the temporal waveform of the measured voltage (U M2 ) after the switch (S iso ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) is closed.

11. The photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ) according to claim 10 , wherein the measuring device ( 13 ) is connected to the AC disconnector ( 8 ) or the control device ( 12 ) so that the AC disconnector ( 8 ) is closed only if a defined maximum system capacitance (C PV_max ) is not exceeded.

12. The photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ) according to claim 10 , further comprising at least one battery terminal ( 16 ) with at least one battery disconnector ( 17 ) connected to the intermediate circuit ( 6 ) for connection to at least one energy storage device ( 18 ), wherein the battery disconnector ( 17 ) is connected to the measuring device ( 13 ) or the control device ( 12 ) so that the battery disconnector ( 17 ) is actuated during the recording of the measured voltages (U M1 , U M2 ).

13. The photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ) according to claim 10 , wherein the input short-circuit switch (S Boost ) comprises by an existing boost switch (S Boost ) of the DC/DC converter ( 5 ) implemented as a booster.

14. The photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ) according to claim 10 , wherein the measuring device ( 13 ) determines the insulation resistance (R iso ) from the measured voltages (U M1 , U M2 ) with the switch (S iso ) of the voltage divider ( 14 ) open and closed.

15. The photovoltaic inverter ( 2 ) according to claim 10 , further comprising a display ( 19 ) and/or a memory ( 20 ) for respectively displaying and storing the falling below of the defined maximum system capacitance (C PV_max ), the absolute system capacitance (C PV ), the exceeding of the defined minimum insulation resistance (R iso_min ), and/or the absolute insulation resistance (R iso ).

Assignees

• Fronius Int Gmbh

Inventors

• Fischereder Franz
• Luger Andreas
• Pernegger Christoph
• Pirchenfellner Juergen

Classifications

• H02J2101/24

  Photovoltaics · CPC title

• H02J7/663

  using battery or load disconnect circuits (H02J9/002 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01R15/04

  Voltage dividers · CPC title

• G01R27/2605 Primary

  Measuring capacitance (capacitive sensors G01D5/24) · CPC title

• H02J2207/20

  Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter · CPC title