Granted Patent B2

US 8,076,802 · App. 12/370,036 · Granted Dec 13, 2011

Abstract

Claims (29)

1. A method for generating on-demand Volt-Ampere reactive (VAr) compensation, comprising:

determining an amount of VAr compensation required;

requesting at least one distributed generator (DG) to generate reactive power commensurate with the amount; and

driving at least one DC/AC inverter of the at least one DG to generate the reactive power, wherein the at least one DC/AC inverter is an optimum number of DC/AC inverters for minimizing a real power loss generated when producing the reactive power.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying the at least one DG, wherein the at least one DG is capable of generating reactive power.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining an amount of VAr compensation required comprises:

obtaining power consumption data; and

utilizing the power consumption data to obtain the amount.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing feedback on reactive power generated.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driving comprises:

providing a peak reactive current request to one or more of the at least one DC/AC inverters;

generating a control signal based on the peak reactive current request; and

applying the control signal to the one or more of the at least one DC/AC inverters.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the generating a control signal comprises modulating the peak reactive current request with a cosine waveform having a frequency of a commercial power grid waveform and a phase lagging the commercial power grid waveform by 90°.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactive power is a negative reactive power.

8. A DC/AC inverter for generating on-demand power, comprising:

a DC/AC inverter controller for driving the DC/AC inverter to generate reactive power commensurate with a peak reactive current request; and

a first multiplier for modulating the peak reactive current request with a cosine waveform having a frequency of a commercial power grid waveform and a phase lagging the commercial power grid waveform by 90° to generate a control signal, wherein the DC/AC inverter controller generates the control signal based on the peak reactive current request for driving the DC/AC inverter.

9. The DC/AC inverter of claim 8 , wherein the DC/AC inverter controller generates the control signal based on a peak real current request in addition to the peak reactive current request.

10. The DC/AC inverter of claim 9 , wherein the DC/AC inverter generates real power commensurate with the peak real current request simultaneously with the reactive power.

11. The DC/AC inverter of claim 9 , further comprising a second multiplier for modulating the peak real current request with a sine waveform having a frequency and a phase of the commercial power grid waveform to generate the control signal.

12. The DC/AC inverter of claim 8 , wherein the reactive power is a negative reactive power.

13. A system for generating on-demand Volt-Ampere reactive (VAr) compensation, comprising:

at least one distributed generator (DG) for generating AC power, wherein the at least one DG is coupled to a commercial power grid and comprises at least one DC/AC inverter; and

a gateway, communicably coupled to the at least one DG, for driving one or more of the at least one DC/AC inverters to generate reactive power commensurate with an amount of VAr compensation required, wherein the one or more of the at least one DC/AC inverters is an optimum number of DC/AC inverters for minimizing a real power loss generated when producing the reactive power.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the gateway determines the amount based on power consumption data.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the reactive power is a negative reactive power.

16. The system of claim 13 , further comprising a VAr management entity NOC, communicably coupled to the gateway and the at least one DG, for determining the amount.

Assignments (6)