Method for use of static inverters in variable energy generation environments
A system and method to collect energy from generation systems such as, for example, wind farms or solar farms with widely distributed energy-generation equipment. In some cases, static inverters are used to feed the energy directly into the power grid. In some other cases, back-to-back static inverters are used create a high-voltage DC transmission line to collect power from multiple generation sites into one feed-in site.
1. A method of generating energy, comprising:
modifying an energy output of variable energy collectors by a first controller controlling outputs of the variable energy collectors;
routing the modified energy output of the variable energy collectors to a static inverter;
converting the electrical energy output to a first alternating current by the static inverter;
converting, by a transformer and a balancing transformer, the alternating current to a second alternating current with a predetermined voltage;
receiving measurements of a voltage phase on a grid; and
controlling timing of switches of the static inverter in accordance with the measurements of the voltage phase.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
outputting by the static inverter a current at the predetermined voltage.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
sending data via a network about energy being output.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
communicating data to a supervisory site.
5. An energy generation system, comprising:
one or more strings of variable energy collectors;
one or more string converters as managed by a first controller to combine voltage outputs of the one or more strings of variable energy collectors into a energy output stream;
the energy output stream routed to a static inverter via a bus, the static inverter comprising:
switches for converting the electrical energy output to an alternating current; and
a transformer arrangement comprising a transformer and a balancing transformer to convert the alternating current to an alternating current with a given voltage;
the first controller or a second controller receiving measurements of voltage phase on a grid; and
the first controller or the second controller to control timing of the switches in accordance with the measurements of the voltage phase.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein said transformer arrangement outputs the alternating current with the given voltage.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first controller and/or the second controller can send data over a network about energy being output.
8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the first controller and/or the second controller can send data to a supervisory site and/or receive data from the supervisory site.
9. The system of claim 5 , wherein the transformer arrangement is configured to generate three phase alternating current.
10. The system of claim 5 , wherein the transformer arrangement comprises one or more filters to transform a waveform of the alternating current with the given voltage.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the transformer is a delta-wye-delta transformer.
12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the first controller or the second controller communicates with a network such that the first controller and/or the second controller can send and receive data over the network regarding operation of the system.