ASSESSMENT OF STRING INVERTERS FOR LARGE-SCALE SOLAR POWER PLANT IN MALAYSIA’S

Abstract

Tremendous promotion and growth of Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic (LSSPV) Power Plant in Malaysia increase the reliability and potentiality of the system in having efficient monitoring, operation and maintenance for the plants. Through the Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology, the government aims to increase the renewable energy in its generation mix in 2025 by 20% and intends to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) to 45% by 2030. This was followed by the Energy Commission (EC) announcement of 500 MW LSSPV power plants in Malaysia, slated for commercial operation in 2021. Thus, proper monitoring and respectable power generation are crucial to optimising LSSPV for grid interconnection. This paper presents the assessment of string inverters configuration and analysis models to recommend an optimised configuration for maximum harvested power generation in the LSSPV power plant in Malaysia. An analysis of string invert configuration is carried out based on real data measurements of electric generation of a 50 MW LSSPV power plant at the Kuala Ketil site. The test verified that the configuration string inverters offer a reliable outcome for the grid code test (GCT). Besides, the string inverters provide a potential approach to maximising power generation at different climate conditions, thus, reducing the workforce for the operation and maintenance activities. The string system endeavours a feasibility implementation on the suitability of effective configurations for LSSPV in Malaysia without often shutting down the plant generations due to any defect or damage of PV modules.