News and Publications

30 September 2020

Update on TALENT / September 2020

It has been a year since the TALENT kick-off meeting in October 2019, and we have some technological progress to report. For the last six months, efforts have been mostly dedicated to design and simulation tasks. TALENT partners CARTIF, University of Oviedo, cyberGRID, CEA and Siemens Gamesa have shared some of their main achievements.

Within the multi-homes batteries novel power electronics architectures, the focus was to a great extent on developing the specific design of a multiport modular electronic converter (MMPEC) that will be valid for the integration of energy storage and other renewable sources. This study includes the design of intelligent power cells and their use as internal building blocks of the corresponding converters. A cost reduction will be achieved by a novel in-building electrical distribution system based on the reuse of intelligent power modules valid for different building sizes; a boost in the overall system efficiency by the use of wide-bandgap devices and a reduction in the electrical tariff under the proposed in-building energy management system. Additionally, a novel in-building distribution system, considering the use of modular power converter for the AC-loads (dwells as well as building and common services) is also being designed. The proposed distribution system is built upon a novel idea taken from the standards nowadays applied to the telecommunications sectors but used in the energy-conversion application.

On the side of the management software for decentralised and hybridised energy systems, first steps are being taken towards the development of a digital twin for stationary batteries, which will be used for predictive planning. This digital twin will be integrated in the Virtual Power Plant that, together with the Decentralised Hybridised Energy System (DHEMS), will control all units (decentralised loads and renewable energy sources). Some progress has been gained so far on the design of the DEHMS at cloud and local level.

When it comes to the high voltage stationary storage systems, a multi-layer high voltage busbar, designed in a way to reduce the parasitic inductors of the switching loops as much as possible, is being studied. Electromagnetic studies carried out on the capacitor block configurations, the stacking of the busbar, and the choice of insulating materials, lead to a total parasitic inductance of the order of 30nH. Finite element calculations make it possible to verify the temperature of the busbar layers - we can currently check below a maximum conductor temperature of around 70 ° C, which is acceptable for application. The following of this work will consist of successive improvements of the simulation models to select the final stacking of the busbar and the final choice of the capacitors and their arrangement. Parallel work is being carried out on the prototyping of the high voltage battery and its breaking devices, as well as the study of its insulation.

Regarding the novel power electronics architectures related to the district and larger systems batteries, the main focus has been on finishing the design of power blocks in both converters and ordering the purchase of long-lead items. The new power blocks design comprises an air-forced cooling system for the DC/DC and liquid cooling system for the inverter, an impressive mechanical design, busbars, and a great amount of time in the electric design. In addition, a new driver has been designed for 2kV IGBT’s of MEE and tests, while the controller of the inverter and DC/DC as well as the main controller for both power converters are now working as one unit.

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