It is hard to tell the difference between photovoltaic inverters, energy storage inverters, energy storage converters, and PCS. Let us explain it to you in one article, and also provide classifications!

木犯001号

It is hard to tell the difference between photovoltaic inverters, energy storage inverters, energy storage converters, and PCS. Let us explain it to you in one article, and also provide classifications! [Copy link]

First of all, you should know:

What is photovoltaic, what is energy storage, what is converter, what is inverter, what is PCS and other keywords

01Energy storage and photovoltaics are two industries

The relationship between the two is that the photovoltaic system converts solar energy into electrical energy, and the energy storage system stores the electrical energy generated by the photovoltaic equipment. When this electrical energy is needed, it is inverted into AC power through the energy storage inverter for use by the load or the grid.

02Key Terms

According to Baidu's explanation: In life, there are occasions where AC power needs to be converted into DC power, which is a rectifier circuit. In other occasions, DC power needs to be converted into AC power. This corresponds to the reverse process of rectification and is defined as an inverter circuit. Under certain conditions, a set of thyristor circuits can be used as both a rectifier circuit and an inverter circuit. This device is called a converter, which includes rectifiers, inverters, AC converters, and DC converters.

Let’s understand again:

Converter is a power electronic component that is used to transfer power. It is classified into the following types according to the voltage types before and after the conversion:
DC/DC converter, both are DC and the voltage is different, the function of DC transformer
AC/DC converter, AC to DC, the function of rectifier
DC/AC converter, DC to AC, the function of inverter
AC/AC converter, the frequency is different before and after, the function of frequency converter

In addition to the main circuit (rectifier circuit, inverter circuit, AC conversion circuit and DC conversion circuit), the converter also needs a trigger circuit (or drive circuit) to control the on and off of the power switching elements and a control circuit to realize the regulation and control of electric energy.

The English name of the energy storage converter is Power Conversion System, referred to as PCS. It controls the charging and discharging process of the battery and performs AC/DC conversion. It is composed of a DC/AC bidirectional converter, a control unit, etc.

03PCS General Classification

It can be divided into two different industries: photovoltaic and energy storage, because the corresponding functions are essentially different:

In the photovoltaic industry, there are: centralized, string, and micro inverters.

Inverter - DC to AC: The main function is to invert the DC power converted by solar energy into AC power through photovoltaic equipment, which can be used by the load or connected to the power grid or stored.

Centralized: Applicable to large ground power stations, distributed industrial and commercial photovoltaics, generally with an output power greater than 250KW

String type: Applicable to large ground power stations, distributed industrial and commercial photovoltaics (generally output power less than 250KW, three-phase), household photovoltaics (generally output power less than or equal to 10KW, single-phase),

Micro-inverter: Applicable to distributed photovoltaic (generally output power less than or equal to 5KW, three-phase), household photovoltaic (generally output power less than or equal to 2KW, single-phase)

Energy storage systems include: large storage, industrial and commercial storage, household storage, and energy storage converters (traditional energy storage converters, hybrid), all-in-one devices

Inverter - AC/DC conversion: The main function is to control the charging and discharging of the battery. The DC power generated by photovoltaic power generation is converted into AC power through the inverter. At this time, part of the electrical energy needs to be stored in the battery, so the AC power needs to be converted into DC power for charging through the energy storage inverter. When this part of the electrical energy is needed, the DC power in the battery needs to be converted into AC power (generally 220V, 50HZ) through the energy storage inverter for use by the load or connected to the power grid. This is the discharge process.

Large storage: ground power station, independent energy storage power station, generally with an output power greater than 250KW

Industrial and commercial storage: general output power is less than or equal to 250KW

Household storage: generally the output power is less than or equal to 10KW

Traditional energy storage converter: mainly uses AC coupling solution, and its application scenario is mainly large storage

Hybrid: Mainly adopts DC coupling solution, and the application scenario is mainly household storage

All-in-one machine: energy storage inverter + battery pack, the products are mainly Tesla, Ephase

damiaa

Yesterday I watched Anhui TV promoting photovoltaic automotive glass. I found it good. But is there anyone working on photovoltaic solar windows?

led2015

It is said that flexible and semi-transparent polymer solar cells can be made on window glass, which can transmit light and generate electricity. Or they can be made on car windows, using sunlight to generate electricity, cooling the car in summer and heating it in winter, or even made into wearable power devices, so that people can travel with "generators" and "air conditioners" at any time.

木犯001号

led2015 Published on 2023-7-19 20:14 It is said that flexible and semi-transparent polymer solar cells can be made on window glass, which can transmit light and generate electricity. Or they can be made on car windows and use sunlight to generate electricity...

I have seen it before. If it can be extended to window glass for home use, it would be amazing.

yyq006

I have seen before that smart roads, where the entire road surface is made of solar cells, which not only generate electricity, but can also charge electric vehicles on the road, charging while driving, with unlimited battery life. I don't know when this will be realized.

okhxyyo

yyq006 posted on 2023-8-10 11:26 I have seen smart roads before. The entire road surface is made of solar cells. Not only can it generate electricity, but it can also charge electric vehicles on the road. It can charge while driving, ...

This sounds like it's extremely expensive.