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Renewable Energy TestingWind, solar, and geothermal energy testing

The Dewesoft power analyzer allows a comprehensive analysis of renewable generation units according to FGW-TR3, VDE-AR4105, and BDEW standards. Highly flexible hardware and innovative software save a lot of time during the testing process.

Renewable Energy Testing highlights

Dewesoft quality and 7-year warranty

Enjoy our industry-leading 7-year warranty. Our data acquisition systems are made in Europe, utilizing only the highest build quality standards. We offer free and customer-focused technical support. Your investment into the Dewesoft solutions is protected for years ahead.

Testing System Overview

Renewable power plants like wind, photovoltaic (PV), and CHP (Combined Heat and Power Plant) are more and more popular and the amount of already installed units is huge. For the operation of the public grid these renewable power generation units have to fulfill a couple of requirements to contribute to a stable operation of the grid.

The standards, which define the conditions for operating the plant at the grid, vary from country to country: e.g. FGW-TR3, VDE-AR4105, BDEW, etc. These regulations define the control of the active and reactive power, the limits of Power Quality emissions, and the behavior at grid disturbances.

One System. All the Measurements.

Testing according to these regulations requires a couple of different test procedures and different test equipment (Scope, Power Analyzer, Data Logger,  Analysis software, and mathematical operations). The Dewesoft solution allows wide-range analysis according to these standards with a single instrument.

Special factors like flicker step factor, voltage change factor, symmetrical components, period values for P, Q, S, U, I (for half-wave or full-wave), etc. are calculated in the software. The recorder allows the creation of all necessary graphs with the different parameters (e.g. P-f chart).

The data logging capability allows storing the raw data for analyzing the switching processes or the behavior at faults (Waveform analysis). The Math library can calculate any statistical parameter (e.g. max. active power for 0.2s, the 60s, and 600s) and also offers the possibility to automatically check if the power generation unit meets the requirements. 

Active & Reactive Power

Active Power calculation

  • Max. active power for 0.2s, the 60s, and 600s

  • Input and output power (DC, AC)

Operation at different set point settings for active and reactive power

  • Calculation of deviation, min, max, and averaged values for each setpoint

  • Automatic check if within range

  • Transient Behaviour

  • Different charts (P, Q, S, U, I, f, cos phi)

Power reduction at increasing frequency

  • Check if power reduction within tolerance

  • Calculation of gradients (%/Hz) and power difference (ΔP)

  • Different charts (P, U, I, f)

Evaluation of reactive power provision

  • Q_ind, Q_cap, Power Factor

  • The voltage of positive sequence-system

Power Quality

Flicker

  • Flicker coefficient (c) at different phase angles (30,50,70,85) according to IEC 61400-21

  • DC input power, reactive output power

Switching Operations

  • Period values of P, Q, S, Urms, Irms (with overlap)

  • Flicker step factor (kf) and voltage change factor (ku) at different phase angles (30,50,70,85) according to IEC 61400-21

Harmonics, Interharmonics and THD

  • Calculation up to 50th order for U, I, P, Q, Z and phi

  • Full and half-sidebands

  • Harmonic smoothing filter

Higher Frequencies

  • Higher Frequencies from 2 to 9 kHz in 200Hz bands (possible up to 150 kHz)

Behavior at Faults

Dis- and Reconnection tests

  • Test of protection equipment – Check Settings, and dis- and reconnection time for over- and under-voltage, over- and under-frequency

Behavior at grid disturbances (LVRT - Low Voltage Ride Through)

  • Raw data analysis (waveform) at the start and end of the fault

  • Analysis of fault length and specification of short-circuit current (peak value, 1⁄2 period value) at different times (t=0, t=150ms, etc.)

  • Calculation of normalized active- reactive-
    and apparent power

  • Half-wave RMS values for voltages & currents

  • Positive-, negative, and zero-sequence voltages

  • Active-, reactive- and apparent power of positive-, negative- and zero-sequence-system

Typical DAQ Configuration

We recommend R3 DAQ system as a typical configuration for renewable energy measurements configured with:

  • 6x high-voltage analog inputs

  • 6x current analog inputs

  • 1x low-voltage analog input for setpoint value

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