Managing excess photovoltaic production is very important for the health of overall electrical network.
When the locally produced power exceeds the loads consumption, there are several possible options for managing excess photovoltaic power production:
- Inject it to the grid
- Limit the photovoltaic production
- Store the photovoltaic excess for later use
- Shift some loads to the period of photovoltaic production
Inject Excess PV Production To The Grid
Grid injection is one of the simplest ways to manage photovoltaic excess.
When photovoltaic production is higher than the loads consumption, the excess power will naturally go to the grid.
Although simple, this solution is usually not the most profitable.
The injected photovoltaic electricity is bought at a lower price than the wholesale price, or not paid at all.
Limit The Photovoltaic Production
Limiting the photovoltaic produced power is used in particular when the injection to the grid is not allowed.
The power limitation is done by controlling the photovoltaic inverters, so that they reduce the DC voltage reference of the solar panels, to reduce the photovoltaic power output.
Storage of Excess PV Power For Later Use
Storage systems provide a very effective solution: they can store the excess of the solar production and make this energy available for later use.
Today, however, this option is costly and often has a long payback period.
To improve the return on investment, storage can be associated with other use cases, such as providing a backup power supply, improving demand response, and avoiding peak power usage to reduce the power of the subscribed contract.
Shifting of Some Loads To The Period of PV Production
Load management is a very attractive option which consists of simply making some loads operate during the period of photovoltaic production, as much as possible.
These loads must be flexible and manageable through a control system. Examples of such loads include electrical vehicle charging, water heating, and to a certain extent, HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning).
The load management strategy has obvious advantages: it is cost effective, easy to implement, and guarantees a quick payback.
Unlike storage, it does not require the installation of additional equipment and thus presents a better profitability.
When a load shifting strategy is not enough to absorb the total excess photovoltaic production, it can be used in association with a storage system. In that case, load shifting offers the additional benefit of reducing the size and optimizing the use of the storage system.
