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Hybrid AC/DC Laboratory

A man and woman in a lab stand over a metal cabinet filled with power electronics connected by cords
Topic:

The Hybrid AC/DC lab provides a test bed for low voltage power electronics for integration with the electric grid and emulated distributed energy resources (DERs) including energy storage, photovoltaic, and more. The control room for this lab, coupled with cutting edge industry hardware and ORNL-developed agent-based communications, gives ultimate flexibility to the test bed. This allows measurements from multiple test stations to be seen and remotely recorded on one computer interface. Users can interface directly with the power electronics independently at each test station or as a system, and power supplies can be remotely reconfigured to behave as specific DER’s using ORNL’s emulator agents. This lab provides the perfect testing location for distributed controls or for advanced controls on localized power electronics for DERs.

In a lab full of electronics, a man is pointing to a screen covered with data and figures while another man sits at a laptop nearby

Uniqueness and capabilities:

  • ORNL agent-based computers allow wide-scale integration of new converters into a distributed system.
  • ORNL emulator agents expand the capability of bidirectional power sources to behave as DERs.
  • Multiple combinations of DERs and power electronics can be emulated for grid-edge distribution applications in a microgrid configuration and AC/DC hybrid systems.
  • Power electronics equipment and configurations can be tested using six linked test stations, each with 300kW of testing capability, using remote-controlled interfaces.
  • Up to two independent PE and emulated DERs can be tested simultaneously per test station for up to 12 DER subsystems.

 

Large piece of machinery related to wiring large voltages in a lab

Technology resources:

  • Control and Optimization using Distributed Agent-based System (CODAS) resource integration software test bed platform, which integrates ORNL-developed hardware and software with controls, communications, and protection.
  • Two 480V, 1200A 3-phase AC busways and one 1500V, 2400A DC busway provides interconnection paths between the 6 test stations, with remote-controlled interfaces for each bus at each test station. This includes remotely reconfigurable trip settings, interconnect measurements, and isolation.
  • Each test station can operate with two source emulators (independently or coupled together) and two load emulators (independently or coupled together) at the same time.
  • Grid emulators allow sags, swells, transients, and many more features to test the converters and a distributed system for robustness.
  • Remotely controllable bidirectional DC test systems capable of 100kW each and operating ranges of 600V and 1200V.