News Release

Release of Multi-PCS for Solar Generation Facilities with Storage Batteries to Achieve Low-Cost Solar Power Systems

September 14,2018
Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

　Tokyo, August 2, 2018 - Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (TSE:6504) (“FE”), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, led by President Michihiro Kitazawa, is pleased to announce the release of a Multi-PCS (power conditioning system) for solar generation facilities with storage batteries.

1．Background

1）Aim

　With efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy is expected to expand even further. In Japan, the feed-in tariff scheme enacted in 2012 has boosted the introduction of solar power generation systems, but the availability ratio of accredited facilities (capacity bases) was 33.5% as of the end of September 2017,*1 so a steady rise in demand for PCS and other auxiliary devices is anticipated. Internationally, solar power generation capacity is predicted to grow further, reaching approximately 940 GW*2 in 2025, almost triple that of 2016.
　As renewable energy expands, it will be important to regulate fluctuations in power generation and to balance power supply and demand. One solution is the use of storage batteries. Solar generation facilities with storage batteries can leverage these batteries to moderate the balance between supply and demand, which fluctuates depending on solar radiation, whether it is day or night, and other factors. When more power is produced than consumed, the power is stored and then released when power generation is not meeting the demand. The high-precision control of this storage/release operation will improve the stability of power generation capacity and grid systems.
　The Multi-PCS for solar generation facilities with storage batteries launched today achieves cost reduction and high efficiency by reducing the number of PCS units required for the battery-equipped facilities. It can help to reduce the customer's investment burden and contribute to the electric power business.

2．Product Features

1） Integrating two types of PCS to reduce facility cost and minimize power loss

　In conventional solar generation systems with storage batteries, both the solar panels and the storage batteries require PCS for electric power conversion.
　This model has integrated component inverter circuits and controllers to combine the functions of the two PCS into one. This has reduced the number of the PCS and coupled transformers needed as well as the manhours necessary to install them, realizing an approximately 20% reduction of cost compared to conventional systems.*3
　It also stores the solar power in the batteries without the need for AC conversion, lowering the power loss by four to five percent compared to previous models.

2）High-precision output control supports stabilizing the power grid and generation capacity

　Fuji Electric is a forerunner in storage battery control for wind generation facilities, with advanced expertise gained by undertaking experiments and practical applications ahead of the industry. In this way, FE has developed a control model that achieves a power generation capacity variance (the ratio of power generation capacity fluctuation within a unit time period) within one percent per minute, the highest level in the world. The new product can be equipped with this control model*4, which provides support for the stabilization of power grid systems and generation capacity.

3．Product Specifications

4．Release Schedule

August 2, 2018

5．Product Inquiries

　Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
　Sales Department V, Sales Division, Power & New Energy Business Group
　Telephone: +81-3-5435-7048

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