Grid Connection Limit

PV plant designers often over-size the PV system to maximize the annual yield. However, there are usually limits to the power that can be sent to the grid at any one time. This limit is handled in SolarFarmer with the grid connection limit.

The Grid Connection Limit Effect quantifies the amount of energy lost due to the grid point of interconnect (POI) limit imposed by a power plant controller (PPC). This is the optional Grid Connection Limit value (in kW) specified in the UI. The loss associated with this limitation is shown in the Effects Diagram.

For each time step the power injection is limited by the grid connection limit (if specified):

$$P_{limited}\left( t \right) = min(P_{calculated}(t),P_{limit})$$

The loss effect per timestep is:

$$E_{gridlimit}\left( t \right) = \left( \frac{P_{limited}(t)}{P_{timestep}\left( t \right)} - 1 \right) \bullet 100%\ $$