Small wind turbines ranging up approx. 5 kW of power are used today as a source for decentralized power supply.

They are used to power objects which have no central power supply available, for example, mobile radio relay transmitters or vacation homes. These power systems generate DC voltage. The energy can be stored in batteries via charge regulators. Inverters are used to generate alternating voltages for the operation of loads on a power grid

Modern photovoltaic systems in grid-coupled operation. This training system permits a realistic simulation of the sun's path. Thus, it is also possible to perform the experiments in the laboratory without real sunlight using the emulators. The design of photovoltaic systems connected to the grid is realistically conveyed. In order to stabilize the power grid, techniques such as de-rating the inverter power and a variable local network power transformer are employed. Transfer of knowledge, know-how and PC supported evaluation of measurement data are made possible by the multimedia Module with the help of the SCADA PowerLab software

An electrochemical energy storage device with a photovoltaic system or another energy generation system such as a combined heat and power plant is intended as a means of shifting or transferring power generation to periods of consumption or peak consumption periods to power generation periods. For this purpose, existent and available (solar) energy must be generated and subsequently stored so that it can be used in times of energy demand.

The battery storage for smart grid can be combined with PV system or work independently once it is connected to the utility grid

This is a PV system with single phase and the learners can analyze different experiments such as connection in parallel, series and mixture. Additionally, to that the effect of shadow can be analyzed.

Here we will plan a stand-alone (off-grid) photovoltaic system for a holiday home. First of all, we must determine the total energy consumption to be able to correctly dimension the solar generator. In this process, it is necessary to account for factors such as location as well as roof alignment and inclination. The required battery capacity needs to be ascertained too.

The general prospects for the global wind-energy market are bright: Due to their rapidly growing energy needs, emerging economies such as China and India also need to rely on renewables if they want to catch up with industrialized nations in times of rising raw material shortages.

At the end of February 2005, for instance, China passed a law promoting renewable energies. According to the Danish management consultancy BTM, annual growth in the wind power sector may rise to 115,000 MW by 2025. And a Wind force 12 study by Greenpeace and GWEC forecasts a market volume of 160,000 MW of newly installed capacity by 2020.This Module on DFIG wind turbines describes the design and function of modern wind power plants. The control of variable-speed wind turbines is studied using a doubly-fed asynchronous generator as an example. Wind can be emulated realistically with a servo-machine test stand and "Wind Sim" software.

• Learning objectives
• Understanding the design and operation of wind power plants
• Learning about the physical principles whereby wind power is transformed into shaft power
• Learning about various wind power plant concepts Studying the design and operation of a doubly-fed asynchronous (induction) generator
• Investigating generator operation at various wind intensities, as well as control of output voltage and frequency
• Determining optimal operating points under various wind conditions

A high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission link essentially consists of a converter station which transforms the conventional electricity grid's alternating voltage into direct voltage, a transmission line, and a further converter station at the other end for transforming the direct voltage back into alternating voltage. Energy can be transmitted in both directions.

HVDC converter station 1 has the task of voltage regulation Training contents

• Fundamentals of high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission
• DC-link voltage control • Reactive power supply without active power flow (STATCOM)
• Manual and automatic synchronization with the grid
• Active-power control of HVDC with power-flow change
• Individual reactive-power control for both converter stations
• Loss analysis of HVDC over different distances
• HVDC supply for a grid containing passive consumers

A power grid with power sources, power lowering loads (drains) and potential storage units which can alternate between 'island operation'/'island parallel to grid' and 'grid parallel operation' is called a microgrid.

This modern form of an electricity grid system permits operation on conventional utility grids as well as self-sufficient operation with local power supply. Alternating between both operating modes is for the most part possible without interruption. Training content

• Fundamentals of island grids (microgrids)
• Automatic voltage control of a generator in an island grid
• Automatic reactive power (VAr) control of several generators in parallel operation
• Automatic active power control of several generators in parallel operation
• Coordination of energy requirements and generation in a stand-alone, island grid
• Use of modern IT technology like, for example, networked sensors and actuators, PLC control and SCADA operating interface
• 'Smart Metering' of a balanced node in order to make a subnetwork or microgrid autonomous

By the year 2050, the share of renewable energy in Germany is to increase to a presently unimaginable 80%.

As part of this expansion, the power grid will frequently be over-supplied during times of strong generation by wind and solar power plants. Today's pumped-storage power stations can absorb excess capacity in the gigawatt range for several hours and return this capacity to the power grid when needed. Pumped-storage power stations are connected to international high and extra-high voltage networks and provide energy storage capability which will be an important component in the development of smart grids. Training content

• Historical development of pumped-storage power stations.
• Present and future significance of pumped-storage power stations.
• Manual and automatic power regulation with synchronous machines.
• Automatic reactive power compensation with synchronous machines.
• Use of modern information technology such as networked sensors/actuators, PLC control and SCADA user interface.
• "Smart metering" of a balancing node for quasi-autonomous operation of a subnetwork.
• Improved coordination between energy demand and generation.

A modern frequency converter is designed to transform any standard three-phase motor into a speed-variable drive.

The robustness and popularity of the standard three-phase motor has played a big role in making electronic drive technology using frequency converters such a huge success. Today you can find frequency converters in a host of applications, for example, textile machinery, packaging machines, lifting equipment and even washing machines. These constitute only a few examples for the widespread use and successful deployment of frequency converters. Through this module you can design a model in MATLAB and validated via SCADA Viewer software package and programming.

This Module imparts a general practical knowledge of smart grids. New technologies will permit power grids to be better prepared for future requirements.

More flexible network management is to make rising proportions of renewable energy supply compatible with conventional power plant infrastructure. The numbers and diversity of such decentralized power plants requires a new type of management in the operation of power grids - an intelligent network or "smart grid".

Training content

• Improved coordination between power demand and generation
• Use of modern information technology such as Internet, sensors, controllers and wireless transmission equipment
• Smart metering - digital electricity meters measure power consumption at power grid's end points
• Shifts in household consumption away from peak load periods
• Running of flexible applications such as air conditioning directly by power supply companies outside peak load periods.

All distributed energy resources such as PV, Hydropower, wind with DFIG, battery storages can be connected, monitored, switch on and off remotely and their outputs can be managed via Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Viewer software package (SCADA Viewer).