Ramp rate control of photovoltaic power plant output using energy storage devices

This paper is focused on development of a real-time power ramp-rate limiter feature for PV plants subjected to intense daily power variations. It presents a method to smooth PV output power at PCC below the requested ramp rate, i.e. 10%P_nom/1min by using energy storage devices which are controlled by a real-time application. Using forecasted sun irradiance/power data enhances the design and helps in selecting smaller storage device. Time Series Power Flow and dynamic transient simulation methods are used to verify the effectiveness of this algorithm on the ramp rates for different PV irradiance profiles.