Demonstration study of hybrid solar power generation/storage micro-grid system under Qatar climate conditions

The ultra-strong solar irradiance conditions in Qatar area have natural benefits for large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) farm deployment. However, climate issues such as soiling, extremely high temperatures and sand storms are real challenges for stable performances of solar PV farms. The integration of an energy storage system to the solar farm can be used to smooth the intermittency of the PV power generation. A 500 kW/500 kWh hybrid solar power generation/storage micro-grid system has been installed in the Solar Test Facility (STF) near Doha, Qatar. In this work, we describe the main elements that constitute the hybrid micro-grid, and the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system that has been developed to monitor the different elements of the micro-grid. We give a brief summary of the solar PV performance, analyze the impact of power fluctuations on the quality of the grid and present the data generated from the micro-grid system. We demonstrated a significant improvement of the power quality of the grid with the introduction of an energy storage system to the micro-grid.