A Hybrid PV-Battery Unit Optimised for LV Grids Using GaN Transistors

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£468,140

Sept. 30, 2016

Jan. 31, 2018

Under their “Gone Green” deployment scenario, National Grid forecast that energy generated from

photovoltaics (PV) in the UK is expected to rise from 2 to 15 GW over the next 20 years. This is being driven by

the UK’s legal obligations around installing renewable energy sources & cutting greenhouse gases, the rising

cost of energy & concerns around the security of supply – the so-called energy “trilemma”. Power electronic

converters are a key enabling technology for PV and other low-carbon technologies (LCTs). However the use of

LCTs has resulted in problems for the electrical distribution nerwork such as supply voltage distortion and over-

voltages, which threaten to limit or delay their uptake. This project aims to mitigate this threat by exploiting

the benefits of a new Gallium Nitride power transistor module, which will be developed for use in a hybrid PV-

battery unit for residential applications, but will have much broader applications e.g. electric vehicle charging &

micro-CHP. These units will be much smaller, lighter & have lower cost than existing Silicon based units and

their deployment will lead to an increase in the maximum allowable installed capacity on the network.