Project PV Reserve

Renewable energies not only make a major contribution to electricity generation, but are also playing an increasingly important role in ensuring grid stability. While conventional power plants have historically been the primary source of balancing power, photovoltaic systems offer immense, untapped potential to provide both positive and negative balancing energy.

This is where the research project "PV-Reserve" comes in. The project aims to reliably unlock the balancing energy potential of commercial PV systems using highly innovative, short-term forecasting, thereby enabling new trading strategies for plant operators and direct marketers.

Key Project Objectives at a Glance

• Precise Short-Term Forecasts: Developing enhanced PV power forecasts based on novel, observer-supported solar radiation forecasting.
• Extreme Event Detection: Early detection and forecasting of so-called ramp events (sudden, sharp changes in power output), including information on probabilities of occurrence.
• Real-Time Identification: Developing real-time methods to identify and validate balancing energy activations (grid calls).
• Market Integration & Pre-qualification: Investigating and developing implementation concepts required for the formal pre-qualification of PV systems in the balancing power market.

Technology & Methodology: SkyCams and Satellite Data

The technological foundation of the project combines state-of-the-art detection methods with established data sources. By deploying SkyCam systems (cloud cameras) directly on-site at large-scale PV parks, alongside data from the latest generation of satellites, local solar radiation conditions can be captured with extreme precision.

Demonstration systems are being installed as part of the project. energy & meteo systems integrates these high-resolution data streams into a novel, up-to-the-minute PV power forecast. These enhanced prognoses optimize not only the provision of balancing energy but also the standard direct marketing of PV power.

From Concept to Practice

The methods and innovative data sources developed during this project will culminate in a demonstration phase to prove their practical viability.

The three-year project is being conducted in cooperation with the research institutes DLR-VE and DLR-SF, CSP Services, and BayWa r.e. AG, and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE).