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Module 15 · Real Project

Real Project: 100 MWac Utility Solar Farm

A 100 MWac single-axis-tracker solar PV plant interconnecting at 230kV — the only project in this program whose generation can't be dispatched on command and whose fault current is limited by power electronics, not electromagnetics, which changes the protection philosophy from the ground up.

The project brief: a 100 MWac / 130 MWdc utility-scale solar farm on single-axis trackers, collecting power through 40 central-inverter pad stations and eight 34.5kV collector circuits into a collector substation, stepping up to 230kV for grid interconnection under an agreement that requires 0.95 leading/lagging reactive power capability — day and night — and defined voltage ride-through performance.

This module walks the full project: the DC:AC oversizing decision behind the 1.3 inverter loading ratio, central vs. string and grid-following vs. grid-forming inverter selection (tying back to this program's renewable integration module), a worked collector-circuit ampacity calculation, a worked reactive power/apparent-power sizing calculation tied to the interconnection agreement, and exactly why current-limited inverter fault contribution forces a differential- and communication-based protection philosophy instead of a conventional overcurrent scheme. The complete numbers, bill of materials, and quiz are part of the unlocked module below.

Free related reading in this studio
→ Renewable Interconnection Screening Tool→ Power Factor Calculator→ Transformer Sizing Calculator→ Concept Explainer: The Per-Unit System

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