Reuniwatt’s latest research on the value of production forecasts for solar-diesel hybrid systems, presented at EU PSEC 2020 last week, was acknowledged with a Poster Award.
The innovative nature of forecasts for microgrid solar systems
The EU PVSEC Poster Awards aim to further encourage and reward high quality contributions that combine innovation and scientific excellence. The EU PVSEC conference, held annually since 1977, is one of the major events in the field of photovoltaics, in terms of research, technology and applications.
“Innovation is at the cornerstone of our strategy. Reuniwatt was founded with the mission of enabling a massive and secure insertion of renewable energies into the electric grids, and this is what we are proposing today for microgrids,” says Nicolas Schmutz, CEO of Reuniwatt. “We would like to thank the jury and the audience for this great reward for our R&D efforts, as well as our partners and customers who trust us with their operational projects. Experience in the field is crucial, especially for projects in remote locations.”
Making the most of solar resource in PV-diesel hybrid projects
Reuniwatt’s forecast systems for PV-diesel hybrid systems combine high-precision sky imagers – such as the Sky InSight™, equipped with an infrared camera – with state-of-the-art algorithmic methods in image processing, meteorology and energy modelling. This innovation is the result of a decade of research and development work, with the ambition of facilitating the energy transition. Microgrids – local and easily controllable grids – are widely used in areas isolated from national power grids. Traditionally powered by thermal generators, they will represent a market of 50 billion dollars annually by 2025. The use of solar energy in addition to diesel can reduce the fuel consumption of these sites, and is already proving profitable. By improving the resilience of the systems to cloudy conditions, the forecast is enabling a higher level of cost-efficiency to be achieved.
A webinar recorded in September by Reuniwatt in partnership with Suntrace explains the challenges and opportunities for financial optimization of these off-grid solar projects. It is available on demand here: