81285886-Innovative new solar areas (INSolar) - Designing, prototyping, piloting and subsequent promotion of Indian made "Smart Hybrid Inverters - SHIN" for distributed solar PV systems

The Indian government is running an ambitious program for the installation of multi GW"s of grid connected distributed solar PV to tackle a twofold problem. Firstly, supplying clean energy to meet additional power requirement of the growing population and economy with minimal T&D losses. Secondly, reducing the dependency from a polluting source of power generation (e.g. coal) to fight climate change and meet its Paris commitments. With such ambitious target, India has been able to deploy distributed solar PV capacities of around 6 GWp till date and this trend of proliferation is expected to continue in the future. However, such a large-scale deployment of distributed solar PV systems and their integration into the electricity distribution grid raises grid stability challenges. Fortunately, smart hybrid inverters offer a solution to overcome these challenges through their advanced functions which enable the PV systems to not only provide back-up power but also contribute to grid stability which in turn can help the grid to reliably accommodate more distributed solar PV systems. Like traditional inverters, smart inverters convert the direct current (DC) output of solar modules into alternating current (AC) that can be used by consumers. Smart hybrid inverters go beyond this basic function to provide grid support functions, such as voltage regulation, frequency support, ride-through capabilities, remote access etc. Thus, GIZ under its project "Innovative New Solar Areas" (INSolar, PN 20.2221.8-001.00) aims to mitigate the above-mentioned challenges by piloting and promoting Indian made "Smart Hybrid PV Inverters - SHIN" for distributed solar PV systems. The objective of these activities is to a) standardize the technical features of the smart hybrid inverters through the development and introduction of standards, b) to showcase and validate the technical and commercial viability through a pilot project and c) to promote and proliferate the Indian made smart hybrid inverters which would enable the expansion of PV penetration limits and provide grid support services through distributed solar PV systems and battery energy storage system. GIZ is thus releasing this service contract to support the Designing, prototyping, piloting, and subsequent promotion of Indian made "Smart Hybrid Inverters - SHIN" for distributed solar PV systems.