Technical solutions and business prospects for the participation of small PV systems in the balancing energy market

Due to the currently high prices for balancing power, the provision of system services from PV plants is once again increasingly coming into focus. PV plant operators could generate additional revenue by participating in the balancing power market, and transmission system operators would benefit from an increased supply of balancing power. The use of PV plants to provide balancing power on sunny off-peak days could even become indispensable in the future. However, a lack of costeffective technical solutions for control as well as regulatory hurdles have so far prevented PV systems from participating in the control power market on a larger scale. A joint research project promises to remedy this situation, in which a technical prototype for the cost-effective control of small PV plants has already been successfully implemented.