A team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a utility-scale design and control system for a hybrid solar power plant that can operate with both direct and alternating current — providing more flexibility, security, and reliability than similar plants operating today. Hybrid plants include not only solar arrays, but also batteries, to store energy captured from the sun.
The multi-port autonomous reconfigurable solar power plant, or MARS, project integrates a complete suite of power electronics, electrical architecture and cybersecurity software in one package, simplifying deployment. ORNL and industry partners are working toward an initial field demonstration of MARS components that