Double moving average methodology for smoothing of solar power fluctuations with battery energy storage

Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the need to meet the excessive energy demand with environmentally friendly renewable energy resources. Large scale penetration of variable Photovoltaic (PV) power leads to multiple instabilities such as voltage fluctuations, frequency deviations, and reduced overall output power quality. In order to counteract these erratic behaviors, storage systems such as a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is included into the electrical grid. However, these storage systems are expensive and so power smoothing filters are coupled with BESS for optimal operation and cost reduction. Traditional smoothing filters, namely Low Pass Filters (LPFs) and Moving Average (MA) filters have issues related with power lagging, high charging/discharging power and battery State of Charge mismanagement. This research introduces the Double Moving Average filter for smoothing of PV power fluctuations and assesses its efficiency with respect to the LPF and the MA filter. Smoothed power output facilitates the greater infiltration of solar PV power in the grid.