Hello,
Where do you connect photovoltaic production
for self-consumption
in a new or existing building?
That's the topic of this video.
Buildings today are integrating
more renewable photovoltaic energy sources.
The energy they produce is often used for self-consumption.
Where do you connect that photovoltaic production
to a building's electrical installation?
I will show you 3 architectures that can do this.
First architecture
In the first architecture, the photovoltaic production,
shown here with a group of 3 photovoltaic inverters,
is connected to the main low-voltage switchboard
of the electrical installation.
This architecture is suitable for new buildings
where the installation is designed to take photovoltaic production
into account at an early stage.
It's simple and easy to maintain
because the photovoltaic production
can be disconnected at a single point.
This architecture can be illustrated
with the Kergrid project at Morbihan.
This new office building
integrates several local energy sources:
photovoltaic production of 126kWp,
two wind turbines, and storage.
All local sources are brought together
and connected to the main low-voltage switchboard.
Second architecture
In this architecture, the photovoltaic production
here presented with a single PV inverter
is connected to a secondary low-voltage switchboard,
usually the closest one.
This architecture is suitable for existing buildings
where the photovoltaic production is much lower
than the building consumption.
It's also used for multi-floor existing buildings,
where the photovoltaic production,
usually on the roof,
is far from the main low-voltage switchboard,
which is usually at ground level.
This type of installation is used
at the Schneider Electric headquarters in Paris.
In these existing buildings,
photovoltaic production of 270kWp was added on the roof.
In each building,
the photovoltaic production was brought together
and connected to the closest secondary low-voltage switchboard.
Third architecture
In this third architecture,
the photovoltaic production is connected
upstream of the main low-voltage switchboard.
This type of installation is suitable for existing buildings,
when the added photovoltaic production
is larger than the building's consumption.
A connection upstream of the main low-voltage switchboard
means the existing installation does not have to be modified.
This type of installation can be seen at the IMT campus in Grenoble.
On one of the buildings, important photovoltaic production,
cogeneration, and storage were added.
In this example, all sources were brought together and connected
upstream of the main low-voltage switchboard.
To summarize,
we have seen 3 ways
to connect photovoltaic production for self-consumption.
For new sites,
where the photovoltaic production is part of the initial design,
direct connection to the main low-voltage switchboard.
For existing buildings, especially multi-floor buildings
or buildings with small-scale production
connection to a secondary low-voltage switchboard,
usually the closest one.
For existing buildings with photovoltaic production
exceeding the building's consumption,
connection upstream to the main low voltage switchboard is preferred
Integrating photovoltaic production for self-consumption
raises many technical questions,
from design to operation.
More to come in our next videos.
Thank you for watching,
and see you soon.