Sonnen is a leading manufacturer of residential battery storage systems in Europe and the US. They use Opal-RT hardware-in-the-loop systems to test the dynamic operation of bi-directional inverters, optimize battery charging and discharging algorithms using real weather and demand data, validate and test new software releases, and develop algorithms to monitor battery health by measuring impedance. The Opal-RT systems allow accelerated testing without external hardware.

1. Residential Battery Storage Systems. Design support experience using
Hardware in the Loop Opal-RT
Andres Salazar
Sonnen Inc, R&D Atlanta GA

2. Company Overview

3. sonnen
European Market Leader for intelligent Li-Ion-Storage systems
» Manufacturer of intelligent Li-Ion-Storage
Systems for both residential and commercial
segment
» HQ in Germany, Daughter Company in USA
(HQ in Los Angeles, CA, R&D in Atlanta, GA)
» Pioneer with market experience since 2010
and market presence in Europe, USA and
Australia
» 10.000 systems sold
» > 100% annual growth
» 150 employees in EU and USA
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4. Product Overview

5. 5
eco - white
eco – white incl. extension cabinet
Cutting Edge Design
Residential Solution Becomes Part of Home

6. sonnenBatterie eco
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» Fully integrated, AC-coupled system and easy to install
(“Plug & Play”)
» Optimized self-consumption – Weather forecast, self-learning
algorithm
» Comfortable and easy control via App, Internet or Touch-
Display
» Broad portfolio for private households and small businesses
» High software intelligence
• Intelligent „Peak Shaving“
• Demand Side Management
• VPP Aggregation through
remote control
Remote control via mobile app,
tablet or laptop

7. Fully integrated Storage System
» Complete operable AC-system
» Perfectly selected and synchronized components including Energy Management
» Intrinsically safe( Non thermal runaway) and reliable Lithium-Iron-Phosphate Battery
(SONY) with unique Warranty of 10,000 cycles
» Easy and cheap to install
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Battery
Power Electronic /
Inverter
Touch Display and
Energy Manager
High Level Controller
sonnenBatterie eco 8
Cabinet

8. Residential Product Portfolio Europe/Australia
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» Basic cabinet with 2 kWh (eco 8.0) - can be wall-mounted
» Extension cabinet for modular capacity up to 16 kWh (in 2 kWh
steps) - Adding battery capacity at any time
» 10,000 cycles @ 100% DOD
» 10 year warranty

9. Residential Product Portfolio USA
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» Basic cabinet with 4 kWh (eco 4.0)
» Extension cabinet for modular capacity up to 16 kWh - Adding
battery capacity at any time
» Back-Up + Off-Grid functionality included
» 10,000 cycles @ 100% DOD
» 10 year Warranty

10. sonnen is a multipile solution provider
Ability to adress several use cases
Energy Management Hub for every Home
» Solar day & night
» Integration of Power and Heat
» Demand-Side-Management and Smart Home
» Tariff optimization (Time-of-Use Shifting)
» Back-Up-Power
» Data Monitoring and Analytics
Demand Charge Reduction
» Intelligent Peak Shaving
» Reduce commercial customers power bill by 20-50%
Grid Services and Energy Market Integration
» Remote Control and VPP aggregation
» Energy Trading / Arbitrage
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11. basic overview
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12. 21.02.2017 sonnen GmbH 12
basic overview II

13. challenges – hardware - software
- Inverter Dynamic operation
In Nano Grid operation
- Optimal Charge-Discharge
- Health monitoring of the
batteries
- Software Releases Test
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14. Nano-grid Operation
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-Sources
-Scenarios
Real – Time Results
Power Electronics Model using eHS
Example: AC Start-Up simulator
Ts: 295 ns

15. Optimal Charge-Discharge and Software testing
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PV Inverter
Inverter
LiFePO4
Batteries
Load
Panel
ATSM
M
Internal sonnen computer(control)
Modbus Protocol

16. 21.02.2017 sonnen 16
A
T
S
Modbus RTU
Modbus TCP
Battery Model
PV Model
Low Frequency Inverter Model (on eHS)
Modbus Communication
Ts = 225ns
Python scripts for
automated testing

17. Battery Health Monitoring
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Battery Model (on eHS)
PV Model
High Frequency Inverter Model
(on eHS)
Battery Aging Diagnostic
Through Internal Impedance Measurement

18. Summary
- Opal systems in specific OP4510 is allowing sonnen R&D group
to develop :
- Analysis of the stability in Bi-directional inverter control
topologies while connected to nano-grids.
- Testing the implementation of optimal battery charging and
discharging under multiple scenarios involving real weather and
demand data.
- Validation and testing of new software releases in an
accelerated and automated way without the need of external
hardware.
- Implementation of novel algorithms for measuring the battery
impedance while using this information for aging diagnostic of
the batteries.
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19. references
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Ginart, A. Salazar and R. Liou, "Transformerless Bidirectional Inverter for Residential Battery Storage Systems," 2016 IEEE Green
Technologies Conference (GreenTech), Kansas City, MO, 2016, pp. 18-23.
Ginart, A. Salazar, D. Patel, J. Roach, C. Restrepo and H. Schweizer, "Air Conditioning (A/C) Startup Simulator for Evaluating Nanogrid
Operation," 2016 IEEE Green Technologies Conference (GreenTech), Kansas City, MO, 2016, pp. 124-129.
Ginart, R. Riley, B. Hardman and M. Ernst, "Closed-Forms Solution for Simplified PV Modeling and Voltage Evaluation Including Irradiation and Temperature
Dependence," 2013 IEEE Green Technologies Conference (GreenTech), Denver, CO, 2013, pp. 105-112.
doi: 10.1109/GreenTech.2013.24
D. I. Stroe, M. Swierczynski, A. I. Stan, V. Knap, R. Teodorescu and S. J. Andreasen, "Diagnosis of lithium-ion batteries state-of-health based on
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique," 2014 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Pittsburgh, PA, 2014, pp.
4576-4582.

20. Thank you.
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