Power Plant Controller (PPC)

A power plant controller (PPC) is the real time controller that holds a solar or storage plant at its setpoint or utility command at the point of interconnection.

The PPC measures active power, reactive power, voltage, and frequency at the point of interconnection, compares them to the target, and dispatches the plant’s inverters so the plant as a whole meets its interconnection requirements. Its functions are frequency droop, voltage and reactive power control, ramp rate limiting, curtailment, and ride through coordination. It makes an inverter based plant behave like one generator at the grid boundary. The energy management system proposes a setpoint; the PPC makes sure it is legal.

Also called: Plant controller, Park controller