ABB Inc. has received UL1741 certification for the power conditioning system it has developed for fuel cell power generation. The UL1741 standard, titled "Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System Equipment for Use With Distributed Energy Resources" is an Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standard essential to the distributed generation market. While UL1741 is only a few years old, the market has adopted it as a requirement for anyone building products and systems for distributed generation applications.
Ravi Dodballpur, Manager, Power Conversion Products, for ABB's Advanced Power Electronics group, indicates how important this certification is, not just in North America, but worldwide. "Customers are looking to ABB for a system that can ensure both worker safety and system reliability. This certification helps further the trust our customers put in our product technology and safety; and they expect it from ABB, given our role as a global leader in power generation."
The key parts of this standard involve safety and reliability. UL1741 addresses the safety concern, above other industry standards, for "unintentional islanding." Islanding is the action of separating a power source, from the electrical grid. Unintentional islanding happens when a utility grid is down, for maintenance as an example, and the distributed generation (i.e. a fuel cell stack) may continue to feed the grid.
This scenario has the potential for devastating consequences, as the power lines may still be energized without the knowledge of the utility, and consequently, the maintenance workers. In addition, major equipment can be damaged and the system reliability could be compromised, reducing overall power quality. Therefore UL1741 requires a feature called "anti-islanding" that automatically shuts down the distributed generation site in such a condition. ABB initially applied for the certification in late 2004, and has received it in 2005 by meeting the requirements.
The other important requirements of the UL1741 standard address system reliability. By addressing harmonics and power quality, ABB's UL certification assures that the power conversion systems we build in the field of fuel cells, wind power, battery storage or any other distributed generation field, will meet or exceed the highest standards in harmonics and voltage regulation.
"The UL certification is essential to market our power conversion system," notes Kevin Dennis, manager of ABB's Advanced Power Electronics team in North America. "While we already have the most efficient and reliable fuel cell power conversion solution in the market, the UL 1741 certification gives our customers the peace of mind that ABB has the best solution for their needs in the field of distributed generation."
