Ground Design for Solar and Wind Energy Facilities

This course will provide comprehensive coverage of grounding design procedures for utility scale PV plants, wind farms, and collector substations, and the use of computer programs to implement the design procedures.

Course Name: Ground Design for Solar and Wind Energy Facilities

Course Dates: March 6-7, 2025

Course Objective

The objective of this 2 day training session is to provide comprehensive coverage of grounding design procedures for utility scale PV plants, wind farms, and collector substations, and the use of computer programs to implement the design procedures. Numerous examples will be worked in class using the program WinIGS. Participants will receive a temporary two-month license of the program WinIGS to continue exercises.

 

Course Instructors

A.P. Meliopoulos, Ph.D.
George Cokkinides, Ph.D.

solar-wind-schematic

Scope

In recent years PV and wind projects have accelerated. These systems must be grounded for safety, provide reference for protection and communications and protection against lightning. Because these systems are geographically extensive, their design presents challenges in meeting standards at reasonable costs. Some of these systems also present unique challenges as they are installed on the top of landfills or mountains.
This course will comprehensively cover PV and wind farm grounding system design procedures for safety and lightning protection. It will start with a simplified coverage of the basic principles in grounding design and follow with a step-by-step design procedure. It will explore soil characterization, modeling requirements, and data preparation procedures for PV, wind and collector substations ground system design and lightning shielding. You will have the opportunity to discuss practical examples and see demonstrations of design procedures. Furthermore, options will be discussed for controlling ground potential rise, touch, and step voltages, as well as quantify the

influence of grounding systems on nearby pipes, fences, and buildings with the use of the WinIGS program. By the end of the course, you will be able to design PV, wind, and collector substation ground systems and lightning shielding to minimize the risk from lightning overvoltages.
Throughout the course, the design procedures will be demonstrated with numerous examples of wind farm and PV plant ground designs using the program WinIGS which simulates and visualizes maximum ground potential rise, touch and step voltages, split factors, and ground voltage distributions across wind and PV plant areas. Participants will be provided with a two-month license of the software with which they can perform exercises and gain experience with ground design of wind and PV systems, and collector substations.
The course is taught by the developers of the program WinIGS.

Course Instructors

 
A. P. (Sakis) Meliopoulos, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, is the course administrator. He joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 1976. His special expertise is in the areas of fault analysis and simulation of power systems, advanced instrumentation for monitoring and protection of power systems, electromagnetic transients, multi-physics modeling and stress analysis, stress analysis, harmonics, grounding and surge protection. He is the leader in the development of the Harmonic Measurement System, which is based on synchronized measurements, the principal inventor of the Smart Ground Multimeter, the WinIGS program and its extensions, the Fault Distance Indicator and the Open Conductor Detector. These software and hardware products are presently used by the industry. He is the author of the books Power System Grounding and Transients, Marcel Dekker, Inc, 1988, Application of Time- Synchronized Measurements in Power System Transmission Networks, Springer, 2014, Section 27, Lightning and Overvoltage Protection, of the Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers, McGraw Hill, 1993, holds three patents and published over 350 technical papers. Dr. Meliopoulos is the Chairman of the Georgia Tech Protective Relaying Conference and a Fellow of the IEEE.

 

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for electric power utility engineers involved in the design of substations and electrical installations. It is also intended for consulting and manufacturing engineers and engineers with substation equipment supply companies. University power system educators and graduate students will also benefit from exposure to these important topics.

Prerequisites

Participants should have an engineering degree (electrical, mechanical, or civil), or equivalent experience.

Course Materials

The following material will be used during the short course  presentations:

  • Extensive class notes.
  • Meliopoulos, WinIGS Training Guide, September 2019.
  • Meliopoulos, WinIGS Manual, September 2019, electronic copy.

A copy of the class notes and the training guide will be given to all participants. The WinIGS manual will be provided in electronic form within the WinIGS program.

Professional Development Hours

Participants who successfully complete this program will earn 16 Professional Development Hours (PDHs). An official transcript of PDHs earned will be provided within 45 days of the completion of the course.

Grounding System Design Principles
Factors Affecting Grounding System Performance

IEEE Standard 80 Design Procedures
IEEE Standard 81 Testing Procedures
IEEE Standard 998 Design Procedures


Special Considerations for Wind Farm Grounding


Special Considerations for PV plant grounding


Soil Characterization


System Modeling for Grounding Design

WinIGS Program General Organization

  • Features Overview, Program Modes, File Organization, Hardware Requirements


Understanding what information is required to create a file on WinIGS

  • Step by step instructions on creating a WinIGS file


The Network Editor

  • Network Elements & Parameters (Lines, Transformers, Sources, etc.)
  • Connection Properties
  • Layered Organization using The Substation Element
  • Adding Geographic Information


WinIGS Libraries

  • Conductor Library
  • The Cable Library & Cable Library Editor
  • Transmission Line Tower Library
  • Computation of Transmission Line Parameters


The Grounding Editor – Part I

  • Soil resistivity measurements – all options
  • Creating a soil model
  • Export/import soil models between WinIGS and WinSGM


The Grounding Editor – Part II

  • Navigating in the 3-D Editor Space
  • Creating Grounding Systems (Ground Conductors, Connectors, etc)
  • Adding Civil Elements (Buildings, Electrical Equipment, Fences etc)
  • Importing Drawings and other Images
  • Importing and Exporting DXF files
  • Creating Design Drawings


Network Modeling Options

  • Transmission lines – options and importance.
  • Distribution lines – options and important parameters


Network Analysis Options

  • Base Case, Fault Analysis, Maximum Ground Potential Rise, GPR & Fault Current vs Fault Location, Port Thevenin Equivalent, Frequency Scans and Coefficient of Grounding.
  • Examples

 

Basic design requirements for PV plant grounding

  • PV array grounding
  • Inverter grounding
  • Collector substation grounding
  • Integrated grounding system modeling and analysis

 

Basic design requirements for Wind farm grounding

  • Wind turbine system grounding
  • Wind farm interconnection system
  • Collector substation grounding
  • Integrated grounding system modeling and analysis

Grounding Reports

  • Resistance, Maximum Ground Grid Current, Resistive Layer Effects, Allowable Touch & Step Voltages, Equipotential Plots & Graphs, Point to Point Impedance, Bill of Materials
  • Examples


Ground Design for Lightning

  • Lightning Shielding Design
  • Low Ground Surge Impedance Designs
  • PV plant design for lightning protection
  • Wind Turbine System design for lightning protection

 

Lightning Shielding Analysis

  • Data Requirements, Analysis Options, LSA Reports, Examples

Course Fee & Registration

Course Dates: March 06-07, 2025
Early registration fee for this course is $1,450.00 if completed prior to February 07, 2025.
After February 07, 2025, the registration cost is $1,600.00.
Training, course materials and a one-month software license of WinIGS-SDA are included in the course fee.

Registration Form

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Name
Company Address

After we have received your registration, we will send you a confirmation and provide payment options.

Alternate ways to register

CALL (512) 636-1448 between 8:00AM – 5PM, Eastern Time

EMAIL your registration information to courses@ap-concepts.com

MAIL registration request and payments to:
Advanced Power Concepts
P. O. Box 49116
Atlanta, Georgia 30359
Please be prepared to provide your name, address, company/affiliation, email and
phone contact information and your desired method of payment.