Power Hardware in the Loop (PHIL) Lab

Our Power Hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) Lab is a large testing facility that allows the testing of high-power energy technologies under realistic grid conditions: In it our researchers connect real hardware with a real-time simulated grid through power amplifiers (up to 1 MVA and a voltage up to 1.5kV). The testing facility includes, for example, electric and thermal microturbines, a high-speed flywheel and, in the near future, a hydrogen energy storage plant, which each enable different tests and evaluations. As a whole, PHIL tests offer the flexibility of rapidly changing testing conditions and system characteristics, while keeping high experimental testing fidelity. This can help researchers, manufacturers, and system operators to analyze, develop, and test future solutions for the energy system. The Power Hardware in the Loop research group belongs to the Institute of Technical Physics (ITEP) at the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT). Its facilities are central components of the "Smart Energy System Simulation and Control Center" (SEnSSiCC), embedded in the project framework of the Energy Lab (https://www.elab2.kit.edu/english/phil.php).