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Power Plant Controller (PPC) - Inavitas

Worked on a Power Plant Controller (PPC) system at Inavitas — a control platform for renewable energy power plants. Built around a hybrid edge-cloud architecture using C++ for real-time control loops, Python microservices for analytics, and a React dashboard for monitoring. Integrated with industrial systems via Modbus, IEC 61850, and DNP3 protocols through a hardware abstraction layer, and implemented Dynamic Power Control logic for grid synchronization and compliance.

Live Demo

Project Details

Role
Senior Software Engineer
Timeline
October 2021 - August 2022
Tech Stack
C++
Python
SCADA
Industrial IoT
Modbus
IEC 61850
DNP3
MQTT
Redis
PostgreSQL
React
Node.js
Docker
Kubernetes
Real-Time Linux
Edge Computing
Power Plant Controller (PPC) - Inavitas

Key Features

  • Real-time power generation control via C++ control loops on a real-time Linux kernel
  • Dynamic Power Control logic adjusting output based on grid frequency, voltage, and demand
  • Active and reactive power control with power factor correction
  • Grid synchronization with phase matching and frequency regulation
  • Compliance handling for international grid codes (IEC 61400, IEEE 1547, VDE-AR-N 4120)
  • SCADA integration for plant monitoring and remote control
  • Hardware abstraction layer supporting Modbus RTU/TCP, IEC 61850, DNP3, and custom protocols
  • Edge computing architecture: control loops local, analytics in the cloud
  • Web dashboard with real-time visualization, alerts, and historical performance views

Challenges

  • Deterministic latency for critical control loops in renewable energy systems
  • Integrating with equipment from many different manufacturers and protocols
  • Handling intermittent renewable energy production (solar, wind) with grid synchronization
  • Running reliably in industrial environments with temperature extremes and EMI
  • Meeting grid code requirements across different countries and regulatory frameworks

Solutions

  • C++ real-time control loops running on Linux RT kernel with PREEMPT_RT patches
  • Hardware abstraction layer with plugin architecture supporting multiple industrial protocols
  • Adaptive control algorithms using PID with Kalman filtering
  • Configurable grid code compliance engine mapping requirements to control parameters
  • Time-series data pipeline with automatic downsampling and retention

Project Gallery

Plant performance monitoring dashboard
Plant performance monitoring dashboard
Power factor and reactive power control panel
Power factor and reactive power control panel
Real-time grid condition monitoring interface
Real-time grid condition monitoring interface