MONITORING OF A SOLAR POWER PLANT FOR EFFICIENT OPERATION INTRODUCTION What is Solar Power and Solar Power Plant?
Solar power is the conversion of energy
from sunlight into electricity. This conversion is carried out in Solar Power Plants. Depending on how the energy from sun is converted into electricity, these plants can be of two types 1. Photovoltaic Plants How does a solar power plant work?
Operation of Photovoltaic Plants :
Photovoltaic plants consist of photovoltaic
cells which work based on the photovoltaic effect.
In a solar power plant, an array of solar cells
in created (in series and parallel with each other) to produce desired current and voltage level. Photovoltaic Effect
In photovoltaic effect, two
dissimilar materials (like silicon and germanium) are put in close contact. When exposed to radiation, electrons from one material absorb the photons, get excited and jump to the other material. This movement of electrons induces positive charge in one material and negative in the other resulting in Typical layout of a Solar Photovoltaic Plant Operation of Solar Thermal Power Plants:
A solar thermal plant generates heat and
electricity by concentrating the sun's energy. That in turn builds steam that helps to feed a turbine and generator to produce electricity. The operation of solar thermal power plants is based on the following steps: 1. Mirrors capture solar radiation at a point so as to generate very high temperatures (400 1,000 C). 2. The obtained heat transforms the water in a steam boiler. 3. Pressurized steam rotates a turbine which Layout of a Solar Thermal Power Plants Solar Power Plant Monitoring PV monitoring essentially involves :
1. Capturing the power plant/system
performance indicators. 2. Analyzing the plant/system performance indicators 3. Identifying the problems affecting the performance of the PV power plant 4. Reconfiguring/Re-calibrating the plant as required, eliminating the performance bottleneck. The first is done using sensors/meters and data loggers. Analysis and identification of the problems is predominately manual. In the last stage, reconfiguration is done which is based on the feedback. How does it work? The output of a solar panel, essentially current and voltage, are stored in the memory of an inverter. These stored values are sent to a central control unit. Using different means of communication channels like Ethernet, Internet, dial up access, GSM etc. The data is transmitted to a server from where alerts and status messages are sent to Problems faced by Solar Power Industry
1. ~52% solar plants are not performing to
their capacity. 2. There is no tool for Base lining and benchmarking. 3. Mismanaged scheduling of Operation and Maintenance. 4. Requirement of smart demand management tool. 5. No tool to measure net electricity, generated less used or forecast yield. Increasing Efficiency of Plants
Solar panels normally operate at 8-10%
efficiencies. The efficiency of the solar panels goes down with the deposition of dust, pollen grains, soot etc. This calls for regular cleaning of the solar panels. Use of tracking system significantly improves the operational efficiency of solar power plants as it ensures that the panels are always facing the sun and hence, operate at a maximum efficiency. Use of software based remote monitoring system. A Software as a Service platform makes solar data simple to acquire, understand and act upon so that you can improve yield & profitability. Benefits : 1. Increased Forecasting Performance: Predict yield accuracy with increase certainty. 2. Yield Analysis: These system provides analytics to understand if yield is as expected or designed. 3. Effective O&M: Equipment issues can be Remote monitoring using SCADA
SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition. It is a Remote Monitoring Software Tool. A SCADA performs two basic functions: 1. Display information about the current operating conditions of a plant in an informative and graphical interface. 2. To allow supervisory control of the plant by the personnel. How SCADA based monitoring works?
In Solar Power Plants, the SCADA Data
Acquisition begins at the string level. The sensors built inside the String Monitoring Boxes (SMBs) senses and measures the DC voltage, current, power, temperature inside the SMB etc as required from the monitoring point of view. These sensors are interfaced with Microprocessor controlled electronic devices called as Remote Terminal Unit/ PLCs String Monitoring Box Depending on the size of the plant the number of RTUs are connected to the SCADA Master through the communication protocol like MODBUS, RS485, RS232, CANBUS etc. Data is collected from every field device and finally information is transferred to the Server through Wireless Communication (GPRS modem). GPRS modem stores all the data into the memory and sends it to the server. The information gathered in the server can be accessed in the Central Remote Monitoring Station. SCADA with IOT
The 4th generation SCADA system uses IOT.
The infrastructure cost of the SCADA system is reduced by adopting the internet of things technology with the commercially available cloud computing. Benefits : The maintenance and integration is also very easy for the fourth generation compared to the earlier SCADA systems. These SCADA systems are able to report status in real time by using the horizontal scale from the Case study of 3-MW scale grid- connected solar photovoltaic power plant at Kolar, Karnataka Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) has established 3 MW capacity peak grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plant near Yalesandra village in Kolar district of Karnataka. The plant was fully commissioned on 27 December 2009. The plant has 3 segments with each segment having an installed capacity of 1 MW. Each segment has 4 inverters with a capacity of 250 kW each. There are 13,368 modules (557 arrays with 24 modules per array) that contain mono-crystalline Plant Maintenance & Operation
In addition to 3 MW , one more 10 kW PV plant
has been installed on the rooftop of office building to take care of domestic lighting and cooling loads of the Plant including the load of exhaust fans. At present, the plant is maintained by 13 workers which includes 2 technical persons who look after data collection and monitoring. Three bore - wells have been installed at the site with pump-set capacities of 2 HP, 5 HP and 10 HP. The 2 HP pump set is used regularly to meet the water requirements of the Plant. Cleaning of PV Modules: Generally, the modules are cleaned by spraying water with the help of extendable hosepipes. Occasionally, wipers are used to remove the accumulated dirt and bird droppings, say once in a month. On an average, each module is cleaned once in a week on rotational basis Conclusion Being cost effective is an important requirement for every product. For a power plant O&M costs has to be kept under control. This becomes possible by robust monitoring system. Though every part of the plant and every input attribute cannot be controlled to the desired levels, continuous monitoring of the energy generation as per expected forecast will ensure that the efficiency of the plant is maintained at a high level throughout the life of the plant. Presented by :
DEBASHIS TARAI ROLL NO. : 14/EE/50 References
1. Operation and Maintenance Methods in Solar
Power Plants - Mustapha Hatti. 2. Renewable Energy Systems Reports - H. Mitavachan, Anandhi Gokhale and J. Srinivasan. 3. Remote Monitoring Systems for Solar PV Power Plant - Divya Darshini. V, Electrical Engineer - O&M, Avi Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd. 4. Operations and Maintenance of Solar PV Power Plants - Rahul Bhardwaj, Manager Solar Business Unit, PT&D IC, L&T Construction