SOLAR ENERGYPARTH SHRIVASTAVA – CH12B1018

K VIVEK VARKEY - CH12B1011

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HYDERABAD

In this project we have analyzed the implementation of solar energy in the country with two case studies –

1. Welspon solar power plant located in Madhya Pradesh

2. IIT Hyderabad permanent campus.

SOLAR ENERGY

As the name suggests, the energy derived from the Sun is termed as the solar energy. Every other energy can be classified as a product from the solar energy. The Earth receives 174 pettawatts (PW) of incoming solar radiation at the upper atmosphere. 

Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The total solar energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ) per year. 

In 2002, this was more energy in one hour than the world used in one year. Photosynthesis captures approximately 3,000 EJ per year in biomass. The technical potential available from biomass is from 100–300 EJ/year

TYPES OF SOLAR ENERGY

Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy.

Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy.

Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties.

SOME APPLICATION

1. Architecture and urban planning

2. Transport and reconnaissance

3. Heating

4. Water treatment

WELSPUN SOLAR POWER PLANT

FACTS OF THE PLANT

Located in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh.

Currently one of the largest solar power plant in Asia fully functioning and delivering.

FACTS OF THE PLANT

It is currently the largest and most spread around solar power plant in the country (there is another solar power plant under development in the Thar region of Rajasthan, but its construction is not complete as of yet).

FACTS OF THE PLANT

Spread across 800 acres of barren and uncultivated land.

It is built at total cost of 180 million USD.

It produced a net power of 150 MW.

CALCULATIONS

A POWER OF 150 MW IS PRODUCED IN THE PLANT.

HENCE ENERGY PRODUCED IN AN YEAR IS 1.37*10^12 KJ.

THAT IS EQUIVALENT TO 3.83*10^8 KWH.

IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE PLANT IS FUNCTIONING FOR 7 HOURS ON A DAILY BASIS YEAR ROUND.

CALCULATIONS

Upon complete combustion 1 tonne of coal would release 4572 Kwh worth of energy.

80590.01 tonnes of coal used up to produce 150 MW of power.

CARBON DIOXIDE MITIGATED

1 tonne of coal would give out approximately 2.866 tonne of Carbon Dioxide upon complete combustion.

Upon manufacturing 150 MW of power using coal, 230970 tonnes of CO2 would have been released. While actual figures of coal mitigated is around 216372 tonnes.

SOLAR - HOME

The plant is producing energy of 3.83*10^8 Kwh on an yearly basis.

According to recent surveys an average Indian home consumes energy at 650 Kwh per year.

Hence the plant can cover a total of 5.9 lac homes.

While the actual data shows, the plant is providing a total of 6.2 lacs.

Solar Power Plant in IITH New Campus

Introduction The all new campus of IIT Hyderabad is

on par with most of the new construction projects around the globe, both visually and functionally.

Campus expands to a vast 571 acre land mass.

One of the most aspiring feature of the new campus is its self-sustainability in terms of energy and power.

The solar farm to be set up in the new campus will be production enough power to meet power needs of new campus including a surplus storage.

Aspects and Prospects

Power Generation:

I. The plant to be set is 1 MW photovoltaic power plant.

II. The plant will feed AC power to the 11 KV distribution grid power supply of the campus for captive power consumption.

III. The minimum net generation per annum will be 1.7 Million units per MW.

IV. The plant will store the excess generated power in batteries.

The PV array and its properties:

I. The solar farm consist of photovoltaic (PV) array system.

II. The PV array consists of framed mono‐crystalline or multi‐crystalline silicon cells.

III. Individual PV modules rating is of minimum 240 watt peak at STC for multi‐crystalline PV modules (60 cell configuration) and minimum 250 watt peak at STC for mono‐crystalline PV modules (60 Cell configuration).

IV. Maximum DC output voltage of the array is 600V.

Area and land specifications :

I. The area allotted for the solar power in the new campus is around 15-16 acres.

II. The allotted area consists of PV array system, power conversion system, invertor system (Includes storage also), transformers, plant controller, grid connector and substation. The area also consist of a small water body.

III. The allotted area is much more than required area for a 1 MW solar plant in India (Generally doesn't exceed 5-6 acres).

IV. The excess area will be used for future upgradation and expansion of the solar farm.

General Contour Map:

Contour Map with Electricity Lines and Power Grid:

General and Relevant Aspects:

The cost of installation of plant is subjective to the further conditions and situations. But the minimum cost mentioned in the tender in 12.50 Crores INR.

This cost includes installation of all entities related to solar plant and maintenance cost.

The plant will be set up such that minimum operational period shall be 25 years.

An advance Solar Radiation and Environmental Monitoring System will be set along with the power plant.

It will consist of various sensors, signal conditioning, data acquisition, LCD display and remote monitoring which will collect a minimum of 20 data samples in 1 hour.

Plant will consist of a inverter unit.

Inverter unit should be capable to store the excess energy generated at any given time.( The energy difference between generation and institute load)

The stored energy should have the flexibility to use at the time of power shut down /to minimize the dependency on grid.

In case of incoming grid failure, the inverter unit should be capable to supply the institute power demand ( Maximum of 300 KW ).

Plant Power Performance Ratio:

The overall power performance ratio of the system will exceed 70%. (Sum total of the system power losses shall not exceed 30%). For global solar radiation in the Plane of Array (POA) of 1000 W/m2, 100kWp PV power plant AC output shall be minimum of 70 kW at any time during the day.

Plant Energy Performance Ratio: The overall energy performance ratio of the system shall exceed

75%. (Sum total of the system energy losses shall not exceed 25%). For global solar insolation in the Plane of Array (POA) of 5 kWh/m2 (5 Peak Sun Hours) for the day, 100kWp PV power plant AC energy output shall be minimum of 375 kWh (75kWx5hrs) for the day.

CO2 is a green house gas. Increase in concentration of which can lead to dramatic climatic changes which will further lead to worse natural calamities.

Solar plants require just the installation cost which is fixed and occasional maintenance cost. At the current time, the maintenance cost maybe high but with adequate time and research being put in, both fixed and the variable cost can be brought down effectively. Also this will lead to lesser consumption of coal, natural gas and other such fossil fuels.

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neemuch

http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity-consumption

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows/infrastructure/indias-largest-solar-power-plant-inaugurated-in-mp/solar-power-plant-inaugurated-in-mp/slideshow/31205839.cms

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/21392/coal-india-may-hike-coal.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal