The China based top 10 PV module manufacturer is going to expand 5 GW more capacity as for global module shipment capacity up to 10 GW by end of 2020.
The new expansion under process will locate in Zibo city, Shandong province. Within over 60,000 meters’ square factory buildings, Talesun will equip several different production lines with total capacity of 5 GW, capable of its latest half-cut 9BB module, half-cut 5BB module and traditional full size module as well. All the lines will be compatible with large size wafer and bifacial module to fulfill different requirements from customers.
Talesun is one of those paid more attention to globalization from early stage and tried to balance the sales from both domestic and overseas markets. Besides of the marketing strength, Talesun also set up production ability outside of China to deal with various complex international trade barriers.
In 2017, Talesun established its alternative production base in Thailand, and upgrade the lines there with latest mono PERC tech and capability of bigger size wafer, with total capacity of 1.5 GW in 2019. Counted in the domestic production capacity in its headquarter, Jiangsu Province, the current module capacity reaches 6 GW. If Talesun’s plan goes smoothly, the figure will rise to 10 GW by end of 2020.
SECI’s 1.2 GW Solar Tender: Tariff Revision Allowed in Case of Duty Under Change in Law
The Solar Electricity Corporation of India (SECI) has amended the power purchase and sale agreement (PPA and PSA) for its 1,200 MW solar tender, adding another point to the existing ‘change in law’ clause. The additional clause states that in case of a change in the law on account of anti-dumping duty or safeguard duty or customs duty on solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, the solar power developer will be entitled to either an increase or decrease in the tariff. This increase or decrease in tariff will be for an amount equivalent to ₹0.05 (~$0.00070)/kWh for every increase or decrease of ₹100,000 (~$1,402) of impact on the cost of solar PV modules.
Azure Power’s Revenue up 25%, Net Loss Rises Amid Higher Expenses and Curtailment in AP
Azure Global Power Limited reported revenue of ₹3.05 billion (~$42.6 million) for Q3 FY20, an increase of 25% year-over-year but the company still registered a net loss of ₹1.36 billion (~$19 million) for Q3 of the financial year 2019-20. The company in its statement said that the adjusted EBIDTA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for the quarter ended December 31, 2019, was ₹2.1 billion (~$29.5 million), an increase of 15% when compared to the same period in 2018. The net loss for the Q3 FY20 was ₹1.36 billion (~$19.03 million) compared to the net profit of ₹165.3 million (~$2.32 million) during the same period in 2018. The company stated that the higher losses are primarily due to higher provision for accounts receivable, management transition, write-offs related to the solar green bonds issued in the previous quarter, and higher income tax expenses.
BHEL Set to Procure 12 Million Multicrystalline Solar Cells
The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has invited bids to manufacture and supply 12 million units of 156.75 mm multicrystalline solar cells with five busbars and 4.62Wp. The cells should be made from multicrystalline silicon, and the dimension of the cells should be 156.75+-0.25 mm or 157+-0.25 mm. The solar thickness of the cells should be at least 200 microns. The power output of the cells should be 4.62 watts or more, and the solar cell efficiency should at least be 18.8%. The last date for the submission of bids is February 21, 2020. The delivery of the first batch of 3 million solar cells should be made within four weeks from the date of the purchase order, and the remaining should be delivered in three batches of 3 million every four weeks thereafter.
Karnataka Electricity Regulator Reduces Tariff for a Delayed 10 MW Solar Project
The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has dismissed a petition by Shorapur Solar Power Limited that argued its 10 MW solar project was delayed due to force majeure (unforeseeable) events. Due to the delay, the Commission ordered that the petitioner is entitled to a tariff of ₹4.36 (~$0.061)/kWh in place of the originally agreed tariff of ₹5.13 (~$0.071)/kWh. The Commission also directed Shorapur Solar Power Private Limited to pay liquidated damages to Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) in line with the power purchase agreement (PPA). Earlier, Shorapur Solar Power Limited had filed a petition requesting the Commission to declare that the scheduled commercial operation date be extended to the period corresponding to the time taken for the grant of the evacuation approval (142 days). It had also requested the Commission to put aside the demand issued by CESC for the payment of liquidated damages towards the delay in achieving the COD within the scheduled timeline.
MNRE Mulls Removal of Tariff Caps for Solar and Wind Tenders
According to industry sources, in a meeting with the developers of solar and wind projects, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has proposed the removal of tariff caps, which, if it happens, would come as a huge relief to the renewable energy industry. Mercom has been consistently reporting on how tariff caps are slowing down auction activity in the sector. Developers have denied bidding at the tariff levels specified by state agencies instead of a market-based auction, where the lowest bid wins. This has been the reason for most tender deadlines to be extended or retendered after raising the upper tariff ceiling. This trend of tender extensions and retenders has also led to a delay in auction activity.
DISCOMs Expected to Carry out Rooftop Solar Consumer Awareness and Publicity Drive
Though distribution companies (DISCOMs) can take the help of state nodal agencies (SNAs) for implementing the second phase of the rooftop solar (RTS) program, they have to be at the forefront of its implementation process. This is the crux of the latest suggestions from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), which also said that the maximum time required for the entire process of rooftop solar installation should be between 2.5-5 months after the consumer submits his request.
Gujarat Transmission Corporation Invites EPC Contractors for 185 MW of Solar Projects
The Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) has floated a tender for 185 MW of grid-connected solar projects ranging between 20 MW and 40 MW in capacity at various substations of the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO). The tender is for the design, engineering, supply and procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of the projects. The scope of work includes the design, engineering, supply, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of these projects. The cost of the project is projected at ₹7.4 billion (~$103.7 million). Interested bidders are to pay an earnest money deposit of ₹400,000 (~$5,602)/MW undertaken.
Haryana to Hold Pre-bid Meeting for Solarization of 466 Pumps Under KUSUM Program
The Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) has invited bidders for a pre-bid meeting for the solarization of 466 grid-connected solar pump sets on two selected feeders at Biana in Karnal district and Marupur in Yamunanagar district. The installation is under a pilot project that falls under the component-C of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) program. Last year, the state gave its approval to install solar-powered tube well pumps in the state. The pilot project involved the installation of 468 solar pumps totaling a cumulative capacity of around 2.9 MW. The estimated value of the project is ₹165 million (~$2.3 million). Although the last date for bid submission is yet to be announced, a pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for February 13, 2020, in Panchkula.
Azure Power, a leading solar power producer in India, published its first Annual Sustainability Report for 2018-19, which highlights the ways in which the company is delivering on its commitment to sustainability.
Speaking on this occasion, Ranjit Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Azure Power said: “Sustainability is the core of our value proposition and the essence of our business. We are proud of our performance on key environmental, social and governance issues and are committed to delivering value to our stakeholders by providing reliable solar power to our customers, fulfilling careers to our employees, bettering the communities in which we operate, and providing strong returns to our shareholders.”
Highlights from this year’s report include:
Environmental
Azure Power is a carbon negative organization and it has zero carbon intensity. In FY’19, the company generated 1,026 million units of clean solar energy, avoiding nearly one million tonnes of carbon emissions.
Responsible stewardship of water resources is an important aspect of the company’s environmental management framework. The company aims to become water neutral in a couple of years. In the calendar year 2019, the company reduced water consumption per unit of electricity generated by about half compared to the prior year and harvested about 11,000 gallons of rainwater in FY’19.
Societal
Azure Power believes that employee diversity across gender and age are important to facilitate sustainable, profitable and responsible growth. In FY’19, the percentage of females hired of new joiners was twice the overall percentage of females employed at the company and women are given equal pay.
In FY’19, the company installed over 50 water filtration units in 5 states providing clean drinking water to local communities.
The company invested 11,00 man-days of training in its workforce and has implemented electronic learning portals to improve access and availability in FY’19.
In FY’19, the company onboarded 45 new suppliers, all of which were screened for sustainability.
The company provides Corporate Social Responsibility impact reports on its website which provides more details on its efforts to improve education, water, livelihood & skill development for the local communities in which it operates.
Governance
All of the company’s projects are developed and implemented in accordance with the World Bank Equator Principles.
The company strictly follows international governance policies on corruption, human rights, freedom of association, fair disclosure, whistle-blower and insider trading among others.
The Board of Directors has gender diversity and 80% of its members are independent.
In this article, some practices that need to be avoided for the best Solar O&M service. Read below for 10 such critical practices.
The angle at which the pyranometer is installed should be the same as the tilt at which solar panels are installed to find the PR ratio (=Specific Energy Output/Radiation per sq m per day). Many times, the angle of the Pyranometer is changed so that less radiation falls on it as a result of which, the input of the Pyranometer reduces, and therefore PR increases. Other than this, pyranometers must be cleaned regularly but this practice is not followed everywhere. As a result, the dust gets settled on the glass and less radiation falls on the Pyranometer. This again results in faulty radiation data and affects its PR ratio. Abnormally high PR (>85%) is an indication that the pyranometer may not be recording correct radiation.
2. Ignoring safety measures on-site
The site team often ignores safety measures while performing O&M activities and risks their lives. Technicians may not be wearing all safety gear like helmets, shoes, working gloves, working jackets, etc. For instance, if a cable is broken and needs to be fixed, the technician may not use insulated tools or rubber gloves or goggles. If the cables are live, they might injure the technician involved in the process and can even be cause for death.
3. Lack of Proactive Testing
SCADA and monitoring software used in O&M have their own limitations and do not give the developer an understanding of the module level defects in the plant. Many times, critical damages like cell cracks, hotspots, PID or even module and string isolations can go unidentified for long periods. Therefore, it is important that the O&M team conducts periodic testing of the modules – including IV curve measurements, EL imaging, and drone-based thermography.
EL Image of a module with PID and a power loss of 30%.
String isolation identified via Drone Thermography
4. Improper handling of cables
The cables in the solar power plants are located under the modules very near to the ground surface. These plants are in open areas where there’s a lot of vegetation Over time, these cables hide inside the thick bushes and this causes difficulty in O&M of the cables. Many times, it has also been observed that the cables are dangling and not laid properly in the conduits. This can possibly invite multiple ground faults and is a safety risk.
5. Improper labeling of Cables
When a plant is established, all the cables are labeled for future reference and data is fed in SCADA accordingly. As time progresses, many labels get damaged or disrupted, as a result of which, whenever a fault occurs on the cables, it becomes quite difficult to identify the cable and resolve the issue. If the cables are labeled correctly, the resolving process takes around 1-2 hours which might extend to 2-3 days if labeling is not proper. Therefore it is important that the labels be restored periodically.
labeling is missing
6. Improper Cleaning Frequency and Methodology
Key problems with cleaning
In some places, cleaning is done during peak hours. This practice is detrimental for the modules because during peak generation hours, the temperature of the modules is very high and the cold water will cause this high temperature to fall quickly, leading to thermal stress.
Cleaning frequency and methodology should be derived from the nature of soiling observed on the site. For this, soiling loss measurement can be done at regular intervals. For example, High TDS level could lead to scaling of modules; Sticky dust might need cleaning with IPA solution.
Mopping from the edges to remove dust deposition near the frame may not be done properly which reduces effective transmission on the module.
Uneven soiling occurs if there is no proper cleaning.
Discoloration might occur due to the cleaning of modules with hard water.
The cleaning of modules may be done with brushes and hard detergents which leave scratches on the modules.
7. Improper Module Handling
The workers involved in cleaning the modules may damage the modules by kneeling, dropping other equipment, walking or climbing on the modules, leading to micro-cracks.
8. Improper Collection of Plant data
For preventive maintenance of the plant, certain data sets need to be collected and analyzed at varying frequencies. For instance, daily global horizontal irradiance, maximum DC/AC power, generation start and stop time, DC power generated at strings should be collected on a daily basis while net energy generated at the inverter, net energy fed at the meter, normalized energy generated, monthly DC energy loss are calculated on monthly basis. Some data is also collected on a yearly basis like annual average performance ratio, annual average plant availability, avoided CO2 consumption, etc. It has been seen that this data is not maintained in plants and therefore many problems may not be detected in a timely manner. This is one of the major practices in O&M that needs to be corrected for the proper functioning of solar power plants and increasing the plant lifespan.
9. Inadequate Inventory Available
Inadequate inventory can prolong the downtime as the site team may not have the right materials to fix a problem. Since most plants are located at remote locations, the restoration of inventory may take a longer time, hence leading to a longer breakdown. Certain equipment and components are a must, however, it is a common observation that these components either may not be present at the site or may not be available in sufficient quantities. Some of the critical inventories are MC4 connectors, string cables, string fuse, inverter dc fuse, etc.
10. Preventive Maintenance not based on proper Root Cause Analysis
When an issue is detected by the O&M teams, it is often resolved on a short-term basis and the O&M teams fail to build a preventive plan based on proper root cause analysis, which sometimes further escalates the problem. An example of this is a plant in Rajasthan where the module mounting structures did not provide a scope of expansion to the modules. As a result, the frame of the modules started bulging due to excessive heat in the region, causing moisture penetration within the modules, reduces insulation resistance and repeated tripping of the inverters In order to resolve this issue, the O&M teams bypassed the GFDI to prevent the tripping of inverters instead of solving the problem of insulation resistance and module expansion. By-passing GFDI further led to excessive Potential Induced Degradation in the plant leading to power loss. A preventive plan based on proper root cause analysis could have reduced this power loss significantly.
To conclude, O&M is not just grass-cutting, cleaning, and security. O&M is responsible for maintaining overall plant efficiency and energy delivery along with minimizing losses in the plant. It ensures ease of operations, safety, and reliability of equipment involved in the plant. With certainly added care during O&M, the plant lifespan can be increased significantly.
About PV Diagnostics
We are a team of IIT Bombay graduates experts in diagnostics of solar power plants, quality control of modules for newly commissioned solar power plants and freshly procured modules. We provide end-to-end health check-up of solar power plants. The core focus of our studies is the performance turn-around for solar assets. We possess state of the art technology to diagnose plants including portable (hand-held) EL imaging and drone-based thermography. We also work with multiple investors and asset management companies on technical due diligence.
This article has been contributed by PV Diagnostics. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by SolarQuarter.
Clenergy (Xiamen) Technology Co Ltd, a leading high-tech company specializing in solar PV power stations (project business, development, investment and EPC) and Obton, a Danish solar photovoltaic business specialized in the acquisition, development and management of solar projects, closed the sale of a 65 MW solar farm power project in Ganzlin, Germany.
“Clenergy is very pleased to have secured Obton as buyer of our solar farm and closed the transaction for this showcase project in Germany,” said Clenergy CEO Daniel Hong. “Obton has been the right partner with their experienced gained for more than 10 years, and in over 160 deals globally.” Daniel Ruoss, general manager of Clenergy’s global project business, said: “The 65 MW solar farm is one of the largest PV projects in Germany for many years and is financed by Norddeutsche Landesbank. Construction is well under way and commercial operation is scheduled for June 2020.”
Obton CEO Anders Marcus said: “Clenergy is an outstanding partner for us and we are thrilled to announce the transaction. The PV power project in Ganzlin fits perfectly in Obton’s vision of creating a sustainable future for the coming generation and we are looking forward to continuing doing so in one of our biggest markets, Germany.”
Both buyer and seller acknowledged the tremendous contribution of their local teams in making the deal a success. For Obton that referred to financial advisor Bankhaus von der Heydt (1754.de), of München; legal advisor Buse Herberer Fromm , of Hamburg; and technical advisor Evergy Engineering GmbH , of München.
Clenergy thanked financial advisor and debt and equity process manager First Solid Capital GmbH , of Hamburg; legal advisor Kanzlei Roettger, of Hamburg; and its global project team of Bastian Schultz, Damon Yan, Cindy Huang, Gunnar Schmidt, Can Kökten, Hartmut Schuldt, Daniel Parncutt, Emma Li and Effi Probian.
“In the past years we have supplied SMA technology to numerous projects and thus supported the development of the Turkish PV market”, said Valerio Natalizia, Regional Manager von SMA South Europe. “We are therefore very pleased about the order from TEGNATIA Energji A. Ş. The Teksin project will be the largest PV power plant in Turkey after its completion in summer 2020. The Sunny Central 4400 central inverters that we are delivering to the project are optimally suited for solar power plants with 1,500 Volt DC voltage and have the “Storage-Ready” function for easy connection of storage power plants. These are becoming increasingly important to the further integration of high shares of renewable energy into the power grids worldwide.”
Excellent services for PV projects “With this order we are expanding our strategic partnership with SMA in Turkey, which has been in place since 2014. Furthermore, we also want to improve our cooperation in other markets,” said Dr. Mustafa Tiris, general manager at TEGNATIA. “SMA technology has proven to be very efficient and reliable in our projects realized so far. Just as important for us is the highly qualified services that SMA offers in Turkey. Our goal is to install 100 MW of solar power capacity in Turkey this year and to develop additional potential internationally. TEGNATIA offers high-quality turn-key solutions for medium- and large-scale PV projects and has project references including the construction of more than 300 MW solar capacity in PV projects in various parts of the country. Parallel to the transformation in the energy sector, we want to expand our business in the field of energy storage systems.”
hep Energy USA, the US affiliate of the HEP Kapitalverwaltung AG, a German-based clean energy fund, has announced the formation of Emerald Garden Holdings, a strategic partnership with Solops, LLC, a leading national C&I solar developer. This partnership will drive hep’s North American investment strategy to develop more than 200 megawatts (MW) of C&I solar annually.
Zorya Energy Advisors led the buy-side process on behalf of hep.
“We are excited about adding more C&I solar to our portfolio, allowing us to support organizations who seek to combine financial sustainability with environmental responsibility. In Solops, we have found a very responsive and agile partner with more than a decade of experience in the sector.” said Christian Hamann, hep’s founder.
“Our partnership with Solops rounds out hep’s strategic endeavor in the US distributed solar market,” added Alexander Zhou, hep’s SVP for North America. “Solops has strong C&I development experience throughout the US, especially in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. We can leverage the complementary strengths within our US portfolio to deliver above average results for our investors.”
“We are excited to partner with hep, an experienced worldwide solar player, to streamline project sourcing, development, EPC, and O&M. This partnership enables us to bring some of the lowest cost capital into the space.” said Matthew Rosenblum, Founder and CEO of Solops. “The combined capabilities of Emerald Garden Holdings will shift C&I market dynamics and drive clients’ sustainable energy objectives.”
“This partnership allows us to execute on the regulatory changes taking place in markets across the North East and mid-Atlantic, and continue our holistic approach for stakeholders in corporations, non-profits, and government agencies, creating a win-win for our local communities.” added Ryan Marrone, President of Solops.
“This strategic partnership is a big win for hep, Solops, and the forward-thinking organizations seeking to lower their energy costs, and reduce their carbon footprint,” stated Paula Zagrecki, CEO of Zorya Energy Advisors.
Policy certainty will increase domestic and international investing into India finds a new report out today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
The new report India’s Renewable Energy Policy Headwinds – Recommendations for Urgently Accelerating Activity in the Renewable Energy Sectorfinds a number of recent policy positions have undermined growth in India’s renewable energy sector.
“India is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets for renewable energy and power transmission,” says report author and IEEFA’s Director of Energy Finance Studies Tim Buckley.
“Domestic renewable energy tariffs are now two thirds the cost of domestic coal-sourced power tariffs and half that of new imported thermal power costs.
“India must be very proud of this result, and they must leverage this opportunity to enhance energy security whilst securing deflationary domestic energy investments.
“The opportunity cost of delaying India’s electricity sector transition is too high.
“With a few policy tweaks, India could be back on track to meet its’ ambitious target of 450 gigawatts of renewables by 2030.”
The IEEFA report identifies a number of policies currently stifling growth in renewable energy in India. They include the imposition of the solar cell and module trade duty in 2017, which the government is now looking to extend beyond 2020.
The duty has neither reduced imports nor significantly improved the competitiveness of Indian manufactured solar cells. Instead, it has severely slowed down solar installs in India, both because of the extra cost imposed but equally due to the confusion on delayed implementation.
“The uncertainty of this trade duty has been one of the most serious impediments to India’s renewable energy momentum,” says co-author Kashish Shah, IEEFA’s energy finance analyst.
“Instead of trying to make Indian manufactured solar cells competitive by increasing the price of imported modules, the industry needs an assured offtake in domestic markets, as was achieved in the recent, very successful solar manufacturing tender. It also needs to be incentivised for exporting.”
Better centre-state coordination on renewable energy development and increasing the expansion of necessary transmission networks and balancing capacity (batteries, pumped hydro storage, demand response management and more flexible thermal capacity) are further policy areas requiring immediate attention.
“Renewable energy developers are currently experiencing delays and cost overruns while waiting for the central and state governments to talk to each other and streamline their activities. This is jeopardising their project economics and stalling further investment,” says Shah.
The report finds a key prerequisite for continuing India’s renewable energy investment ambition is concurrently building out and modernising India’s national transmission grid to accelerate the enormous progress achieved over the last decade.
“India could attract US$500 to 700bn in new investment by 2030 – the opportunity is huge,” says Buckley.
“To do this, India’s grid must be urgently expanded. The slow-down in transmission capacity is slowing India’s renewable energy ambition.
“And the continuing ballooning underfunding of subsidies and rising state-discom debt is severely hampering the financial industry’s ability to finance new renewable energy development, as is some state’s desire to renegotiate on projects. This is not on – and creates instability for investors.”
The report concludes that sovereign risk, policy risks and erratic discom payments are all creating unnecessary financial constraints for the Indian renewable energy sector.
“US$40-60bn of non-performing assets in the thermal power generation sector has combined with discom payment delays to impair various financial institutions’ ability to lend to the renewable sector at a time when investment is needed,” says Buckley.
“It is extremely important to reshape policies hindering transmission capacity building and renewable project development while freeing up liquidity in the domestic banking system as soon as possible to keep India’s renewable energy ambition on track.”
Dehui Solar, a solar energy products and services solutions provider, launched Max and BiMax Series photovoltaic modules during Intersolar North America 2020, which took place at the San Diego Convention Center from February 4 to February 6, 2020.
Intersolar North America highlights the latest energy technologies, services, companies, and organizations striving to create a positive impact on climate change and support our planet’s transition into a more sustainable energy future.
Dehui Solar’s Max Series module features monofacial half-cut 166mm x 166mm (M6) cells with 9BB to provide better current collection ability with maximum power output as high as 445Wp. Meanwhile, in addition to the above features, the BiMax Series module offers bifacial technology for additional energy gain from the rear side and enhanced fire resistance performance. The power outputs of the front side of BiMax modules are rated up to 440Wp.
Mr. Hui Huang, CEO of Dehui Solar, said: “We are pleased to be a part of this year’s Intersolar North America at San Diego. Through this significant event, we look forward to introducing our latest modules to one of the biggest solar markets in the world.”
Mr. Mofe Stallings, General Manager of Dehui Solar USA, added, “After producing over 350MW of modules made with 156.75mm cells in 2019 for the US and EU markets as an OEM manufacturer for Tier 1 module suppliers, we are taking this opportunity to showcase Dehui Solar’s advancement of solar energy by introducing our larger cell format Max and BiMax Series modules to serve as a landmark of Dehui Solar’s independent foray into the US market.”
The annual cell and module capacity of Dehui Solar is 1.5GW and 2GW, respectively. Dehui Solar expects to ship over 1GW of modules to the USA in 2020.
Automation can help save on productive time, manpower, investments, costs, reduce scope for errors and thus allow asset managers more time on hand to focus on productive functions such as analysing data and necessitate profitable business decisions. Also automation helps predict risks, and diagnose errors in the performing asset. Businesses can then be assured of stable RoIs.
Let’s hear from a few experts, their views on why automation is no longer a “good-to-have” but a “must-have” element for seamless operation and maintenance of the solar plant.
Mr. Shashi Shekhar, Vice Chairman, ACME Solar
With an increasing share of solar in the energy sector, automated asset management has become very important as manual examining of entire plants is becoming inefficient for it requires more resources (manpower, time and money). Use of an automation system in its full force helps identify and diagnose the under performing asset in the system which minimizes the potential risks and ensures that the expected returns are met.
Additionally it also aids in bringing transparency into the system and monitors KPIs like performance ratio (PR), time between faults, types of tickets raised, variance between expected and actual values, etc. The system indirectly helps to identify the efficiency and capability of all the assets (man & material) and also acts as a single window for the entire portfolio.
It is observed that in the energy sector, asset management is at times considered limited to only monitoring. However, solar asset management covers technical, commercial and financial aspects as well, which therefore not only affect the performance parameters like PR, CUF, PA etc., but also tracks costs, warranties, and ensures regulatory compliances are met. An asset management group works every day to develop and recommend strategies to increase the project’s operational performance that renders positive returns. It is of key importance for an organization, as failure to proactively oversee the health of a system results in a significant loss of capital.
It can hence be said that Asset management is a true amalgamation of knowledge, technology and experience, and when renewable energy plants are coupled with effective asset management system, it leads to a reliable and sustainable system.
Mr. Manoj Gupta, Vice President – Solar, Fortum
As the world is realising the magnitude of the threats of climate change, the focus on renewable energy generation is at an alltime high. Talking specifically about solar energy, the overall energy consumption of people around the globe annually is less than what Earth receives from the Sun in 2 hours, so there is an enormous potential to be tapped in this space, especially in a country like India where we receive abundant sunlight throughout the year. We, at Fortum India are making our presence stronger in this segment and are extensively adopting newer technologies to improve the quality of our operations.
One of the most essential aspects of carrying out solar energy operations smoothly is the management of assets across solar plants. Making sure that these assets are wellmaintained and produce the desired results is a space that can further be revolutionised with rampant advancements in the world of automation technology. The solar energy sector is an asset intensive industry and it will strongly benefit through such technological advancements in the times to come.
Handling data manually can always lead to some errors from time-to-time that can cause loss of time and money. Automation will ensure accuracy in mapping, assessing and presentation of data from solar assets. Also, by automating the processes of asset management, data becomes more centralised and is easily accessible to its stakeholders.
The reduction in costs and lesser dependence on manpower will certainly provide cost savings, help in making solar power more accessible and competitive with traditional methods of producing energy.
Automating asset management will also help in visualizing data automatically by displaying essential KPIs specific to the requirements. All of these aspects will result in saving administrative time and harness conservation to a great extent in the coming years.
Mr. Simarpreet Singh, Director and CEO, Hartek Solar Pvt Ltd
Enabling you to have a comprehensible and accurate data in real time right at your fingertips, automation can drive efficiency by speeding up your work and freeing up more time for your employees for other productive tasks. Tracking down a crucial contract, for instance, cannot get easier than this. Automating a lengthy process like Solar PPA invoicing while doing away with any scope for error can save a lot of time and effort, giving you more time to analyse data and take considered decisions.
The integration of solar energy asset management with software will ensure that all your important business data and processes are managed and updated at one centrally accessible place. You can even customise your asset management process to suit your business needs, thus saving both time and resources with the streamlining of workflow through compliance reminders.
The adoption of automation processes can also help reduce operational costs and running expenses. This has become imperative to maintain a steady flow of profits by offsetting the constant drop in prices through automated solutions. The operation and maintenance of solar projects, for example, can become much more cost-effective with advanced analytics and a customised software by improving the efficiency of site tasks like mowing and module washing.
Digital platforms for solar asset management can also help minimise corrective repairs through proactive maintenance. Syncing solar projects with a monitoring system, a performance assessment mechanism and diagnostic tools which offers solutions in real time, can go a long way in reducing costs, enhancing efficiencies and improving profit margins.
Mr. Suraj Vernekar, Co-founder & CEO, Aegeus Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
As we know that the most expensive asset in a solar project is the Solar panel, which if not maintained properly will result in efficiency drop approximately upto 50% due to dust accumulation, bird drop, etc. on the panels and it’ll highly impact the power generation. To avoid this loss usually manpower is used for cleaning solar panels. This again uses a lot of water and nylon brushes that harm the module surface. Further, it also adds on to the manpower cost. So automation and robotics can help maintain the efficiency of the modules and protect them. Using a Waterless Module Cleaning technology can help save a lot of water as well.
We strive to provide solutions to increase the energy efficiency of our client’s solar projects by studying the layout of the project and suggesting the right amount to be invested on procurement of robots for cleaning, depending on the geography, size of the project, current cost incurred for cleaning, and lot of other factors are considered to understand the requirements well. We then offer the right investment and procurement plan for an automated robotic cleaning solution which will deliver businesses an ROI within the next 6 to 18 months.
Mr. C Chaudhary, Chief Operating Officer, Amp Energy India
How robust is Amp Energy India in its solar asset management unit? What are the best solar asset management practices followed today?
At Amp Energy India, we follow best industry practices in asset management for all our projects including rooftop and ground mount. We manage our assets by following prudent practices in solar asset management such as:
a) Central monitoring and management system or remote operation centre for all our assets across India.
b) Rigorous implementation of basic plant activity such as preventive and corrective maintenance with pre-set checklist. Checking the health of our plants through PV diagnostic.
c) Frequent cleaning of panels according to soiling analysis.
d) We have robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and accordingly we manage our assets to outperform.
What are the steps followed by Amp Energy India to optimize and improve on solar asset management standards?
Amp Energy India has high standards in terms of system quality and efficiency and follows a systematic approach of asset management to improve system efficiency and reliability. Central monitoring helps us in analysing equipment level performance across different geographical regions of our installations.
The SOP’s are defined for remedial action for individual breakdown. PV diagnostic is conducted on a year-on-year basis. Also, inventory management of complete assets is undertaken.
What can be done to increase performance while improving the lifecycle of the project?
Steps that can be taken to increase performance while improving the lifecycle of the project are:
Preventive maintenance in a timely manner.
Quality check of each and every equipment as per defined schedule.
Thermographic imaging and IV curve check of modules to analyse performance and degradation.
Chemical properties of water shall be within permissible range such that it won’t affect modules.
Timely equipment compliance in terms of calibration of sensors and meters.
Inventory management such that breakdown time can be minimised with readily available spares and reducing the cost of spares.
Sufficient security for large utility projects on a day and night basis.
Compliances as per the local regulation and CEA guidelines.
Highlight some of the significant technology advancements to improve performance efficiencies and save on costs? Is India at par with technological breakthroughs that are happening globally?
We have been successful in increasing the efficiency of our plants by real time monitoring and following best practices at Amp Energy India. Online and central monitoring system for real-time alarm and record.
Analytics can also play a major role for increasing plant performance and diagnosing equipment failure. Robotic/dry cleaning can improve performance and reduce overall cost. Automatic alert of activities with defined criticalities, management of plant inventory and corrective maintenance.
India is still in the process of adopting the best technology and industry practices from global partners since it involves cost and time.
Do you think a standardized process is required for an effective quality management system?
Yes, a standardized process is key for an effective quality management system and we at Amp Energy India have standardised Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Quality Management System (QMS).
Should the government introduce certain frameworks for ensuring asset quality maintenance?
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) and Asset Management are key to technical and economic performance of solar systems and plants. Having a set framework for O&M and Asset Management would help ensure that high quality assets are built which would in turn mitigate potential risks, improve the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) prices, and positively impact the return on investment (ROI).
Demonstrating transparent and responsible asset management processes that align with best practice.
Undertaking maintenance programs which may include conservation, rehabilitation and renewal to prolong the life of an asset and monitor and manage the asset life cycle.
Considering the current and future needs of the community and its ability to provide infrastructure assets which contribute to meeting these needs, ensuring legislative requirements are met, ensuring resources and operational capabilities are identified and appropriately allocated are some of the ways to do it.
How have your projects performed financially and technically in the recent past? Has the RoI been up to expectations?
At Amp Energy India, we have operating rooftop and ground mount projects across India for different segments such as Manufacturing, Pharma & Healthcare, Cement & Steel, Educational institutions, FMCG etc with different technologies of inverters, modules and PLCs.
Having said that, we monitor our projects through a central monitoring system at a single location with a dedicated team of experts and have strong OEM partners for operation & maintenance of our plants. All our plants have been performing better or equal to the estimated generation as committed to our customers and hence RoI has been in line with our expectation.
What are some of the key advantages of having good quality solar monitoring systems?
A solar monitoring system provides information about a PV system’s performance on energy consumption and generation, optimizing energy usage, and damage to the solar systems among other things.
Monitoring a solar setup is important, to understand if the solar panels are operating at an optimum efficiency which otherwise is difficult to figure out.
Detecting problems while sending an alert when performance is nose-diving or any others fluctuation.
Monitoring systems often detect problems and defects with panels, and recommend repairs to the setup.
Monitoring systems also offer data on historical weather-based performance, so you can know how the weather has impacted the solar production in the past, and what you might expect in the future and what action you can take to recover.
Portland General Electric and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc., announced an agreement to purchase power from a new 162-megawatt solar generation facility – the largest in Oregon – to be developed and built in eastern Oregon. The new facility will supply power and the accompanying renewable energy credits to PGE’s Green Future Impact customers, helping them source up to 100% of their energy from a local renewable energy resource that they’ve helped make possible.
“We’re proud to meet growing customer demand for clean energy,” said Maria Pope, president and CEO of Portland General Electric. “These partnerships are critical for creating jobs, thereby creating a green economy and accelerating clean energy delivery to customers.”
Green Future Impact is a voluntary renewable energy program that PGE introduced to give large businesses and municipalities more ways to meet their ambitious sustainability goals and strengthen the local clean energy industry. Avangrid Renewables will develop and own the project, which Green Future Impact customers will participate in naming. PGE will purchase the facility’s entire output for 15 years, increasing the amount of clean energy in PGE’s system and creating a tangible connection between participating customers and their energy resource.
The new solar facility will be Avangrid Renewables’ 11th renewable energy facility in Oregon and will be built on 1,200 privately owned acres in Gilliam County. Construction is expected to begin in late 2020 or early 2021. At its peak, construction will generate approximately 300 jobs in partnership with local unions. When the facility begins operating in late 2021, it will produce enough power to serve the equivalent of about 40,000 homes and will generate an estimated $1.3 million of taxes and property owner lease payments each year, benefitting the local economy for years to come.
“We value the opportunity to partner with PGE to build the largest solar facility in Oregon,” said Alejandro de Hoz, Avangrid Renewables president and CEO. “Given our company’s long history in the Pacific Northwest, we are proud to play a key role in delivering more renewable electricity to forward-thinking commercial energy customers.”
Approved by the Oregon Public Utilities Commission in 2019, Green Future Impact is available to cities and other large businesses who meet threshold requirements for energy use. By committing to long-term participation, the program ensures that customer prices reflect the actual cost of producing and delivering the energy. The program is structured to be self-supporting and avoid shifting costs to non-participating customers. Additional capacity in the Green Future Impact program remains available.
Participating Green Future Impact customers include Adobe, Comcast, Daimler Trucks North America, Digital Realty, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland Community College, Portland State University and the cities of Beaverton, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Portland, Salem, West Linn and Wilsonville, along with Multnomah and Washington counties.
Clenergy (Xiamen) Technology Co Ltd, a leading high-tech company specializing in solar PV power stations (project business, development, investment and EPC) and Obton, a Danish solar photovoltaic business specialized in the acquisition, development and management of solar projects, closed the sale of a 65 MW solar farm power project in Ganzlin, Germany.
“Clenergy is very pleased to have secured Obton as buyer of our solar farm and closed the transaction for this showcase project in Germany,” said Clenergy CEO Daniel Hong. “Obton has been the right partner with their experienced gained for more than 10 years, and in over 160 deals globally.” Daniel Ruoss, general manager of Clenergy’s global project business, said: “The 65 MW solar farm is one of the largest PV projects in Germany for many years and is financed by Norddeutsche Landesbank. Construction is well under way and commercial operation is scheduled [for] June 2020.”
Obton CEO Anders Marcus said: “Clenergy is an outstanding partner for us and we are thrilled to announce the transaction. The PV power project in Ganzlin fits perfectly in Obton’s vision of creating a sustainable future for the coming generation and we are looking forward to continuing doing so in one of our biggest markets, Germany.”
Both buyer and seller acknowledged the tremendous contribution of their local teams in making the deal a success. For Obton that referred to financial advisor Bankhaus von der Heydt (1754.de), of München; legal advisor Buse Herberer Fromm (buse.de), of Hamburg; and technical advisor Evergy Engineering GmbH (evergy.de), of München.
Clenergy thanked financial advisor and debt and equity process manager First Solid Capital GmbH (firstsolidcapital.com), of Hamburg; legal advisor Kanzlei Roettger (green-law-hh.de/), of Hamburg; and its global project team of Bastian Schultz, Damon Yan, Cindy Huang, Gunnar Schmidt, Can Kökten, Hartmut Schuldt, Daniel Parncutt, Emma Li and Effi Probian.
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has today opened a Industry and Investors’ Facilitation Centre in the Ministry. This will work as a focal point to provide correct and timely information on Policies and programmes of the Government and also resolve the issues of the renewable energy (RE) investors and industry in the country.
Underlining the importance of this Centre Shri R K Singh, Minister of State (I/C) for Power and New & Renewable Energy and Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship said, “We are committed to increase our share RE to 40 percent of our total power generation capacity by 2030 to mark India’s significant contribution towards mitigating climate change challenges. This centre will play an important role to achieve this goal. The Facilitation Centre will work as a fast track mechanism in resolving the investors’ issues and taking the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) to a notch higher.”
Referring to the efforts to enhance RE capacity, the Minister said that 86 GW Capacity has already been installed, 34 GW is under implementation while 30 GW is at various stages of tendering.” The Ministry is setting up Ultra Mega RE Power Projects for providing land and transmission on plug and play basis.
He also said that his Ministry is constantly working on greater Ease of Doing Business (EODB). The Ministry has strengthened Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Letter of Credit measures for payment security mechanism.
The Centre headed by Joint Secretary ( Mr Amitesh Kumar Sinha), MNRE, will catalyse and boost investor confidence and ensure timely completion of the projects in the sector. Soon, a dedicated portal will be developed for the purpose.
It may be added that India’s renewable energy journey has been largely supported by private investment. Till date it has attracted about $100 billion investment and $14 billion is in the process. India further, requires about $65 billion more investment in RE sector.
In light of narrowing developer margins owing to falling solar power tariffs, how do you optimise costs and ensure better savings? This is one tough question for the solar power operations and maintenance (O&M) segment. In order to reduce unplanned downtime, and improve revenues through better generation, more efficient O&M practices are required.
Today, developers and plant operators are being compelled to reduce operational expenses and optimise generation to increase the dwindling profit margins. Besides, the recent imposition of safeguard duties, and goods and services tax (GST) offers little relief from the pressure already built up.
While large asset owners will continue to achieve economies of scale because most of their O&M activities are managed in-house. However, mid- and small-size asset owners will continue to face cost and profit margin pressures, leading to outsourcing of O&M activities. Manpower and module cleaning account for the largest share of O&M expenses at a solar power plant.
O&M costs can be optimised by recalibrating some specific parameters of the plant which include module cleaning that considers soiling rates, cleaning costs and manpower optimisation through centralisation and technology substitution. In view of the current scenario, it is important for cost management strategies in solar O&M to evolve with the changing times.
Let’s understand some expert views on efficient cost management practices in solar O&M below:
According to Vector Green Energy, “It is time that the industry starts approaching O&M costs from an holistic perspective and the traditional O&M setup moves towards a comprehensive Asset Management service. For any measures taken to improve cost efficiencies, which are being realized through any optimization exercise, should be looked at critically on the basis of its potential to minimize the risks for the asset, as well as ability of such measures to ensure that the optimizations lasts for a significant period of project life.”
The industry also needs to avoid the temptation to demonstrate cost efficiencies either by ignoring regular plant health analysis in early days, or by failing to timely address the expected wear and tear, to create shareholder wealth for the project life.
Challenges to effective cost management in Solar O&M
A sustained growth phase adds to heterogeneity in the portfolio where multiple OEMs, with different contract structure and varied performance standards becomes a key challenge to manage costs effectively. Also sustaining cost efficiency measures for a longer period is a key challenge given the fact that solar PV modules are expected to degrade, and operating costs are expected to go up on account of wear and tear, as well as inflation.
Growth Strategies to Stay in Sync with Market Demand, While Promoting Cost Efficiency
Adopting a holistic asset management practice with focus on integration of best practices in the portfolio and standardization of O&M practices, reporting and contract KPIs will drive cost efficiencies as well as optimal portfolio performance in a rapidly scaled up portfolio. The industry also needs to graduate from regular break down / preventive maintenance to predictive maintenance, to be able to identify the areas that require advance attention to promote cost efficiencies. Continual and effective utilization of data analytics helps in identifying the areas where cost efficiencies can be brought in.
Mr. Majesh Nayak, Director & COO, Oorjan Cleantech Pvt. Ltd.
The fast-growing Indian solar market and the narrowing profit margins due to lowering solar tariffs has made the operations and maintenance (O&M) of solar plants an important business segment. Managing O&M costs (comprising about 1-1.5% p.a. of the plant capex) and ensuring better quality is key to ensuring improved solar generation and profitability to considerable extent (about 30%). The major components of the O&M costs comprise of module cleaning, manpower and security (over 40%) followed by capital expenses, tools and spares, etc. O&M activities could range from supervision and monitoring, to maintenance, to general plant administration.
O&M of solar plants involves difficulty since these plants may either be spread on large acres of land or may be granular, but distributed across roofs. The unavailability of skilled labour is another major issue faced by the O&M industry. Other challenges include transportation of men, machines and spares across sites, the evolving laws and regulations, etc.
Mix of technology and effective resource planning will help solve the above challenges and optimize costs while improving quality of the services. Using remote monitoring technology and easy web-based comprehensive dashboard, like the ones developed by us at Oorjan, helps efficient operations as well as save on costs by reducing underutilisation of resources. Further, resource planning is the key. Say, should the cleaning activity be done manually or should it be automated, etc. setting the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the service quality and costs is important here. Using various budgeting and financial models like cost linked budgeting and use of latest technologies such as drone technology and robotic cleaning will optimize costs to great extents, while ensuring better quality service. Thus, effective planning and budgeting of resources coupled with technology adoption and centralisation of decision making will help achieve cost optimisation with quality services.
Mr. Sandeep Jadhav, COO, Mahindra TEQO
Challenges to effective cost management in Solar O&M
Solar Operations & Maintenance (O&M) is a labour-intensive industry which accounts for huge operational cost. The key O&M activities that impact operational costs are security, vegetation removal and module cleaning.
A) Security: Solar PV plants are usually constructed in remote locations which need proper surveillance considering theft, dacoity and possible detriment. Given the 5x to 10x growth of solar plants in the recent past, managing the security activities of these power plants through conventional methods has created one of the major challenges for the industry.
B) Module Cleaning: Solar module cleaning is the most important scheduled maintenance activity which contributes up to 40 percent of the overall O&M revenue. With many solar power plants located in drought-prone and desert-like areas, non-availability of water for cleaning modules is going to pose a huge challenge in the future.
C) Lack of skilled manpower: Operators spend a large amount of time and resources on training local technicians for good O&M practices and finding trained manpower, plus retention is a hard task.
D) Vegetation Removal: Uncontrolled vegetation disrupts maintenance and causes shadows on PV arrays, leading to hot spots and generation loss. Dry vegetation collected leads to a higher risk of fire. Thus, weed removal is a cost and resource burden to any solar project.
Growth Strategies to Stay in Sync with Market Demand, While Promoting Cost Efficiency
Innovation has a central role at Mahindra Teqo in developing the growth strategies for local and global markets. The main purpose of our work is to build O&M of the future – “High Tech, High-Value, High-Quality” with focus on decreasing the Operational Expenditure per MW and increase the production efficiency by infusing the innovative solutions powered by technology to drive operational and cost efficiency through various ways like:
Hi-Tech, Optimized and Local
Overall, module cleaning and manpower costs together constitute the bulk of solar plant O&M costs which can be significantly reduced with automation and digitization such as robotic cleaning solutions, AI/ML based predictive system, Agro PV Model and aerial drones for site inspection.
Rooftop solar is mainly installed for captive consumption and the installation starts from 1kWp and can go up to 1MW. Generally, most of the installed capacity is between 1 kWp and 20 kWp. While rooftop solar installation and generating power might have caught the fancy of micro and small units, offices, schools, hospitals and households in the states of Punjab and Haryana, with solar rooftop power generation from these two states has touched 245 MW last year, according to a news media report.
The rooftop solar installations are much smaller in terms of generation capacity, in comparison to the ground-mounted projects. In Haryana, the solar power is dominated by rooftop plants of 145 MW (on residential and commercial buildings). The total installed capacity of solar power in the state is 225 MW, including ground-mounted installations. However, in the neighbouring state of Punjab, the rooftop capacity is 100 MW.
The rooftop solar installations are much smaller in terms of generation capacity, in comparison to the ground-mounted projects. In Haryana, the solar power is dominated by rooftop plants of 145 MW (on residential and commercial buildings). The total installed capacity of solar power in the state is 225 MW, including ground-mounted installations. However, in the neighbouring state of Punjab, the rooftop capacity is 100 MW.
Since the cost of generating solar power has fallen sharply over the years, it has led to wider adoption and installation of rooftop solar in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Plus, the government’s decision to increase subsidy from 30% to 40% on rooftop solar plants (up to 3 kWp capacity) will further give fillip to new installations. The subsidy amount has been fixed at 20% for 4 kWp to 10 kWp solar plants. In view of the current industry scenario, there are few hiccups to solar rooftop installation in the states of Punjab and Haryana.
We understand from experts on the next steps to implement that will aid the future growth of the India solar story and promote rooftop solar installations in the states leading up North.
Mr. Kunal Munshi, Founder, Sunrator Technologies LLP
With 34% of our solar power targets being met of the 100GW to be achieved by 2022, the Indian solar story is at its climax! Mind it the 34GW is 170% higher than the original target of 20GW to be achieved in the same time pre-2014. Majority of these installations are ground mount utility scale, over 90% to be precise. Despite significant progress in rooftop solar installations, the 100GW target was originally subdivided into 40GW for rooftop and the remaining for ground mount. Reaching the target of 40 GW rooftop installations by 2022 will not only be challenging but seems impossible by most optimistic forecasting, even though India might install somewhere close to the overall set targets.
industrial or commercial power consumers. Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA) estimates that for the next three years, the rooftop solar installation will grow at a CAGR of 50%, suggesting a cumulative 13 GW of installed capacity by FY22, which still falls short of 27GW or 67% of the target.
Though the country’s total solar installed capacity has reached 33.73 GW as of December 31, 2019. 25GW are under the Implementation/ construction stages and another 25GW is tendered for future implementation, thus making the sector poised to achieve its ground mount targets in the next 2 Years.
Factors that would catalyze growth are:
Stable and Uniform Net Metering Policy Across the Country
Although 27 states and union territories have issued net metering policies or regulations since the issue of the model net metering regulations in 2013, only a few states have begun actual implementation of the policy on the ground. The slow or patchy progress in the net-metering policy can be attributed primarily to issues like lack of clear policy frameworks, passive opposition from DISCOMs and insufficient awareness cum training at the local utility level.
There needs to be uniformity at the policy level to catalyze the adaptation of rooftop solar for consumers, uncertainty in regulations is slowing the pace of rooftop installation by C&I consumers. Taking cues from the Maharashtra net metering fiasco, where the DISCOM wanted to revert the net metering to gross metering, thus putting the whole rooftop market in jeopardy, it is time that the central government steps in and helps various DISCOMs create a policy environment across the country around net-metering, thus making stable and uniform laws that won’t be subject to whims and fancies of individual state distribution companies. This will help build investor confidence and attract investments in the sector.
Though it is easier said than done as it would dismantle the equilibrium created by the cross-subsidies that becomes a taboo even to talk about.
Access to Finance
Limited access to debt finance due to perceived high risks and suspicion about performance for this relatively new sector within the financial community is a deterrent to growth in solar. Banks and FIs are reluctant to lend to solar rooftop projects and borrowing costs can be as high as 12% or more when they do lend.
Due to the smaller size of the projects in the rooftop solar sector, developers do not approach banks for loans because of the proportionately higher transactional cost per unit of the project cost. Here the small retail consumer has to go through the personal loan route if incase he desires to finance his rooftop solar power plant. It would make a lot of sense if a new sub category can be placed in the existing home loans to install solar power in already constructed houses at the same interest rate, without having the need to hypothecate the whole house instead just the installed solar power system. The finance would be easier to access and the banks can do the local due vigilance on the consumer’s credit history instead of a central rating requirement.
Consumer perception of risks and performance
Even after a decade of proliferation, solar power is still perceived as a relatively new technology especially amongst the retail consumers and therefore there is a perception that it may not perform as expected over its lifetime. Also, there are trust issues as several entrepreneurs in the rooftop solar market are comparatively new with a little track record and maintenance of quality and customer service is always uncertain.
Few policy level steps that the agencies involved can take to reduce the confusion about the retail are:
� The involvement of too many agencies like MNRE, IREDA, SNA, and electricity board and electricity regulatory commission makes the development of solar PV projects difficult.
� Generation-based incentives should be offered rather than subsidy. This data can be easily available in electricity bills, this would make the financing of the plant also easier. � The net metering procedure should be time-bound with online single window process on ground and not on papers as it is now, and the net meter should be fitted within one month from the date of application.
� The net metering procedure should be time-bound with online single window process on ground and not on papers as it is now, and the net meter should be fitted within one month from the date of application.
Even though India has the lowest capital cost per MW globally to install solar power plants and the current installation have grown exponentially in the past half-decade, yet solar only accounts for 3% of the total power consumed in the country, and about 10% of the total installed power capacity of India. This on a positive note leaves the sector accessible for growth in the coming decade.
Mr. Sushil Sarawgi, Director, Kor Energy India Pvt Ltd
Better awareness about the benefits of rooftop solar needs to be created for residential, commercial and industrial sectors by government, social and industrial bodies as well as solar industry. Good projects should be showcased to consumers and live existing projects will help them get better understanding and develop confidence in technology.
Better awareness about the benefits of rooftop solar needs to be created for residential, commercial and industrial sectors by government, social and industrial bodies as well as solar industry. Good projects should be showcased to consumers and live existing projects will help them get better understanding and develop confidence in technology. Haryana face a lot of problems in getting adjustment of exported units in the electricity bills. This leads to bad word of mouth publicity about Net Metering benefits from the existing users of rooftop solar energy.
Delay in disbursement of subsidy is one major reason why residential customers were not going for rooftop solar. Now with new policy of upfront subsidy there should be better adoption of rooftop solar energy by them.
There is a subsidy for cold storages from Horticulture Board for adoption of Rooftop Solar by them up to 35 percent of project cost. As there are a good number of cold storages in both Punjab and Haryana. If this subsidy benefit is properly marketed, it will result in better adoption of rooftop solar by cold storage facilities in the states.
Mr. Brhamesh Alipuria, Director and Founder, Direct Watts SET Pvt. Ltd.
Net Metering process clarity and time bound approvals
There has to be clarity within the DISCOMs (PSPCL in Punjab) (UHBVN and DHBVN in Haryana) about the Net metering process and the required documentation. The documents for submissions must be clearly defined. Approval must be time bound. There are going to be fundamentally 4 stages:
1.In principal approval required for setting up of net metering and solar connection as per regulation of the state.
2. Electrical Inspection / CEIG required once the solar plant is installed by the consumer. Defined checklists should be there on the basis of objections may be raised.
3. Meter checking and changing also known as plant commissioning as the maximum benefit of net metering can only be achieved, once the Net Meter has been replaced.
4. Net Metering Agreement often ignored and unaware, the net metering agreement is not done with the user, where the benefit of time can be challenged for the user. Many clarifications are required on validity of such agreement and benefits to the consumer.
Futile Empanelment Process
Once the above process is streamlined, the requirements for vendor empanelment would not be there. This is the process in which governments are wasting a lot of their time and money. It is also confusing the consumers. The rates being discovered are only bringing the quality of the system down and are often not practical.
No Need for Awareness Programs or Subsidy
In my experience, if the government focuses only on the first step and executes it properly, the advantages of solar power along with the various industries associated with it, will automatically be promoted among the masses. Further, with the current prices, the system is affordable to most who understand the benefits of it and there is no need for subsidy. Subsidy process might be hampering the growth of solar at this time.
Financing and Tax Benefits
Instead of subsidy, the government should instruct banks to develop products for solar financing like vehicles and homes. Further, the GST on solar should be reduced and Individual Tax Benefits could be provided to encourage quick adoption of solar.
Growing Demand
The power demand is expected to grow rapidly with the introduction of Electric Vehicles (EVs). Further, industry boosts would lead to growth in demand. In view of the current scenario, lack of awareness amongst
Based on results from the Global PV Installer Monitor Survey of installers in various countries in Europe including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and France and select additional markets around the globe, EuPD Research ranks Jinkosolar the top overall pick and awards The Top Brand PV award. The ratings factor in product and service quality, reliability and consumer satisfaction.
EuPD Research, a highly specialized European research firm, confirmed the results of this year’s Global PV Installer Monitor Survey which clearly highlights JinkoSolar’s strong market position in leading European PV markets and in Australia. Furthermore, the independent research institute emphasized that participating installers rated JinkoSolar products higher when compared to competing products, “Jinkosolar is going up against other brands, it excels in all areas that we measure.”
“We are very pleased to see JinkoSolar receive for the second consecutive year the Europe Top Brand award which is further evidence that our strategy to position Jinko as the leading module supplier in the European distribution market is generating strong results. JinkoSolar’s broad product portfolio, high-quality service and product are why we have steadily grown our client base. We remain confident in our strategy to further strengthen JinkoSolar’s position in Europe in both the distribution and project market.” JinkoSolar General Manager – Europe, Frank Niendorf commented.
Jinkosolar has made its business by building a trustworthy reputation to its customers, and it is rewarded by the market for it. With over 14 GW of panel delivered in 2019, the largest solar module producer Jinkosolar is significantly larger it was in the previous year and the company is accumulating sales as well as customers and destination countries at a faster clip than its counterparts. According to Jinkosolar, the total shipment climbed to about 55 GW by 2019 delivered to more than 3500 customers dispersed in 140 countries.
His Excellency Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister for Oil of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Chairman of Tatweer Petroleum, and Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding today. The ceremony was attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The agreement will enhance collaboration in the energy sector, by facilitating the joint assessment and launch of new initiatives in areas of mutual interest, including renewable energy, LNG supply and exploration.
In accordance with Bahrain’s national energy plan, renewable energy will be an area of particular interest in order to consider potential business opportunities.
In the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) sector, the collaboration will target a more sustainable and efficient energy mix to meet Bahrain’s future energy needs. Eni’s unique know-how and expertise will also be leveraged to evaluate further exploration opportunities.
H.E. Shaikh Mohamed noted: “This MoU will allow for further discussion on collaboration between Tatweer Petroleum and Eni, including the sharing of experience, expertise, and support on renewable energy, LNG supply, and exploration activities. The Kingdom of Bahrain is keen to collaborate on joint projects and exchange ideas and experiences in common areas related to development programs in the oil and gas sector as well as the energy sector.”
Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi commented: “This MoU clearly demonstrates Eni’s commitment to expanding its presence in Bahrain while pursuing Eni’s overall decarbonisation strategy, and forms part of the company’s transition towards green energy and the circular economy that has been underway since 2014. Eni aims to support the increase of low carbon energy sources in countries where it operates. In order to ensure long-term sustainability, Eni promotes the development of renewable energy and conducts scientific and technological research.”
Eni’s operations in the Middle East have continued to grow over the last few years. Notably, Eni began operating in Bahrain in 2019, with one offshore exploration license. The current exploration acreage in the Region includes in the UAE onshore areas in Sharjah and offshore areas in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. In Abu Dhabi Eni also has three offshore development and production concessions and current equity production amounts to approximately 50,000 bbl/day. Eni is also a shareholder with a 20% equity interest in ADNOC Refining. In the Middle East, Eni is also active in Oman, Lebanon and Iraq, where it undertakes both exploration and development activities.
Oikocredit Invests $5 Million in Yellow to Support Growth of Solar Home Systems in Africa
Eni New Energy, a subsidiary of Eni, has opened its new photovoltaic park in Porto Torres. The plant has a capacity of 31 MW and was developed on areas owned by Eni Rewind, Eni’s environmental company, within the Porto Torres Site of National Interest.
Porto Torres (Sassari), 10 February 2020 – Eni New Energy, a subsidiary of Eni, has opened its new photovoltaic park in Porto Torres. The plant has a capacity of 31 MW and was developed on areas owned by Eni Rewind, Eni’s environmental company, within the Porto Torres Site of National Interest. The areas were deemed suitable for repurpose and therefore for the installation of the photovoltaic park, with the endorsement of all relevant institutions and permission by the Ministry of the Environment.
The plant is expected to generate 50 GWh of power every year, of which about 70% is for self-consumption by users connected to Versalis’s network.
Currently, this is the biggest plant built as part of Eni’s Progetto Italia, launched by Eni in 2016, and it’s the second developed by Eni in Sardinia, after the first Assemini (Cagliari) project led by Eni Rewind on requalified areas. The project encompasses the whole of Italy and aims to develop and re-use owned industrial areas to build renewable energy power stations. This is in line with Eni’s strategy for the energy transition and with the goals of the Italian National Integrated Plan for Energy and Climate.
Three years from the start of Progetto Italia this plant is a major milestone in the growth of renewable energy at Eni and brings its installed photovoltaic capacity to over 80 MW, generated by 13 plants in five regions.
The project also involves several compensation works, including energy and environmental projects in Porto Torres, such as supplying lighting to the village of Cala d’Oliva in the island of Asinara.
Mr. Anil Gagvani, Head – Asset Management, ReNew Power Limited
What are some of the challenges to solar asset management today? How has digitalisation helped manage assets efficiently?
Solar Asset Management is a challenging proposition, as its performance is affected by a multitude of factors, over its entire life span. A solar asset is stationary in nature and is in an open atmosphere, impacted by multitude of natural factors such as rains, cloud cover, diffused radiation, dust, cyclones, temperature etc. These factors, combined with local conditions greatly impact safety, reliability and yield.
Solar assets are usually located in remote locations, where logistics and resource deployment is a challenge. Certain operational tasks, such as module cleaning, vegetation management require safe practices that are usually performed by unskilled or semiskilled persons. Large size of the plants pose challenges in terms of logistics and resource deployment.
Speaking of industry, performance and operational standards are evolving gradually, as a significant part of the asset base is still serviced by unorganized players. Rapid evolution of technology, and high rate of obsolescence of installed equipment poses challenges of availability of skilled personnel for service, warranty management and spares availability.
As a leader and the largest player in Renewable Energy, ReNew Power has always anticipated the challenges and remained ahead of its peers by adopting newer technologies such as digitization and automations. We are of the firm view that industry will eventually follow what we are doing today. At ReNew we focus on collection of information and data from multitude of platforms / sources at a very high granularity and use it for our advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms through which has helped us build capability on resource & generation forecasting.
Digital tools have helped us develop deep understanding of different atmospheric and ambient conditions and how they impact yields, safety and reliability, plan our activities better, deploy our resources optimally, and help conserve natural resources, such as water.
Traditionally, Preventive Maintenance, Performance and Inventory Management are carried out using ERP tools (such as SAP). We are going one step further in that, we are digitizing predictive maintenance of our assets.
How do you think strategic asset management can help maximize returns on investment? Has the RoI of ReNew Power in the recent past been up to company expectations? Share with us more growth insights during the years.
ReNew Power commissioned its first solar plant of 50 MW capacity in FY16 in Sheopur District of Madhya Pradesh. Since commissioning of our first plant, we have come a long way in our asset management program. While a large part of the industry relies on conventional methods of O&M, we have tried to implement new technologies, innovative methods and gone beyond conventional beliefs.
Solar Asset management is not all about module cleaning and vegetation management. I believe that strong asset management is a combination of competent manpower, a robust set of processes, deployment of modern tool-set of advanced analytics, machine learning and a management focus to exploring & implementing new innovative ideas to improve health and safety, asset yield and reliability.At ReNew Power we have all the tools in place and this is evident in performance KPIs of our projects.
What are the latest technologies recently introduced at ReNew Power for effective and efficient renewable energy/solar asset management?
Solar asset management has a significant scope of improvisation by deploying analytics and performance monitoring tools. We have been active in this area, and have created a set of methods and systems that helps us retain our competitive edge. We began by building a robust infrastructure, processes, capabilities and implementation of Enterprise level SCADA.
In FY20, we have started working on digital transformation of business by building Agile labs and creating our own IPR in the form of digital modules on Advance Analytics. At present we have a pool of 100+ innovations to explore which will help us increase safety, yield and reliability.
ReNew asset management has sourced critical components and developed alternatives for critical components for seamless operation. This is a big leap towards the sustainable O&M practices considering that the market is seeing a lack of components, obsolescence and change of technology. Once successfully implemented, these innovations will help us realize further improvement in uptime and yield.
What are the measures taken by the team at ReNew Power to maximize energy production, minimize downtime, and reduce operation and maintenance costs?
ReNew power has taken several measures to improve safety, yield and reliability of assets. Most of these initiatives have been implemented with the help of automation. Some of the measures we have taken are:
Condition based module cleaning instead of industry practice of time-based cleaning to help conserve water while optimizing yield.
Drone thermography used for monitoring the overall asset health condition and early detection of failures. It also helps us to reduce the conventional module testing cost significantly. Implementation of robotic cleaning at sites to improve the yield of plants along with saving of water and subsequently the cost.
Developed alternatives for critical components such as tracker, actuators, inverters etc and service / repairs set up at its own facility. This has helped us to reduce turnaround time.
Inventory management through SAP system and BI dashboards which enables us for effective use of spares across sites and procurement of same.
We ran our in-house program of assessing the health of our projects through audits. We called it “Asset Health Assurance” program. Through this we conduct periodic audits at all sites to determine and improve the health score of assets.
IV measurements of Strings/ Modules on a sampling basis on a periodic basis through our reliability team by reducing the uncertainty factors.
E-surveillance at remote sites and GPS tagging on cabs have helped to operate more efficiently and created a scope to reduce operational cost.
Should the government introduce certain frameworks for ensuring asset quality maintenance and standardise asset management practices throughout the industry?
Government has done really well by setting the vision of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 and by giving it a priority. In order that quality of assets built is good and that they continue to serve for their design life, it is necessary to put in place a framework that addresses asset quality concerns, such as module quality, build quality, PV waste management, transmission constraints, re-powering the PV projects etc.
Standardizing the asset management practices is a welcome step, especially when the industry is set to grow further. ReNew is at the forefront here as well, shaking hands with premier institutes, renowned consultant & government bodies to set-up a standard on performance testing of PV modules and various other initiatives.
What have been the key highlights of 2019 at the Asset Management division of ReNew Power and plans underway for growth in the team towards vision 2025?
2019 was an eventful year for ReNew power. We undertook several programs that will have a long-term impact on our competitiveness. We entered into an alliance with a technology partner who is a market leader in the segment. We set up an agile lab to better analyse and assess the data at our disposal, which in turn helped us standardise more than 90 processes within solar asset management.
We also introduced an in-house program for improvement of yields and reliability improvement. Under the initiative we are managing more than 20 projects on yield and reliability improvement for our assets. Moreover, through this program we have put focus on our safety culture. Our standards of governance remain impeccable throughout and we intend to continue with the same zeal in future.
The industries association and bodies recognised our efforts and showered us with many awards for our outstanding O&M practices. Some of these recognitions came from industry peers such as the CII, who selected ReNew power as recipient of ‘Excellence in Performance award’ at the CII Performance Excellence Awards for Solar and Wind Plants-2018 and 2019 for our solar project based at Telangana and MP respectively. We were also awarded RE Assets excellence award 2019.
Going forward, we intend to sharpen our focus and adapt to newer ways in advance analytics and machine learning. With robust processes and policies in place we look to further promote safety culture and strengthen governance practices for solar projects. We are building in-house services facilities, to de-risk obsolescence, non-availability of components and improve turnaround time, further boosting yield and reliability.
