CHENNAI, MARCH 1:  

Kiran Energy today announced that it has commissioned a 55 MW DC solar voltaic power project in Rawra village of Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. With this, Kiran Energy’s portfolio of solar projects in the country totals 80 MW.

The company is also building clusters of solar projects in several States, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. These clusters will have projects of capacities between 50 MW and 100 MW, Kiran Energy said in a press release.

L&T and Mahindra EPC did the ‘engineering, procurement and construction’ work for the 55 MW Rawra plant.

The 55 MW capacity is really three separate projects, with separate power purchase agreements with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), a power-trading subsidiary of NTPC. These projects were won under the second batch of Phase I of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

Kiran Energy now operates the largest solar power plant cluster of 60MW with a combined evacuation at a single location in India, the release says.

The plant is expected to produce an average of more than 90,000 megawatt-hours of clean electricity per year, equivalent to the annual electricity needs of more than 2.75 lakh Indian households, reducing carbon emissions to the extent of 80,000 tonnes annually.

Kiran Energy is one of the leading clean energy utilities that has been developing and operating solar power projects across India. In Rajasthan and Gujarat, it now operates an aggregate of over 80MW power plants.

The municipal corporation of Anantapur in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is set to become the first municipality in the country to set up a solar power project to power its water pumping operations and street lights. The impressive plan includes installation of 5 MW of a solar PV project in the city. The project will be connected to the state’s power grid and will power the water pumping and street lights of the entire municipality’s area.

Anantapur is blessed with significantly high solar energy resource and has already attracted investment from project developers under India’s famous Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The project would require an investment of $11 million (Rs 60 crore) and would include installation of nearly 40,000 solar panels. The municipality currently consumes 5 MW on water pumping operations and powering the street lights. This entails an average electricity bill of $1 million per year. With the new 5 MW solar PV project, the municipality will be able to power all these operations with clean energy and save $1 million every year. The total cost of the project would be recovered in 11 years and the municipality will then earn profits for about 14 years, assuming the life of the power plant is 25 years. Additionally, the project will also offset over 180,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over the 25 years of its life.

The municipal authority hopes to secure financial assistance from the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. The authority will repay loans from the ministry in seven years through the savings achieved in electricity bill payments.

The state of Andhra Pradesh suffers from tremendous demand-supply mismatch in the power sector. The industries in the states have been facing the brunt of the low supply of electricity and are forced to cut production significantly. A large number of power plants in the state use natural gas as fuel and the supply of natural gas, too, has fallen significantly across India.

Solar energy presents a highly logical solution to the poor power situation in the state. The state government recently offered project developers tender to set up 1,000 MW of solar power capacity. The tender received an overwhelming response with developers offering to install up to 1,340 MW of solar power projects.

Did you know that today’s photovoltaic cells are based on a lucky finding by Alexandre Becquerel way back in 1839? He placed an electrode in a conductive solution, and when it was hit by sunlight a current was generated. The first solar cell, however, wasn’t produced until 1883, Charles Fritts produced a 1%-efficiency (!) selenium-on-gold photovoltaic panel.

The photovoltaic effect was then followed by the discovery of the photoelectric effect, which Albert Einstein would publish a paper about in 1904. A flurry of photoelectric advances followed, until eventually, in 1954, AT&T Bell Laboratories created the first modern silicon solar cell. Bell Labs also produced the solar cells used in early space satellites like the Vanguard 1. Soyuz 1, in 1967, would also use solar cells, and would become the first manned spacecraft to do so.

Between the 1950s and 70s, solar power fell out of grace. Producing solar cells was still prohibitively expensive ($250 per watt), and their efficiency still hadn’t broken past the 10% mark. As the semiconductor industry flourished, however, and as the size of silicon boulesand the integrated circuit market boomed, the cost of solar panels plummeted. By 1973, solar panels had reached 15% efficiency, and could be produced for around $10 per watt.

Today, the solar power industry is very healthy indeed. The price per watt is down to around $3 and at-home installations (and government subsidies!) are becoming increasingly common — and just take a look at the number of photovoltaic power stations that opened in 2010! Indeed, you have to look no further than President Obama himself to see how popular solar power is becoming: in 2010, he ordered the installation of solar panels and a solar hot water heater at the White House. Now it’s just a matter of when solar power will overtake coal in terms of cost and efficiency, which could occur in the next few years.

For more information on the history of solar technology, check out the infographic below, or read more about the history of solar power on Wikipedia.

Infographic by SunRun – Home Solar Leasing Made Easy

        An off-grid solar power system is one that gets most or all of its electricity from the sun using solar panels (photovoltaic panels) and none from a power utility such as a hydroelectric dam, nuclear, coal or natural gas fired plant, ... The grid, which the system is "off" of, refers to the complex network of power lines that connect the utilities to the numerous buildings that use the power. Since in many locations there may be clouds for days or weeks at a time, off-grid systems usually have a back-up generator as well. In addition they may have wind turbines, microhydro and other small electricity generating means.

The following is a simplfied diagram of an off-grid system.

The various parts are:

• solar panels - These take the solar energy from the sun and turn it into electrical energy, electricity.
• batteries - Since the sun doesn't always shine, the electrical energy has to be stored somewhere for use in the meantime. We store it in batteries.
• charge controller - This controls charging of the batteries, similar to how as a cell phone charger controls charging of a cell phone.
• service box - This part you should be familiar with since you already have one of these. This is your breaker panel with all your breakers in it for in case there is an electrical short somewhere.
• loads/appliances - Your lights, fridge, fans, clocks, ...
• generator - A diesel, propane or natural gas generator for generating power in case there hasn't been sun for a long time and the batteries are dead. This will provide elecricity when that happens.
• inverter - Takes the power in the batteries and converts it into a form suitable for your loads/appliances. It also takes power from the generator and passes some through to your loads/appliances and uses some to charge the batteries.

The above are off-grid systems I helped install for Ottawa Solar Power.

Here's another diagram with more of the parts filled in.

The added parts are as follows:

• solar array - If there are multiple solar panels in a system then they're collectively referred to as a solar array.
• battery bank - Multiple batteries in a system are referred to as a battery bank.
• disconnect switches - Throughout the system there are switches that are normally closed but are in place in case a part needs to be isolated for repairs and to prevent a short circuit in the system from damaging parts. For example, the charge controller has disconnect switches to either side of it.
• inverter bypass switch - If the solar system can longer supply power to the loads then this allows the generator to take over while the solar system is repaired.
• lightning arresters - Lightning arresters are on any wires that may bring damaging electrical current into the system from lightning. For example, if lightning strikes the solar panels then the panels will be damaged but the lightning arrester at the charge controller should protect it.
• combiner box - Depending on the number of solar panels and how they're wired up, it may make sense to have a box near the panels that combines many of the wires coming from them into just a few wires for the long distance to the charge controller.
• display and control unit - Some systems allow networking of their components so that they can be controlled and monitored from a single box, usually with an LED display. For example, OutBack's MATE and Magnum Energy's Remote Control.
• shunt - Part needed if you're going to be using an amp hour meter or battery monitor of some sort. Allows for monitoring of current going into and coming out of the battery bank. See the amp hour meter page for more details.
• amp hour meter - A device that monitors the battery's state of charge (SOC) by measuring the electrical current going in or out of the battery bank. Also referred to as a battery monitor. See the amp hour meter page for more details.
• automatic generator starter - If the batteries are low and there is no sun then the generator is run to top up the batteries and take over supplying power to the loads. This can either be done manually or be done automatically as a feature of the inverter, charge controller, display and control unit (e.g. OutBack's products) or a standalone automatic generator starter box (e.g. Magnum Energy's Auto Generator Start Controller.)

Maintaining an off-grid solar power system

And off-grid system is not plug-and-play. The solar panels need to be kept clean, the generator needs to be kept fueled and to have its oil changed periodically, and the batteries needs all sorts of maintenance to keep them working well and to have a long life. See these pages on battery maintenance for details on that.

The solar panel at the Tangedco office –DC

Coimbatore: The chief engineer’s (CE) room at the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corpor­ation (Tangedco) here is now solar-powered.

The 400 watts of solar power generated thro­ugh the solar photovoltaic panels set up at the roof of Tangedco’s Tat­abad office here lights the room and runs the fans at chief engineer A. Thangavelu’s chamber. “We are the first Tangedco office in the state to convert the room to solar. We will gradually transform all other office buildings too to use solar power,” said Thangavelu, speaking to this newspaper here on Monday.

In 2 months, Tangedco here will go for a three-kilowatt solar plant at its office, which will be helpful in providing po­wer to its other office roo­ms. The state has embarked on a solar mission to meet the growing energy demands, and hence, non-conventional energy should be utilized to the maximum to conserve electricity, said sources.

With the help of school and college students, the Tangedco office here had embarked on creating awareness on power conservation in the district. They distributed pamphlets, besides educating their own family members to use only CFL lamps. Interestingly, a private company has sponsored solar panels for the Tangedco office.

“In two months, we will install the 3-kilowatt plant at the office, that will increase our use of solar power for routine works,” said the chief engineer.

Officials at Tangedco said that both the common man and industries should strive to generate non-conventional energy, as dependence only on conventional power would not be adequate when demand was considered.

As we continue with our Solar Energy series, ideas begin to fall in place towards making a decision on installing a Solar Photovoltaic system. But again, one of the most important questions still remain unanswered. Yes! I'd like to go solar but where on my property will it be installed? or I barely have enough space for my kids to play on or for a pool. 

This is a common feeling with home owners who really like the idea of installing a solar system. The most common location for a solar Photovoltaic system mount is on the roof of the property. The second most 

common location is on the ground for those with a little space to spare. Within these two basic types are different designs/techniques of installations that depend on the client's needs and property style. Lets look at the roof mounts in part one of this blog update:

Roof Mounts: Simply when the solar system is installed on the roof of the property. The system is usually installed on the south facing side of the roof for maximum solar exposure - we will discuss this in detail in upcoming blog updates. The panels are either aligned following the original slope of the roof or with the use of specified racks that help provide proper sloping or pitching for the panels. There are two types of roof mounts depending on the type of roof surface: 

1) Pitched 'roof' mounts: Panels are installed following the original pitch of the roof. Specific non-penetrating racks are used in most cases to avoid 'voiding' roof warranty or causing future leaks. These racks are usually fixed and set the angle at which the panels are held.

2) Ballasted mounts: Commonly used on flat and wide roof surfaces. The design is engineered to secure or weigh down the array without any penetration. A support bracket connected to a wind deflector (last row) and a ballast pan, holds the ballast and the panels. It is connected to the next row by a 'connect tube'. 

We will look at ground mounts in the next blog update. They are very interesting and provide a lot of possibilities for the installer and client to be creative. 

Lets continue with our fact finding series as we talk about how Solar Energy works. Before kicking back on that sofa to enjoy free* solar energy, there are a lot of preliminary things to take care of. Although all the home owner has to worry about is the cost, type of system and the power it will produce, the installer has to figure out a lot more to make sure the system fits coherently and is capable of producing the desired amount of energy. Stuff like the type of solar panel (which we already reviewed in a previous post), inverter, battery (for those with back-up power storage), meter and charge controller. A full review of components needed for a solar installation will be content of a future post:

Solar Panel: As earlier reviewed Solar Panels are made of silicon and constitute a group of interconnected Photovoltaic (PV) cells that directly convert light into Direct-Current (DC) electricity or energy at the atomic level, depending on the light incidence and without an external voltage source.

Inverter: Appliances in a home run on AC or Alternating Current, but the solar panels produce DC current so there must be a conversion from DC into AC before using this energy produced. The inverter simply converts one type of voltage into another - in this case DC to AC. 

Charge controller and battery: With no sunlight at night but with a higher energy demand for non grid tied installations, extra energy produced during the day must be stored in specially designed 'Deep Cycle Batteries' for later use. The controller regulates the amount of energy flowing into a battery at a specific time.

Electric Meter: These are specially designed meters used in PV installations that help feed excess electricity into the grid.

As the image illustrates, Solar PV modules produce and supply DC electricity. The inverter converts this electricity into AC current that is household appliance 'friendly'. A typical home will consume electricity supplied by the panels while compensating with electricity from the grid. The two way electricity meter will continually measure the home's electricity production and consumption. It also helps to back-feed excess electricity produced into the grid for grid tied installations.  

State wise tariffs of Solar and Wind energy for India. (As on March-2010)

Below is the map of present tariffs prevailing in various states of India. For convenience, I have considered only those states which are having larger shares of renewable energy projects developed and being developed.

In Solar, the first figure shows the tariff of CSP Projects and second shows of SPV.Tariffs depicted on the map are in Rs./Unit.

India’s solar power industry has been boosted by the decline in prices of solar photovoltaic panels. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

New Delhi: The government is considering changes in laws that would allow customers to be paid for the solar power they generate and feed into the grid. This will persuade individual consumers, rather than power distribution companies, to supply at least 1,000MW of electricity to India’s grid by installing solar panels on rooftops of residential and commercial buildings by 2017, the government hopes.

If successful, this would generate more than one-tenth of the renewable energy capacity of 9,000MW of solar power that the government plans to add under the marquee Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), and more than a hundred-fold increase from the current levels of power generated by rooftop solar power systems..

Previous attempts by the authorities, including those in Delhi and Mumbai, to subsidize solar water-heater systems have been unsuccessful, mainly because the costs of buying and installing these were prohibitively high, in spite of a 30% subsidy on solar equipment.

“Once this can be put into place, we should be able to kickstart demand for solar power in a big way,” said Gireesh Pradhan, secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). “Given the rise in power tariffs, a feed-in tariff will make people re-evaluate the costs and benefits of solar power.”

Apart from rising power bills, all states are now coming to terms with an overburdened electricity grid that has crashed twice this year on the back of lopsided and excessive power demands by some states and infrastructure unable to cope with this.

Pradhan added that his ministry was in talks with Germany, which has nearly half its 27,000MW of solar energy capacity generated by rooftop-based systems, to help implement the scheme.

To be sure, several states, such as Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, have announced rooftop solar-power generation schemes but these come with several restrictions, such as being open only to government buildings and academic institutions, as well as requirements that the installed project be of a minimum size.

“We’re planning on a further centralized subsidy,” said Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, MNRE. “When you couple that with initiatives by various states, we’re expecting a major change in solar usage patterns in the country. I wouldn’t then be surprised with 2,000MW of rooftop solar power by 2017.”

Apart from JNNSM, India’s solar power industry has been boosted by the decline in prices of solar photovoltaic panels, down 25% from what they were in 2008. This is largely due to a manufacturing glut in China, which now surpasses Europe and the US in producing solar cells and is also a primary source of raw material for Indian solar-panel manufacturers.

Rajasthan has a dominant 70% of India’s installed solar power capacity of 1,000MW, thanks to sunshine, desert topography and incentives to power developers under JNNSM.

Experts said a feed-in tariff (FiT) system could be misused and regulators need to be watchful.

They would need to look out for abuses such as “feeding back utility supply generation from subsidised fuels, etc. However, reducing solar prices and increasing diesel prices may make such a situation very improbable,” said a report by Prayas Energy group, a Pune-based energy consultancy. “It is desirable to move away from the FiT route and prioritize self consumption (where homes produce their energy instead of banking on incentives from power distribution companies).”

An FiT policy wouldn’t necessarily be a strong incentive to encourage rooftop solar policy initiatives, saidArunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy Environment and Water.

“I haven’t specifically analysed the FiT for solar but the big problem to encouraging access to renewable energy is the lack of innovative financing schemes,” Ghosh said. “For example, the incentives that might make more sense in Bangalore are different from Delhi which has different energy consumption patterns. Unless this is addressed, no one scheme can be a panacea.”

Workers carry photovoltaic solar panels for installation at the Gujarat solar park under construction in Charanka village in Patan district of the western Indian state of Gujarat (Reuters / Amit Dave)

The world’s largest solar power field has been switched on in India’s western state of Gujarat. Accounting for 214 megawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity, it becomes larger than China’s 200 MW Golmud Solar Park, which previously held the record.

The newly-developed solar power park will be a 500-megawatt system using state-of-the-art thin film photovoltaic technology and should be fully completed by the end of 2014. 

It now has an operational capacity of 214 MW and has already become the largest such single location in the world, spread over 3,000 acres of mainly wasteland. Gujarat environment chief S.K. Nanda says the state is ideal for the solar project because of its sparsely-populated desert in the north.

The project has become part of 600 megawatt solar energy addition to India’s power grid, including sections that were already operational.

Upon completion the park will reduce carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere to the tune of 8 million tonnes and save around 900,000 tonnes of coal and natural gas per year.

It also gives a serious boost to India’s renewable energy ambitions. The country aims for solar power to account for 3 per cent of national capacity – or 1,000 MW – by 2013. 

Overall, it wants renewables to make up 15 per cent of capacity by 2020, from 6 per cent today.

The foundation stone for the Gujarat solar power park was laid in December 2010, as part of the state’s Solar Power Policy. The solar energy sector is expected to create about 30,000 new jobs in the state over a period of time.

The Gujarat government has already announced its next move, saying it will shortly come out with a rooftop solar power plant policy.

The state’s chief minister Narendra Modi said it will encourage people to produce their own electricity and earn by selling the surplus power to the state grid. 

This would make the people self-reliant in power generation. The authorities hope it would also encourage residents to lease out their rooftops for solar power generation, which would yield additional income for the betterment of their life.

CHENNAI: When India's solar power developers want to choose a site for their project, they usually turn to NASAand its satellite images to identify the best locations.

This is because even though India is endowed with abundant sunshine, it is vital to know the exact spots to locate projects so that they become viable. The US space agency's radiation maps help them do this, but they are not quite adequate.

Now, an obscure government agency based in Chennai is promising to change that. It hopes to deliver within two years a state-of-the-art solar atlas of India that could clear a major hurdle obstructing speedy development of solar power projects.

The atlas, which will identify the solar hotspots where the sun's radiation has optimum intensity for power generation, will enable developers to accurately pinpoint locations for projects, according to the Centre for Wind Energy Technology, which is creating the database.

The expectation is that project developers, armed with the information, will be able to predict the plant's output with reasonable accuracy. Also, they can make a better choice of which solar technology (photovoltaic, solar thermal or any other) to use.

"Today we use old NASA data," said Vish Palekar, the chief executive officer of Mahindra Solar. His company just commissioned its first project, a 5 mw unit in Rajasthan, and plans to add 100 mw in about three years.

"To have info mapped in India with local conditions will help us further optimise prediction. The entire ecosystem, with solar atlas mapping, will see companies like ours getting aggressive in future," he added.

INDIA INC GIANTS EYEING SOLAR PIE

Sun-soaked India, which is chronically energy deficient, has drawn up a plan to generate 20,000 mw of solar power by 2022. To realise this goal, the Centre has created a national solar mission.

The national solar mission includes financial incentives and subsidies to attract investment in this form of clean energy. Out of India's installed power generation capacity of some 1.9 lakh mw, solar energy currently accounts for just over 100 mw.

But projects with many times that capacity are being planned, with prominent business houses such as the Tatas, Reliance and the Mahindras as well as smaller developers vying for a piece of the solar pie.

"A solar atlas will be very useful. But accuracy depends a lot on how data is being collected - via satellites or combined with ground-based measurements. If there's a 10% gap between actual radiation and what data shows, the energy output can fall by almost 20%," said James V Abraham, managing director & CEO ofSunborne Energy Technologies, a Haryana-based company backed by private equity fund General Catalyst Partners.

For now, radiation data for most locations in India are largely provided by satellites from Nasa and others. Some developers have observed a variation in the actual power output compared to the estimates made from satellite data, said Bharat Bhushan Agrawal, analyst at India Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

"The solar resource measured at ground level is more reliable than satellite data. This is why some developers have been doing their own ground data measurements."

The Centre for Wind Energy Technology will also use satellite imagery - it is requesting the Indian space agency Isro for help. But before that, an important part of the project was completed last month.

This involved measuring radiation in 51 locations in India, which threw up some surprises, including the fact that pollution-free Ladakh is more suitable for a photovoltaic project than even Rajasthan. The agency is also developing an algorithm to validate the data.

All you need to know about Solar Panels

Solar panels are now widely available all over the world. You will find many homes, commercial buildings and vehicles using mainly solar panels to generate the electricity they need. Solar panels can also be made independently by the user. You can save more by building your own system. You can also invest in a ready-made design for added ease and convenience. Here are some more tips and tricks on how to begin.

The Benefits

If you choose to use solar panels, you will be able to produce electricity that can power various applications. Off-grid living means residing in a location where the main electric utility grid does not service your home or office. There are remote cabins and homes that can benefit from solar power systems. It is no longer needed to pay huge bills to install electric utility posts and cabling from the nearest grid access main point. A solar electric system is less expensive and can give you power for up to 30 years if you maintain it well.

Solar power is also a renewable source of energy, which means that it is very clean. Today, it is more important to invest in devices that do not damage the environment and atmosphere. Solar panels do not have any moving parts and will need only minimal maintenance. As soon as the system has paid for its initial installation costs, you can get the benefits for several decades more for free.

Buying Solar Panels

There are plenty of places where you can buy the best solar panel models. You can choose between brands such as Sharp, BP Solar and General Electric. You should visit some of the manufacturer web sites to determine the process and the ways how their solar panels are built. You should also read about the background of the company and what their objectives are in making these pieces. You should read more about installation to check if you want to install or build the panels yourself or hire a professional.

There are several web sites, online forums and internet stores where you can learn more about the available models and how these can best suit your location. Some panels are intended for individuals living in places that has minimal sun, while other designs are specifically made to gather the most sun over the shortest span of time.

Price

Learn how to compare between types to know how much you need to pay for. The prices of the solar panels will vary depending on the brand and the size. There are also other factors to consider such as maintenance and if the package includes free installation. Some companies will ask for fees to install the panels, while other buyers may opt to install these themselves to save more. Talk to other people who have already tried certain makes and brands and let them give you the pros and cons of each. Ask for referrals and recommendations to ensure that you are only investing in the best places.

FGS distributed energy solutions on a “progressive purchase” basis; customers make a small initial down payment for a solar energy system and then pre-pay for the service.

About a year ago we wrote about Nokero’s effort to replace kerosene with solar-powered light bulbs in the developing world, and recently we came across a like-minded initiative that takes such goals even further. Based in Bangalore, India, FGS has developed a new pricing model that aims to make household solar energy systems “radically affordable” to the 1.6 billion consumers around the world who currently have no access to electricity.

Simpa Networks is a venture-backed technology company aiming “to make modern energy simple, affordable, and accessible for everyone,” in the company’s own words. Toward that end, it sells distributed energy solutions on a “progressive purchase” basis; customers make a small initial down payment for a high-quality solar photovoltaic system and then pre-pay for the service, topping up their systems in small user-defined increments using a mobile phone. Powered by the Simpa Regulator — a tamper-proof, system-integrated microcontroller and user interface — and cloud-based software, the system ensures that once prepaid consumption is exhausted, the solar home system is temporarily disabled until another payment is made. Each payment, meanwhile, also counts towards the final purchase price. Once fully paid, the system produces clean energy, free and clear for the rest of the system’s expected 10-year useful life.

Now available for customers in Karnataka, India, Simpa Networks’ model is built upon proprietary risk mitigation technology, with investment opportunities for market rate and social investors, it says. Time to help expand clean energy access around the globe?

                    Photovoltaics (PV) is a way of generating electricity from sunlight all year round and even on cloudy days. It is the most environmentally friendly method of generating power, available to almost everyone. Photovoltaics have been successfully used to power satellites in space for 50 years, and is used in everyday items such as roadside signs, calculators and clocks.

In the near future, solar energy will be the most important energy source for humanity as non-renewable resources such as coal, gas and oil dwindle to nothing. So how does this affordable and green technology work in your home?

• Light from the Sun is ‘harvested’ by the photovoltaic panels, which convert the solar energy into electricity
• The electricity from the panels is collected in series and fed to the inverter where it is converted to alternating current, suitable for your home
• This power is then used by the householder for free and....
• Any excess power generated is fed back into the national grid through a meter, and the householder receives payment
• Regardless of the power fed into the main grid, the householder receives a feed-in tariff as a quarterly payment related to the nominal power of the system

WHAT ARE PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS?

           Photovoltaics is the conversion of sunlight into electricity using a physical reaction benefitting from the natural properties of silicon, which is a semiconductor. In their manufactured form, the silicon solar cells individually produce electricity. These cells are grouped together in panels, which are then linked to deliver the electricity.

Silicon is the earth’s second most common element and can be easily extracted from the earth’s crust in vast quantities. Each solar cell is made up of a negatively charged layer and a positively charged layer, and when sunlight falls on the solar cell, the natural physical reaction generates direct current (DC).

HOW THE ELECTRICITY IS USED IN YOUR HOME

             For general use, this direct current (DC) needs to be converted to alternating current (AC), this is done and controlled by a device called an inverter. Having been converted to AC, the electricity generated is automatically used to power your house (lights, television, appliances, etc). All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the benefits, it couldn’t be simpler!

The main purpose of the inverter is to convert the DC to AC but it also has other important functions and features. The controls within the inverter include maximum power point (MPP) tracking to ensure maximum output from the solar panels, even in low light conditions. It starts up at the beginning of the day requiring only 5-10 watts and then continues monitoring and controlling until the end of the day. There are numerous safety features including automatic cutout of feed into the national grid if the supplier’s grid goes down (to prevent any possibility of injury to the supplier’s engineers working to repair the fault). Associated with the inverter are advanced monitoring and reporting features.

HOW TO EXPORT THE EXCESS ELECTRICITY YOU DON’T USE

           The system will include a total generation meter (OFGEM approved) and an export meter to control and record the electricity that you feed back in to the national grid and for which you will be paid (for details refer to the Benefits page). We include the cost of the supply and installation of the export meter in our quotation, some of our competitors do not.

There are various ways that the system can be set up to control how much electricity you take from the system for free and how much is fed back into the national grid. The best set up for you will depend on your pattern of usage. If you are in the house all day as opposed to only being there in the mornings and evenings, the benefits of free electricity to you can be much greater. We will discuss your usage and provide you with the best possible set up to get the most from your system.

WHAT DOES A PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR PANEL SYSTEM CONSIST OF?

The following components:-

• PV panels for generating electricity from light (mounted on aluminium framing)
• Inverter for converting DC into AC and to control the entire system
• Total generation meter for monitoring the instantaneous and total power produced by the system.
• AC export meter for recording the electricity delivered to the national grid.
• DC and AC isolation switches
• Cables and couplings
• Warning labels

Please see our What we Supply section for a detailed look at PV System components we sell and install.

HOW WE INSTALL THE PV SOLAR PANEL SYSTEM

         Other than the largest jobs, the great majority of projects take 1 day to install. Please see our Installation section for a step by step guide on how we install these systems reliably and safely.

WILL PHOTOVOLTAICS WORK IN MY HOME?

        Solar panels rely on exposure to light from the sun and the more light that is available, the better the system works. Solar PV panels can be installed on almost any building, whether you are in an urban or rural location. Please see our Is it right for me? section to confirm that your roof is suitable.

WILL MY PV PANELS WORK WHEN IT’S CLOUDY?

           Solar PV operates on light, rather than heat, so even if the day seems cool – if there is light, the system will be generating electricity. PV systems will therefore generate electricity all year round.

Nevertheless, the output will fluctuate seasonally, with the most electricity being produced in the bright summer months. Shaded locations that never benefit from full sunlight are not suitable.

RELIABILITY OF PV SYSTEMS

                  The reliability of PV systems has been established through use over many years. Sharp PV modules have been used for decades to power satellites in space. Sharp PV modules have been installed in over 1,000 lighthouses, providing proof that they continue to operate, even in extreme conditions.

Photovoltaic products are being developed and refined at a rapid pace with continual improvements in performance. Eco Warriors Solar and their supply partners continually monitor the manufacturing supply chain to take advantage of new developments.

Please see our What we Supply section for a detailed look at the Sharp PV System components we install.

HOW DO I GET A PV SYSTEM INSTALLED?

          Call us, email us, or complete the form in the Get a quote section. Every customer is very important to us, so we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.