- Solar Photovoltaic is the conversion of Light ( photons ) into electricity ( volts )
- Solar Thermal is the conversion of light to heat and electricity (volts)
Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Electricity production
Solar Thermal
Water heating and cooking
Solar PV
Conversion of light directly to electricity
- PV Cell – Basic building block
- Semiconductors (wafers) that absorb sunlight to generate electricity through a phenomenon called “Photoelectric Effect”
- PV Cell produces a very small amount of electricity
- PV Modules consists of multiple PV cells electrically connected in series and/or parallel circuits to produce higher voltage, currents and power levels
- PV Array consists of a number of PV modules and panels
Why Solar ?
- India is one of few countries with abundant Solar resource
- Main raw material is free of cost as compared to Diesel / Coal
- Solar Power can reach remote areas ( not connected with any Power Grid )
- Demand Supply gap for electricity is high and globally the emphasis is now on renewable sources
- Central government has set up aggressive Targets for both Large MW scale and Rooftop Solar Projects
India Solar Map
- 4 – 7 kWh / m2 Solar radiation
- 300 sunny days in a year
- 3000 hours of sunshine each year
- 5000 trillion kWh
Cumulative Targets 2020 (GW)
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- Indian Government has the target to achieve 100 GW Solar till 2022
- Rooftop Solar – 40 GW
Grid-Tied Solar Power System
Also referred as Grid-Integrated or On-Grid or Utility-Interactive produces Solar Power that is fed to the load along with the Utility Grid, it literally works in parallel with the grid and switches Off whenever the grid supply is not available.
- Application for areas where the Grid Supply is reliable and readily available, so all major cities and industrial townships
Advantages :
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- Simplest to Design and Install
- Lower Initial Capital cost ( compared to Off-Grid Systems due to lack of battery and charge controller)
- Lower Maintenance cost ( No Batteries to maintain )
- More efficient than Off-Grid Systems ( No Battery Losses )
- A system can be expanded later easily
- With Net Metering, a consumer can sell excess energy generated back to the grid. This is extremely useful for the Commercial and Industrial Sector where large rooftop area is available for Solar Power Generation
- In the event of enough Solar power not being generated ( due to any reason) the consumer can easily draw required power from the Utility / Grid, hence this kind of a system is very reliable
Off-Grid Solar Power System
- Off-Grid Solar System functions independently of the Utility / Grid as it is not connected to it. It functions with Storage Devices like Batteries to provide continuous power
- An application is in areas where Grid / Utility Supply is erratic or not available at all so mainly rural and remote areas difficult to access
Advantages :
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- Solar Energy is abundantly and locally available all over India so Off-Grid systems find application in rural areas for Lighting, TV & Radio and some special applications like Telecommunications & Navigation Aids
- Off-grid Systems are decentralized – therefore no requirement of long transmission lines. Even though Off-Grid Systems are relatively more expensive, they are still cheaper than the cost of building Transmission systems in remote areas.
- Electricity can be provided in a shorter period of time to areas lacking
Solar Rooftop Working
Applications of Solar PV - Rooftop
Residential
School
Commercial / Industrial
Applications of Solar PV – Ground Mounted
