Solar as a green source of power is helping us in our fight against climate change. However, a business/homeowner should consider multiple factors while evaluating the risks and benefits of Solar Power Plant. In this blog and accompanying webinar, we will cover
Basics of Solar Power Plant
Net-metering policy
Benefits and Risks of solar plant
How to choose a Solar Plant
Basics of Solar Plant
Solar is not a constant source of power and requires an alternate source of energy to complement its power. Based on the alternate source, we classify Solar Plants to off-grid, grid-tied and hybrid solar plants. The grid-tied solar power plant with a design life of 25 years dominates the market as an attractive investment option with a return rate of more than 15% and payback of fewer than five years. Watch the following video to get a summary of the webinar series and understand the basics of Solar plant.
Read our blog on Different Types of Solar Power Plant here
Net-metering
Net-metering is perhaps the most important factor which helped popularize Solar Rooftop installations. In the second part of this webinar series, we explain how your utility/electricity distribution company acts as a bank by facilitating net-metering.
With net-metering your utility energy meter will read the energy you consume (as IMPORT) and the excess solar energy you send back to utility grid as EXPORT. The customer electricity bill will reflect the net or difference between IMPORT and EXPORT at the end of the month.
Benefits and Risks of Solar Power Plant
The returns from a Solar Power Plant will depend upon the size of the Solar Power Plant and your utility tariff. The higher the utility tariff rate, the better the returns. However, the bulk of the returns from a Solar Power Plant will come after five years of operation. The design life of different components available in market for Solar Plant varies from 5 to 25 years. So a customer needs to invest in quality components. Most solar power plants have high voltage DC which is a fire hazard, if its not properly managed. We also have to consider wind resistance while designing structure of Solar Plant. In the following video, we will detail the benefits and risks involved in a Solar Power Plant investment
How to chose a Solar Power Plant?
In the following video, we will cover the key performance indicators of the two key components of Solar Power Plant: the Solar Inverter and Solar Module. Understanding the key performance indicators will help you choose a Solar Power Plant wisely.
A Solar Inverter has two key components, an Maximum Power Point Tracking Unit (MPPT) which is responsible for DC Power Extraction, and an Inversion Unit which is responsible for DC to AC Power Conversion and Grid Management. For a Solar Inverter, the key performance indicators are listed below:
Number of Solar Modules for each MPPT - 1 to 200
Inverter Efficiency
Product Warranty
Inverter Safety Features
MPPT Start Voltage
MPPT Operating Range
Level of Monitoring - Module Level to Inverter Level
Quality of Power
OEMs Credit Worthiness
For a Solar Module, the key performance indicators are listed below:
Module Product Warranty - 10 to 25 years
Module Performance Warranty - 25 to 30 years
Module Degradation - 0.7% to 0.35%
Temperature Coefficient - -0.29% to - 0.44%
NOCT - 42 deg C to 46 deg C
Module Efficiency - 13 % to 22%
OEMS Credit Worthiness
Module Quality Certifications
Module Design and BOM
At Cares Renewables, we are focused on delivering quality solar power plants to our customers and partners. Please leave a comment, if you have any queries on this video blog. Visit https://www.caresrenewables.com/savegen to view a few of our case studies.