332

A 10 kW MARINE PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM FOR AQUACULTURE

M. W a t a n a b e , T. M a r u y a m a , H. Sawai a n d T. T s u j i Energy Conversion Laboratories, Sharp Corporation 282-1 Hajikami, S h i n j y o - c h o , K i t a k a t u r a g i - g u n , Nara 6 3 9 - 2 1 , J a p a n M. Kaneshima a n d T. T a n a k a T e c h n o l o g y Division, Shimizu C o r p o r a t i o n 15-33 S h i b a u r a , 4 - c h o m e , M i n a t o - k u , T o k y o 108, J a p a n ABSTRACT A 10kW m a r i n e p h o t o v o l t a i c s y s t e m for a q u a c u l t u r e w a s i n s t a l l e d o n a c o n c r e t e b a r g e on t h e s e a a n d h a s b e e n in o p e r a t i o n s i n c e A u g u s t 1986. O p e r a t i o n d a t a a r e p r o c e s s e d a n d t h e d a t a show t h a t t h e s y s t e m is w o r k i n g q u i t e well with a h i g h a v e r a g e s y s t e m e f f i c i e n c y of 7.1%. Also we o b t a i n e d d a t a of m a r i n e e n v i r o n m e n t a n d t h e d e s i g n c o n c e p t of PV s y s t e m for m a r i n e u s e . KEYWORDS P h o t o v o l t a i c s y s t e m ; Marine s y s t e m ; Solar cell; A q u a c u l t u r e INTRODUCTION As o n e of new a p p l i c a t i o n fields for p h o t o v o l t a i c (PV) s y s t e m , c o a s t a l f i s h e r y a c t i v i t i e s for a q u a c u l t u r e are expected r e c e n t l y in J a p a n . In such c i r c u m s t a n c e s , a PV s y s t e m h a s b e e n d e v e l o p e d for a m a r i n e r a n c h , w h i c h w a s b e i n g p r o m o t e d b y Oita p r e f e c t u r e for f i s h e r y r e s o u r c e c o n t r o l . T h e s y s t e m was i n s t a l l e d on t h e s e a in 1986 a n d h a s b e e n o p e r a t e d w i t h o u t a n y t r o u b l e , a n d g e n e r a t e d p o w e r w a s s t a b l y s u p p l i e d to t h e l o a d s . OUTLINE OF THE SYSTEM Marine PV S y s t e m The whole s y s t e m a s s h o w n in F i g . l is composed of a b a r g e (floating s t r u c t u r e ) , PV p o w e r s y s t e m , d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n e q u i p m e n t a n d m a r i n e r a n c h i n s t r u m e n t s (two f e e d e r b u o y s a n d a n a r t i f i c i a l fish r e e f for e l e c t r o d e p o s i t i o n ) a s e l e c t r i c l o a d s . T h e d i s c u s s h a p e d b a r g e is made of p r e s t r e s s e d c o n c r e t e w i t h a d i a m e t e r of 16m a n d a h e i g h t of 3.5m i n c l u d i n g a f r e e b o a r d of 1.4m to p r e v e n t t h e m o d u l e s from b e i n g d a m a g e d b y w a v e s . PV a r r a y of 10.7kW is m o u n t e d o n t h e d e c k of t h e b a r g e . In the b a r g e , data acquisition equipment, s t o r a g e b a t t e r i e s , i n v e r t e r s a n d c o n t r o l u n i t a r e i n s t a l l e d . T h e b a r g e is moored b y t h r e e a n c h o r s a n d

333
intermediate s i n k e r s are added to them to s u p p r e s s i t s s w a y i n g motion. In the marine r a n c h , red s e a breams conditioned acoustically in their j u v e n i l e s t a g e are r e l e a s e d and controlled b y f e e d e r b u o y s with s o u n d to s t a y t h e r e . Feeder Buoy Beacon Light

Anchor Artificial Pish Reef Fig. 1 S k e t c h of the System PV System Description The PV s y s t e m c o n s i s t s of two power l i n e s a s shown in Fig.2. Line 1 s u p p l i e s AC power to r e s p o n s i b l e loads s u c h a s f e e d e r b u o y s of the marine r a n c h , beacon l i g h t s of the b a r g e , a data l o g g e r and a w i r e l e s s transmitter t h r o u g h s t o r a g e b a t t e r i e s and a CVCF i n v e r t e r . Line 2 s u p p l i e s power d i r e c t l y from t h e PV array to the fish reef t h r o u g h VVVF i n v e r t e r s and AC/DC c o n v e r t e r s while the s t a t e of c h a r g e of the b a t t e r i e s i s at their full l e v e l . Owing to t h i s operation, all the s o l a r - g e n e r a t e d power is utilized efficiently. <PV Array> Line Block 1 0 . 9 kW 1 CVCF I n v e r t e r 1 kVA Lead Acid Batteries 154 kWh Line 2 Control V V V F Unit Inverters 5 kVA*2 Responsible loads> - Beacon L i g h t s - W i r e l e s s Transmitter I Data Logger | Marine Feeder Buoys Room Instruments A r t i f i c i a l F i s h Reef for Electrodeposition

Block 2 9.8 kW

AC/DC Converters

Fig.2 Block Diagram of Power S u p p l y System The PV module c o n t a i n s 32 s i n g l e c r y s t a l silicon c e l l s c o n n e c t e d in s e r i e s . A typical rating power is 40.5W with 16.5% cell e f f i c i e n c y or 11.9% module efficiency u n d e r lkW/m 2 irradiance at 28 e C cell temperature. PV modules are fixed on the 12 mounting s t r u c t u r e s radially aligned on the d e c k of t h e b a r g e . In d e s i g n i n g PV module for t h i s s y s t e m , p h y s i c a l s t r e n g t h to withstand w a v e shock on the front s u r f a c e is r e q u i r e d . The b a r g e d e c k loading r e s i s t a n c e to wave p r e s s u r e is 1.0t/m 2 and b e i n g multiplied b y 1.5 s a f e t y factor, the module i s d e s i g n e d to w i t h s t a n d a d i s t r i b u t e d load of 1.5t/m s . As c o n v e n t i o n a l t e r r e s t r i a l

334 modules cannot support this load, FRP( fiber glas s reinforced plastics) backing structure is added. PV array is composed of parallel connected 24 sub-arrays, each of which consists of series connected 11 modules. To minimize the power loss caused by the shadow of the center mast, sub-arrays are arranged radially and the shadow covers 2 sub-arrays normally. Storage batteries consist of series connected 64 lead acid cells of 1200 Ah (500 hour rate). In this system air is pumped into the batteries to agitate the electrolyte. The CVCF (constant voltage constant frequency) inverter of 100 V output voltage supplies electricity to the responsible loads. Output of the VVVF (variable voltage variable frequency) inverter is used for electrodeposition on the artificial fish reef. The input for electrodeposition permits fluctuations in frequency, voltage and distortion, so the VVVF type was selected. RESULTS Overall Evaluation of Operation Data Operation began in August, 1986 and the collection of operating data had been continued until March, 1989. Fig.3 shows the monthly variation in solar radiation and PV array output for 30 months.
SOLAR RADIATION

0 N D J F M A M J J A S 0 N D J F M A M J J A S 0 N D J F M
1986 1987 1988 1989

Fig.3 Monthly variation of operation data Table 1 shows the annual input and output energy. From the average solar radiation of 1,430 kWh/m2 and array area (89.9m2), array surface incident energy is calculated as 128,557 kWh. With an average input power to the loads of 9,147 kWh (CVCF output + VVVF output), the system efficiency amounted to 7.1%. The supplied power to the fish reef from the PV array was 7,248 kWh over a period of 30 months and mineral (CaC03/Mg(OH)2) coating of 4.3 mm thickness was formed on steel wire mesh. The coating protects the steel reef from corrosion, and makes suitable surface for marine growth.

Table 1. Annual A v e r a g e Data of t h e S y s t e m Items

2

1987

1988 1,453 11,147 3,130 2,717 4,143 3,037 6,527 6,134

AVE. 1,430 11,112 2,859 2,461 3,765 2,687 6,943 6,460

Solar radiation (kWh/m ) 1,406 PV a r r a y o u t p u t (kWh) 11,076 Battery i n p u t (kWh) 2,588 Battery o u t p u t (kWh) 2,205 CVCF i n v e r t e r i n p u t (kWh) 3,387 CVCF i n v e r t e r o u t p u t (kWh) 2,336 VVVF i n v e r t e r i n p u t (kWh) 7,358 VVVF i n v e r t e r o u t p u t (kWh) 6,786

System Reliability No damage d u e to wave p r e s s u r e was found in the reinforced PV modules d u r i n g operation. Neither t h e s u p p o r t i n g s t r u c t u r e nor t h e b a r g e was s u f f e r e d from s t r u c t u r a l problems. Although salt c r y s t a l s were d e p o s i t e d o n t h e d e c k - m o u n t e d equipment and a d h e r e d t h e r e , no corrosion was o b s e r v e d o n the mounting s t r u c t u r e . However, t h e PV module n e e d s improvements of waterproof s t r u c t u r e , b e c a u s e t h e r e i s p o s s i b i l i t y of corrosion d u e to t h e r e s i d u a l sea salt forced into modules b y the p r e s s u r e of w a v e s . The s t o r a g e b a t t e r i e s operated c o n t i n u o u s l y without maintenance, and total efficiency of t h e b a t t e r i e s did not d e c r e a s e . From t h e operation data, the b a t t e r y w a t t - h o u r efficiency was calculated a s 86% and t h i s value did not d e c r e a s e until the end of data collection period. The d e c r e a s e in PV o u t p u t d u e to d u s t on t h e i n c i d e n t s u r f a c e of t h e modules was about 3 % on a v e r a g e . Bird d r o p p i n g s r e d u c e d t h e PV o u t p u t b y 10% or more, but the o u t p u t was r e c o v e r e d b y rainfall of some 10 mm. The interior of the b a r g e i s normally at a high humidity, but no c o n d e n s a t i o n o c c u r r e d i n s i d e the equipment b e c a u s e the variation in room temperature was little. CONCLUSION The PV s y s t e m for a q u a c u l t u r e worked quite well for o v e r two y e a r s with a h i g h annual a v e r a g e efficiency of 7.1%, which p r o v e d h i g h reliability and e f f e c t i v e n e s s of the s y s t e m . The high s y s t e m e f f i c i e n c y could be a c h i e v e d b y d i v i d i n g the loads into the two g r o u p s , one was t h e r e s p o n s i b l e loads and the other was the artificial fish reef. The availability of PV s y s t e m to f e e d e r b u o y s was verified well. Also the v a l i d i t y of e l e c t r o d e p o s i t i o n to the f i s h reef b y means of PV o u t p u t was confirmed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This work was carried out b y S h a r p Corp., Shimizu Corp. and Oita Prefectural Office, s u p p o r t e d b y the New E n e r g y and I n d u s t r i a l T e c h n o l o g y Development Organization (NEDO) a s part of t h e S u n s h i n e P r o j e c t u n d e r the Ministry of International Trade and I n d u s t r y (MITI).