1.

Introduction
Sakri Photovoltaic solar energy project is a 125 MW solar photovoltaic power plant.
[1]

The project was developed by Mahagencoin Shivajinagar in Sakri taluka

of Dhule district in Maharashtra, India. It was expected to cost about Rs 20 billion and
became operational in 2013.[2] Completion was in March 2013.[3][4]
KfW, a German financial institution, has agreed to finance the project. [2] Work has
already started on 50 MW (5x25MW) Solar Photovoltaic part while for remaining
100 MW part, based on crystalline technology, international bids have been invited.[5]
The Indian government has given a strong
push to develop the solar energy sector in India
when it launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National
Solar Mission (JNNSM). In that spirit, the
Maharashtra Power Generation Corporation Ltd.
(Mahagenco) completed the construction of a
125 MW solar PV power plant at Shivajinagar,
Sakri, in the Dhule district of Maharashtra. KfW
supported

this

project

in

the

form

of

concessional financing on behalf of the German

government and the full 125 MW capacity is in
operation since March 2013.
Mahagencos Sakri Solar Power Plant is one of
the largest of its kind in India and also one of
the largest in the world. The plant is supplying
240,000 households in Maharashtra with clean
power

resulting

in

the

reduction

of

CO2

emissions equivalent to taking 40,000 cars of

the road annually. The total project covers an

area of around 400 hectares of idle land that is

not suitable for agricultural usage.

At the time of loan signing, there was only

limited solar PV experience in India totaling
only a few MW of utility scale installations. The
financial closure of such a large project at that
time

was

significant

breakthrough

in

motivating domestic commercial financing to

the

Indian

tendering,

solar
the

sector.
project

At

the

revealed

time

of

best-in-

country cost per watt of solar power, primarily

due to synergies and economies of scale
generated by the size of the project.

The project was constructed by a host of

contractors

and

sub-contractors

mainly

headquartered in India and in this manner

served as en excellent opportunity to further
develop the growing industry for solar energy
in

the

country.

Diferent

photovoltaic

technologies and materials for generating solar

power are employed and this allows for longterm and local experience with these diferent
technologies in a climate with abundant sun
and resulting high ambient temperatures.
KfW also provided grant financing of technical
assistance measures on behalf of the German
government. This technical assistance ensured
high quality in technical, commercial and
procedural matters and was thus a big enabler
towards establishing a landmark solar powerplant for the Indian energy sector. In addition,
parallel site analyses financed by KfW on
behalf

of

conducted

the
in

German
the

government

framework

of

and
the

Maharashtra Solar Valley Cluster Initiative are

helping to identify further highly promising
sites in Maharashtra.

2.Technical details
2.1 Generation Capacity
Total generation capacity is 150MW .Currently it is
generating 125 MW.
Out of this 25*2=50MW is based on thin film technology and
25*3=75MW is based on crystalline technology.
The efficiency of thin film technology is 19% and that of
crystalline technology is 21 %. The angle of inclination of thin
film technology is 18 deg and that of crystalline technology is 21
deg.
One 25MW unit is generating about 1,14,000 units Kwh
per day.
2.2 Panel configuration
In one 25MW unit,on one table there were 14 modules
connected in series to increase the voltage developed . The
rating of one module was 500W .In one unit there were 8
tables.The manufacturer of the module is sharp and shucko
which is a German company.

3. View of the plant

4. Operation
During standard conditions of 1 kwoer sq.m and 25deg
Celsius it generates 5580-600v D.C this output is given to ABB
Inverter .The ratings of inverter were 630KW,630KW and
315KW .Forced air cooling is used to cool the inverters which are
heated during operation.It was observed that hot air was
released from the top. The inverter produces an output of 355 V
A.C. This output is given to LC filter which filters out the
harmonics giving a power factor of 0.99.The output of inverter
355 V A.C. is given to step up transformer 355v/33kv.This 33kv is
then stepped up to 132kv and this 132kv is then stepped up to
220kv .The power is then fed into the grid at 220kv to state grid
MAHATRANSCO.

5.Inverter
The inverter used is an ABB inverter with ratings of
630KW,630KW,315 KW
5.1 Problems with Inverter
The solar irradiance keep on changing at diferent
times in the day. Due to decrease in irradiance the
output of solar panel decreases,and once it falls below
a certain limit i.e the set value in inverter ,the inverter
will go into sleep mode and at the same time the

breaker will trip and the inverter will stop feeding power
to grid.

6. Operation and maintenance of the plant

The opration and maintenance is done by KANCO.Periodic
washing of the solar panels is required to wash of the dust
accumulated on it. There are faults associated with IGBT. Due to
continuous operation the IGBT may get damaged .so they need
to be replaced
Sometimes there may be ground faults near the IGBT in the
inverter.These faults also need to be attended by the
maintenance people

7. Conclusion.
Thus the visit to the largest solar plant has
increased our knowledge about the practical aspects of
solar power plant. Thus relating theoretical and
practical knowledge all our concepts of solar technology
are cleared.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Technical details
2.1
Generation capacity
2.2
Panel configuration
3 View of the plant
4 Operation
5 Inverter
5.1
Problems with inverter
6 Operation and maintenance
7 Conclusion