5/12/2017 The100MWQuaideAzamSolarPowerPlantRevampEarningMillionsRenewableEnergyWorld

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The100MWQuaideAzamSolarPowerPlantRevamp
EarningMillions
June23,2016

ByJahanzebTariq

Completelyobliviousofitssurroundings,oursinglemost,massivesourceofenergy,thesun,producespowerthatamountsroughlyupto3.85x1017GW
thathascontributedtoasubstantialamountoftheworldspowerneeds,asthecostofthedevelopingtechnologyhasgonedownoverthepastyears.

Pakistanslocationmakesitanidealcountrytotapintothesolarresource,havinganaverageannualirradiationof6kWh/m2/day,tofulfillitspowerneeds
andaddanincreasingchunktoitseconomy.

ThetopographyofPakistanvariesgreatlyrangingfromthefrostiestoftheareastositesrealizinga50degreesCelsius.Thevariationofenvironment
factors,suchasambienttemperature,humidity,precipitation,wind,andthesolarirradianceencouragessolarPVsystemdesignerstoselecttheoptimalPV
andstoragetechnologyandvarydesignsaccordingtoapplicationandlocationsenvironmenttooptimizepoweroutput,increasesystemefficiencyand
decreasethelevelizedcostofenergy(LCOE)tomakesolaraccessibleandpracticable.

The100MWQuaideAzamSolarPowerPlant,atBahawalpur,wasthefirstgridconnectedIPPthatwasinstalledin2015andhasbeenoperationalsince
August2015,exceedingexpectationsanddemandsbytheNationalElectricPowerRegulatoryAuthorityintermsofproducingenergy,GWhs,forthemonths
withoptimalsolarirradianceandtemperatures.Theplantisonitswaytobecometheworldslargestwithapeakcapacityof1,000MW,installedwith
polycrystallinePVmodules.Theplantisnotonlyintendedtohelpthecountrymeetitspowerrequirement,decreasingthepowerdeficit,butalsotoprovidea
modelforforeigncompaniestoinvestinsolarPVandearnprofitsuptohugemargins.

Thelocationoftheplantbearshightemperatures,moderatetohighlevelsofrelativehumiditywithlowrainfallandamplesolarirradiationandannualof
1860kWh/m2.ThePVmoduleselectionexhibitsa15.6percentefficiencyandatemperaturecoefficientof0.41percent/Cindicatingthethermallossof
powergeneratedbysolarPVmodulesastemperatureincreasesabovestandardtestconditions(STC)of25degreesCelsius.The100MWinstallationalso
suffersexcesssoilingduetosandstormsandunsettleddustintheground.

TheperformanceofasolarPVinstallationishighlydependentontheenvironmentalfactors.Astheenvironmentalparameterschange,thepoweroutput
varies.Highsolarirradiancecausesanincreaseinoutputhowever,increaseinambientandpaneltemperaturehasadecreasingeffect.Theintermittent
cloudsordayswithhigherhumiditytendtohindertheenergyproductionashighenergywavelengths(shorterwavelengths)oftheelectromagneticspectrum
areabsorbedintheatmosphere,leavingdiffusedradiationreachingtheearthconsistingoflowenergywavelengths,notenoughtofulfilthebandgapofthe
PVdevice.

Similarly,achangeindeclinationangleoftheearthtowardthesuncausesavariationinpowerproductionthroughouttheyearrequiringanoptimaltiltof
solarPVmodules.ThePVplantproducesoptimalenergyduringandaroundequinoxes,asthemajordecidingparametersirradianceandtemperatureare
moderateandclosertoSTC.

WithcommercializationofnumerousotherPVmoduletechnologies,thePVdesignershavealotofvarietytopickfromPVmoduletechnologies.The100
MWPVplantspowerproductioncanbeoptimized.Analyzingtheenvironmentalfactorsoftheplantslocation,thethinfilmcadmiumtelluride(CdTe)would
havebeenamorebeneficenttechnologyforenergyproduction.TheFirstSolar,112.5Wpmodulewasusedintheanalysis,withanefficiencyof15.6
percent,matchingexactlytheefficiencyoftheCrySi

moduleused,implicatingalmostthesameamountoflandrequiredforthedeploymentofthistechnology,whichwasnotpossibleduetolowerefficienciesof
theCdTeinthepast.

SpectralResponseofDifferentPVTechnologies

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Source:EuropeanCommission,JointResearchCentre,ViaFermi2749,Ispra21027,Italy

SimulationsandcalculationsruntoanalyzetheeffectofreplacingthecrystallinesilicontechnologywiththinfilmCdTeprovethat,thefirstyearproductionof
theplantwouldhaveproduced13GWhsmorethantheCrySiproductionanincreasefrom160.2GWhto174GWh.Overthespanof25yearsan
excessof276.2GWhscouldhavebeenextractedfromthesolarPVplant.Owingtothesefigures,anexcessofUS$38.8millioncouldhavebeenaddedto
thecollectedrevenueanetincreaseinprofitofUS$3.2millionperyear.Undertheseproductionvalues,theLCOEoftheplantreducesfrom$0.14to
$0.13.Thenetpresentvalueoftheplantincreasesupto60percentofitsinitialrate.Thestakeholdersnotonlyearnamuchgreaterprofit,butalsoensurea
largerenergygridinjection.

TheperformanceratioofthesolarPVplantincreasesfrom80.6percentto83.3percentasaresultofmoreenergyproduction.Theannualspecificyieldalso
seesarisefrom1602.3kWh/kWpto1739.6kWh/kWp.

TheexcesselectricityproductionowestobettertemperatureperformanceoftheCdTecomparedtoCrySi,temperaturecoefficientof0.34percent.The
ambienttemperatureisexpectedtoreachashighas43degreesCelsius,causingthePVmoduletemperaturetoriseupto70degreesCelsiusatoccasions.
TheCdTemodulehasabetterspectralresponsetheratioofthecurrentgeneratedbythesolarcelltothepowerperwavelengthincidentonthesolarcell
inhotandhumidconditionsandincloudyweatheraswell.

Underhighhumidityorwhenovercastbyclouds,thelowerwavelengths(highenergywavelengths)oftheelectromagneticspectrumareabsorbedinthe
atmosphereascomparedtoCrySi,thethinfilmCdTehasamuchhigherspectralresponsetotheincidentspectrumoflowerenergiesthusproducingmore
powerinthosetimes,relativelytoCrySi.Similarly,thethinfilmCdTeperformsforamuchlargerpartofthedayduetoimprovedperformanceatdawnand
dusk,owingtotheabsorptionoflowerenergywavelengthsbecauseofbetterspectralresponse,contributingmorekWhsthroughouttheday.

Theefficienciesforthethinfilmtechnologyhavebeenimproving,whichhasbeenoneofthemajorreasonsofthetechnologyslessermarketshareinPV
installationsonagloballevel.Althoughthe100MWinstallationatBahawalpurhasbeenperformingwellforthepastyear,anadditionalvaluecouldhave
beenaddedusingtheCdTetechnology.Theremaining900MWisbeingaddedtotheQuaideAzamPowerpark,withthesamepolycrystallinetechnology.
IfthethinfilmCdTeweretobeusedfortheupcomingphaseof300MWoutofthe900MWinstallation,onecouldpracticallyobservetheplausibleoutcomes
thetechnologyholds,forirradiancerichlocationssuchasPakistan.Nottomention,agreatpotentialmarketforthekeyglobalmarketdriversofthinfilm
technology.

Thedata,foranalyses,wasextractedfromtheQASolarPlantwebsiteandthe8.2feasibilityreport,availableontheAEDBwebsite.Themethodologyofthe
analysisconsistedofsimulatingtheCrySilicondesignandthencomparetheresultswiththeoutputoftheThinfilmCdTe.Thesimulationswererunonthe
ECATtoolavailableontheFirstSolarwebsiteandonValentinSoftwarePV*SOL.MATLABwasusedtocalculatecertainparametersforcomputinginput
parametersandresults.

Thedifferencebetweenthe8.2reportresultsandthePV*SOLsimulationintermsofEnergyinjectiontogridwas0.15%andintermsofrevenuegeneration
overtheperiodof25yearswas0.5%.TheNPVandLCOEincreaseduetoThinfilmproductionwerecalculatedonbasisofPV*SOLsimulation.Similarly,in
termsofexcessrevenuegeneration,thedifferencebetweentheECATtoolresultsandthePV*SOLsimulation(Thinfilm)isof0.6%.Completecashflow
analyses,simulationreports,listofassumptions,datasheetsofproducts,calculationofresultsandsourcesofdataareavailableandprooffortheexcess
energyandrevenuegenerationcanbeprovided.

ThisarticlewasoriginallypublishedonLinkedInandwasrepublishedwithpermission.

Leadimagecredit:NREL

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