Importance of solar power plant site feasibility study

New Page 1

For any solar PV power projects, basic step which initiating power plant installation is site feasibility study. Site feasibility study usually performed through two different steps i.e, on-site visit and analysis of collected site information.

On-site visits must be thorough enough to provide accurate information that needed to complete the initial design/ analysis and planning stage. Anything less will be extra trips, cost and manpower, improper design, material selection, unexpected installation huddles etc. A perfect site visit should find out answers for following points:

 

  • Requirement of the customer
  • Available area, type, measurement and photographs
  • Budget of the customer
  • Proposed site accessibility, obstruction for installing power plant
  • Location details ( address, Latitude and longitude, direction)
  • Component installation and termination of output power
  • Ownership of proposed site
  • Nearby substation details and distance from the site
  • Energy consumption of customer (in case of captive plant)
  • O&M provisions (eg. water availability at site)
  • Total connected load load (in case of captive)
  

There are also tools that aid with the on-site surveys. These includes:

Compass/ Latitude and Longitude finder

 

  • Details need to be collected for planning PV panel orientation, tilt angle of MMS.

  • Initial simulation of power plant need weather data, this can’t be done without latitude and longitude, information.

  • Now a days digital instruments like GPS or mobile app based compass and lat log finders are available.
Distance measuring tape or digital instruments

It is better to make on-site drawing with shading objects details. In case if customer have provided built in rooftop or land drawings, all dimension need to be verified during the visit. In case of rooftop power plant, engineer need to consider cable routing provisions as well.
Protractor/ tilt angle measurement instrument

  • In case of roof top solar power plants tilt angle information is required to conduct simulation and installation planning.

  • Now a days mobile app based angle measurement is common.

Shading analyzing tool

Tools such as solar pathfinder or SunEye can calculate shading in a manner of minutes. A shading analysis tool determines the impact of the nearby objects on the prospective site down to what hours and which months that site will be shaded.

Camera


 

Maximum photograph need to be captured from site. This will be needed for design stage and future reference.

Flashlight

For checking low light areas eg: Control room, cable trench, etc.

Site visit check list

Checklists of information to be collected from site visits help ensure accuracy to meet project goals. Checklist and forms help record the data at the on-site meeting. In addition to checklist it suggested to collect following documents

  • Site plan or building rooftop drawings

  • Electrical SLD

  • Electricity bills for last 12 months, which will give energy consumption pattern and DISCOM registered details.

Safety in Site Visits

Proper personal protective equipment should be used while visiting site in case of both ground mounted and rooftop projects as per the site condition and hazards. Commonly used PPE are safety helmets and safety shoes. But in case of slanted roof, safety harness should also be utilized since there is risk of fall. Also check if the roof has enough strength to withstand the solar panel which has to be installed.


 

 

About Project

Under USAID- PEER cycle 5, World Institute of Sustainable Energy has done research study to strategizing O&M and performance evaluation of solar PV power plants in India. Project team has visited more than 100 power plants all across India and done exhaustive study on national and international best practices, standards ... Ream More

Useful Links

Articles by Subject

Our Contact

Plot No.44, Hindustan Estates,
Kalyani Nagar, Pune 411 006, India

(020) 26613855
(020) 26613832

cse@wisein.org
www.wisein.org