Vikram Solar, a leading global manufacturer of solar photovoltaic(PV) modules and EPC contractor, has been championing the use of efficient and sustainable solar energy. Its efforts are setting new standards in the industry as an independent research has confirmed.
“Sunrise in Gujarat” report by RESolve Energy Consultants, Chennai, has established that the 5 megawatt solar power plant set up by Konark Gujarat PV Pvt. Ltd. whose modules were manufactured and supplied by Vikram Solar, ranks first amongst 50 solar power plants set up in Gujarat over the last year. Significantly, the EPC contract was for this project, set up at village Shivalakh in Kutch district of Gujarat, was also given to Vikram Solar along with operations and maintenance of the facility.
A total of 50 plants aggregating 665.64 MW have been ranked based on their annual yield (MWh/MW) in this research report. All the plants have been operational for at least 1 year. Of these 50 plants, 15 plants are located in Charanka Solar Park (totaling 210 MW) and 35 plants outside Charanka. The generation data available from the Gujarat State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) has been used. Ranking of the power plants has been done on the basis of the Plant Load Factor (PLF) or Capacity Uti¬lization Factor (CUF). PLF or CUF is calculated as the ratio of actual energy generated (for a given period of time) to the maximum (theoretical) possible generation of a power system.
The 5-megawatt Konark Gujarat solar plant set up by Vikram Solar generated 9361 MWh of solar power during the year giving a per megawatt output of 1872 MWh and CUF of 21.3%. The plant was set up using crystalline silicon modules manufactured by Vikram Solar and the design uses fixed tilt of the modules structure. The solar power is sold to the Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Gyanesh Chaudhary, Managing Director, Vikram Solar commented, “The recognition is a testament to our experience in typical and complex installations to engineer, procure and construct solar power plants. Vikram Solar is committed to generating efficient power through innovation that is sustainable and also to building trust among stakeholders by being honest and socially responsible in everything we do.”
The RESolve report stated: “In addition to the quality of the solar modules, the plant’s efficiency as reflected in its CUF will depend on some more factors like build quality, Balance of Systems used(cables, structures, etc) and design optimization. One inference that could be drawn is that a developer should pay equal attention to the selection of the Balance of system components, ensure design optimisation and select the right EPC contractors who can ensure build quality and high plant uptimes. Another aspect that could have an impact on the plant CUFs is the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the plants. A plant that has a very good performance monitoring system (remote monitoring or local SCADA) and is well maintained will obviously lead to higher generation.”
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