OPERATION AND

MONITORING OF A SOLAR
POWER PLANT FOR
EFFICIENT OPERATION
 INTRODUCTION
What is Solar Power and Solar Power
Plant?

Solar power is the conversion of energy

from sunlight into electricity.
This conversion is carried out in Solar
Power Plants.
Depending on how the energy from sun
is converted into electricity, these plants
can be of two types
1. Photovoltaic Plants
 How does a solar power plant work?

Operation of Photovoltaic Plants :

Photovoltaic plants consist of photovoltaic

cells which work based on the photovoltaic
effect.

In a solar power plant, an array of solar cells

in created (in series and parallel with each
other) to produce desired current and
voltage level.
 Photovoltaic Effect

In photovoltaic effect, two

dissimilar materials (like
silicon and germanium)
are put in close contact.
When exposed to
radiation, electrons from
one material absorb the
photons, get excited
and jump to the other
material. This movement
of electrons induces
positive charge in one
material and negative in
the other resulting in
Typical layout of a Solar Photovoltaic Plant
 Operation of Solar Thermal Power Plants:

A solar thermal plant generates heat and

electricity by concentrating the sun's energy.
That in turn builds steam that helps to feed a
turbine and generator to produce electricity.
The operation of solar thermal power plants is
based on the following steps:
1. Mirrors capture solar radiation at a point so
as to generate very high temperatures (400
1,000 C).
2. The obtained heat transforms the water in a
steam boiler.
3. Pressurized steam rotates a turbine which
Layout of a Solar Thermal Power Plants
Solar Power Plant
Monitoring
 PV monitoring essentially involves :

1. Capturing the power plant/system

performance indicators.
2. Analyzing the plant/system performance
indicators
3. Identifying the problems affecting the
performance of the PV power plant
4. Reconfiguring/Re-calibrating the plant as
required, eliminating the performance
bottleneck.
 The first is done using
sensors/meters and data loggers.
Analysis and identification of the
problems is predominately manual.
In the last stage, reconfiguration is
done which is based on the
feedback.
 How does it work?
The output of a solar panel, essentially
current and voltage, are stored in the
memory of an inverter.
These stored values are sent to a central
control unit.
Using different means of communication
channels like Ethernet, Internet, dial up
access, GSM etc.
The data is transmitted to a server from
where alerts and status messages are sent to
 Problems faced by Solar Power Industry

1. ~52% solar plants are not performing to

their capacity.
2. There is no tool for Base lining and
benchmarking.
3. Mismanaged scheduling of Operation
and Maintenance.
4. Requirement of smart demand
management tool.
5. No tool to measure net electricity,
generated less used or forecast yield.
 Increasing Efficiency of Plants

Solar panels normally operate at 8-10%

efficiencies. The efficiency of the solar
panels goes down with the deposition of
dust, pollen grains, soot etc. This calls for
regular cleaning of the solar panels.
Use of tracking system significantly
improves the operational efficiency of solar
power plants as it ensures that the panels
are always facing the sun and hence,
operate at a maximum efficiency.
 Use of software based remote monitoring
system.
A Software as a Service platform makes solar
data simple to acquire, understand and act upon
so that you can improve yield & profitability.
Benefits :
1. Increased Forecasting Performance: Predict
yield accuracy with increase certainty.
2. Yield Analysis: These system provides analytics
to understand if yield is as expected or
designed.
3. Effective O&M: Equipment issues can be
 Remote monitoring using SCADA

SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and

Data Acquisition.
It is a Remote Monitoring Software Tool.
A SCADA performs two basic functions:
1. Display information about the current
operating conditions of a plant in an
informative and graphical interface.
2. To allow supervisory control of the plant
by the personnel.
 How SCADA based monitoring works?

In Solar Power Plants, the SCADA Data

Acquisition begins at the string level.
The sensors built inside the String
Monitoring Boxes (SMBs) senses and
measures the DC voltage, current, power,
temperature inside the SMB etc as required
from the monitoring point of view.
These sensors are interfaced with
Microprocessor controlled electronic devices
called as Remote Terminal Unit/ PLCs
String Monitoring Box
 Depending on the size of the plant the number
of RTUs are connected to the SCADA Master
through the communication protocol like
MODBUS, RS485, RS232, CANBUS etc.
Data is collected from every field device and
finally information is transferred to the Server
through Wireless Communication (GPRS
modem).
GPRS modem stores all the data into the memory
and sends it to the server.
The information gathered in the server can be
accessed in the Central Remote Monitoring
Station.
 SCADA with IOT

The 4th generation SCADA system uses IOT.

The infrastructure cost of the SCADA system is
reduced by adopting the internet of things
technology with the commercially available cloud
computing.
Benefits :
The maintenance and integration is also very
easy for the fourth generation compared to the
earlier SCADA systems.
These SCADA systems are able to report status in
real time by using the horizontal scale from the
 Case study of 3-MW scale grid-
connected solar photovoltaic power
plant at Kolar, Karnataka
 Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) has
established 3 MW capacity peak grid-connected
solar photovoltaic power plant near Yalesandra
village in Kolar district of Karnataka.
The plant was fully commissioned on 27 December
2009.
The plant has 3 segments with each segment
having an installed capacity of 1 MW. Each
segment has 4 inverters with a capacity of 250 kW
each.
There are 13,368 modules (557 arrays with 24
modules per array) that contain mono-crystalline
 Plant Maintenance & Operation

In addition to 3 MW , one more 10 kW PV plant

has been installed on the rooftop of office building
to take care of domestic lighting and cooling loads
of the Plant including the load of exhaust fans.
At present, the plant is maintained by 13 workers
which includes 2 technical persons who look after
data collection and monitoring.
Three bore - wells have been installed at the site
with pump-set capacities of 2 HP, 5 HP and 10 HP.
The 2 HP pump set is used regularly to meet the
water requirements of the Plant.
 Cleaning of PV Modules:
Generally, the modules are cleaned by
spraying water with the help of
extendable hosepipes.
Occasionally, wipers are used to
remove the accumulated dirt and bird
droppings, say once in a month.
On an average, each module is
cleaned once in a week on rotational
basis
 Conclusion
Being cost effective is an important requirement
for every product. For a power plant O&M costs
has to be kept under control.
This becomes possible by robust monitoring
system.
Though every part of the plant and every input
attribute cannot be controlled to the desired
levels, continuous monitoring of the energy
generation as per expected forecast will ensure
that the efficiency of the plant is maintained at a
high level throughout the life of the plant.
 Presented by :

DEBASHIS TARAI
ROLL NO. :
14/EE/50
 References

1. Operation and Maintenance Methods in Solar

Power Plants - Mustapha Hatti.
2. Renewable Energy Systems Reports - H.
Mitavachan, Anandhi Gokhale and J. Srinivasan.
3. Remote Monitoring Systems for Solar PV Power
Plant - Divya Darshini. V, Electrical Engineer -
O&M, Avi Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd.
4. Operations and Maintenance of Solar PV Power
Plants - Rahul Bhardwaj, Manager Solar Business
Unit, PT&D IC, L&T Construction