Background
Several rooftop and
ground mount Solar Projects have been installed in India in the last few
years. While utility scale projects have scored higher in terms of installed
capacity (which is quite obvious given their size) the captive Solar segment
is now gathering pace. Momentum in the captive space is expected from
Industrial Plants and Commercial facilities. As per Government of India
targets, the rooftop or captive segment will account for 40% of the total
installed capacity i.e. 40 GW (40,000 MW) of the total target of 100 GW by
2022. It is therefore important to learn from the issues outlined in installed
Solar Projects to avoid similar potential issues that could impact your project
in the long run.
In the installed Solar projects in India, majority of them i.e. more than 70% are facing performance issues i.e. output lesser than designed or projected output. In some cases the PR (Performance Ratio) is less than 75% which is extremely low by any standards either due to bad design or selection of wrong technology or configuration mismatch.
Nearly
60% of the projects are facing non-performance issues related to Contractual
or Financing of the project or in terms of Safety and Reliability. Many of these issues could have been avoided if
certain simple measures were undertaken before
project execution. Post-project corrections can be done but are typically
expensive and time consuming. These issues can be corrected but better avoided.
This does not trivialize
the potential of Solar Project audit (of installed projects) which throws
open several options to improve project performance, reliability and safety.
This short write-up highlights the observations made from some of the installed Solar Projects in India – through study as well as interview of the stakeholders involved. A list of possible remedial measures - although not comprehensive – follows the observations and could be used as a guideline. |
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