Infrastructure Operations

Management
Prasad K V
Assistant Professor
NICMAR Hyderabad
Contents
• Components of Solar Power Plant & Working Principle

• Components of Biomass plant and its working

Solar Plants
 Solar Power – Introduction
• Knowing the fact that fossil fuels are not going to last forever, solar power generation seems to
be leading the path in clean and renewable energy generation among all other renewable
sources of energy production.
• China which once seems world’s largest polluter has now developed the largest solar power
plant.
• Solar energy is the conversion of sunlight into usable energy forms. Solar photovoltaics (PV),
solar thermal electricity and solar heating and cooling are well established solar technologies.
• Efficient production of power from sunlight is the leading topic of research all around the globe.
 Solar Power – Introduction
• Knowing the fact that fossil fuels are not going to last forever, solar power generation seems to
be leading the path in clean and renewable energy generation among all other renewable
sources of energy production.
• China which once seems world’s largest polluter has now developed the largest solar power
plant.
• Solar energy is the conversion of sunlight into usable energy forms. Solar photovoltaics (PV),
solar thermal electricity and solar heating and cooling are well established solar technologies.
• Efficient production of power from sunlight is the leading topic of research all around the globe.
 Introduction
• Solar power plant is based on the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using

photovoltaic (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP).

• Photovoltaic converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect. Concentrated solar

power plants first appeared in the 1980s

• Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large

area of sunlight into a small beam.

Solar Map of India
About 5,000 trillion kWh per year energy is incident over
India’s land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per square
meter per day
 India’s status of solar power
• India’s combination of abundant sunshine – about 300 sunny days in a year – and a large energy-

hungry population makes it an ideal location for solar. The country’s solar capacity reached 36.6GW

at the end of the first quarter of 2020, with the aim of growing to 100GW by 2022.

• Main challenges in building solar farms is finding the right place to do it. Land is relatively

expensive in India and often has multiple owners, so the purchase of land involves many formalities.

India’s high population density also puts pressure on the land, with an average of 464 people per

square kilometre. Rooftop solar panels are one solution, but sunny space atop buildings is limited

too.
 Solar power projects
• A pilot 750m stretch in Gujarat in 2014 led to the first large-scale canal-top solar power plant in the

Vadodara district of Gujarat in 2015, at a cost of $18.3 million. The long stretch of the canals leading off

the Narmada River enables electricity to be extracted at multiple points

• The energy generated from the solar canal can provide electricity for farmers during the energy-intensive

irrigation season, and out of season the electricity can be fed into the state grid, sold to distribution

companies or used by the canal authority. Since this power is generated in a rural area, the transmission

losses are reduced and the local grid is strengthened.

Solar power setup

The solar canals are suspended on a metal structure over the canal, with benefits for both water
conservation below and cooling of the panels above
 Use by Indian Railways
• Over the last few years, a slew of measures such as the adoption of energy-efficient luminaires and

equipment, installation of LED lights at railway stations and railway offices, deployment of new

generation three-phase energy efficient electric locomotives as well as electrical multiple units, etc., have

resulted in substantial savings in Indian Railways’ electricity consumption.

• For better environment sustainability as well as to reduce the carbon footprint, several solar power plants

are being installed at various railway stations across the country.

Use by Indian Railways
 Use in Indian Railways
• According to details shared by the Railway Ministry, Ratnagiri station is generating around 3,50,000

KWH per annum through installed solar power plants, Kudal station is generating around 32,000 KWH

per annum, Sawantwadi station is generating around 25,000 KWH per annum, Chiplun station is

generating around 30,000 KWH per annum, Kankavali station is generating around 30,000 KWH per

annum, Karmali station is generating around 12,000 KWH per annum, Udupi station is generating around

7,000 KWH per annum, Thivim station is generating around 6,000 KWH per annum. The electricity

generated through solar power plants is used for the stations’ operational purposes.
Main components
Main components
 Main components
• Solar Panels

• It is the heart of the solar power plant. Solar panels consists a number of solar cells. Generally,

around 35 solar cells will be placed in one panel. The energy produced by each solar cell is very

small, but combining the energy of 35 of them gets enough energy to charge a 12 volt battery.

• Solar panel refers to a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for

generating electricity or heating. A photovoltaic (in short PV) module is a packaged, connected

assembly of typically 6×10 solar cells.

 Solar Panels
• Solar Photovoltaic panels constitute the solar module of a photovoltaic system that generates and
supplies solar electricity in commercial and residential applications.
• Each module is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions, and typically ranges
from 100 to 365 watts.
• The efficiency of a module determines the area of a module given the same rated output – an 8%
efficient 230 watt module will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230 watt module. There are a
few solar panels available that are exceeding 19% efficiency.
• A single solar module can produce only a limited amount of power; most installations contain
multiple modules. A photovoltaic system typically includes a panel or an array of solar modules, a
solar inverter, and sometimes a battery and/or solar tracker and interconnection wiring

• Solar cells

It is the energy generating unit, made up of p-type and n-type silicon semiconductor.
How Panel is created

An individual PV cell typically produces 0.6 watts and are joined in an module to produce the
required power.
 Main components - Controller
• Controller's main function is to make solar power system always in the
vicinity of the maximum power generation in order to obtain maximum
efficiency.
• The charge control usually the PWM (pulse width modulation) control,
so that the whole system is always running at maximum power point Pm
near the area.
• Discharge control mainly refers to when the battery power shortage,
system failures, such as open or reversed when the battery cut off switch.
• Currently both Hitachi developed a tracking control point Pm, and can
track the sun moving parameter of the "sunflower" type of controller, the
battery components will be fixed about 50% efficiency.
 Main components
• Battery

Batteries are used to produce the power back or store the excess energy produced during day, to be

supplied during night.

• D.C. to A.C. Converter (Inverter)

Solar panels produce direct current which is required to be converted into alternating current to be

supplied to homes or power grid.

Main components - Battery
Photovoltaics
• Photovoltaics directly convert solar energy into electricity. They work on the principle of the photovoltaic

effect.

• When certain materials are exposed to light, they absorb photons and release free electrons. This

phenomenon is called as the photoelectric effect.

• Photovoltaic effect is a method of producing direct current electricity based on the principle of the

photoelectric effect
Photovoltaics
• Based on the principle of photovoltaic effect, solar cells or photovoltaic cells are made. They convert
sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity.
• But, a single photovoltaic cell does not produce enough amount of electricity. Therefore, a number of
photovoltaic cells are mounted on a supporting frame and are electrically connected to each other to
form a photovoltaic module or solar panel.
• Commonly available solar panels range from several hundred watts (say 100 watts) up to few kilowatts
They are available in different sizes and different price ranges. Solar panels or modules are designed to
supply electric power at a certain voltage (say 12v), but the current they produce is directly dependent on
the incident light. As of now it is clear that photovoltaic modules produce DC electricity. But, for most of
the times we require AC power and, hence, solar power system consists of an inverter too.
Photovoltaics
According to the requirement of power, multiple photovoltaic modules are electrically connected together to
form a PV array and to achieve more power. There are different types of PV systems according to their
implementation.
• PV direct systems: These systems supply the load only when the Sun is shining. There is no storage of
power generated and, hence, batteries are absent. An inverter may or may not be used depending on the
type of load.
• Off-grid systems: This type of system is commonly used at locations where power from the grid is not
available or not reliable. An off-grid solar power system is not connected to any electric grid. It consists
solar panel arrays, storage batteries and inverter circuits.
• Grid connected systems: These solar power systems are tied with grids so that the excess required
power can be accessed from the grid. They may or may not be backed by batteries.
Solar Panels – How does it work
 Working of a solar cell
Photoelectric effect

• When a light of certain frequency falls on the surface of a metal electrons will absorb the energy

• If incident light energy is greater than the work function(minimum energy required to remove the

loosely bound valence electrons) of the metal , then the photo electrons will be emitted and

• The excess energy is converted to the kinetic energy of electron.

 Solar Panels – How does it work
• Silicon is a much known semiconductor having properties of both metals and non-metals. To make a

solar panel, this silicon is doped by a pentavalent impurity converting silicon into positive type

silicon also known as p-type silicon.

• And similarly other part is converted into negative or n-type silicon.

• As name suggest p-type have excess of holes (positive charge) in it and n- type has excessive

electrons. Then these two are combined together one over other upto the atomic level. Due to their

contact and having opposite charge electrons flow from n-type to p-type and holes travel from p-type

to n-type thus creating a thin potential barrier between them.

 Solar Panels – How does it work
• The current so generated from this movement of charges is named as diffusion current.

• This potential barrier, gives rise to electric field which flows from the positive charge near n-type and

negative charge near p-type junction (the area where potential is generated or meeting area of p and

n type).

• Due to this electric field electrons from p-type starts flowing towards n-type and holes from n-type

towards p-type giving rise to a current called drift current. Initially the diffusion current is more than

the drift current but as potential difference increases due to diffusion it simultaneously increases the

drift current. Current stops flowing when drift current becomes equal to diffusion current.
 Solar Panels – How does it work
• Sunlight travels to earth in the form of small energy particles called photons. This photon strike the

p- type region and transfer its energy to hole and electron pair thus exciting the electron and it gets

away from hole.

• The electric field we have due to potential difference at p-n junction makes its electron to travel to n-

type region thus causing the current to flow.

• The working principle is that we use the energy of photons to get the drift current flowing in the

circuit using reversed bias p-n junction diode (p-type and n-type silicon combination).
Concentrated Solar Power
As the name suggests, in this type of solar power system, sun rays are concentrated (focused) on a small area

by placing mirrors or lenses over a large area.

Due to this, a huge amount of heat is generated at the focused area. This heat can be used to heat up the

working fluid which can further drive the steam turbine.

There are different types of technologies that are based on the concentrated solar power to produce

electricity. Some of them are - parabolic trough, Stirling dish, solar power tower etc.
Concentrated Solar Power
Photovoltaics
 Advantages
• Solar energy is a clean and renewable energy source.
• Once a solar panel is installed, solar energy can be produced free of charge.
• Solar energy will last forever whereas it is estimated that the world’s oil reserves will last for 30 to 40
years.
• Solar energy causes no pollution.
• Solar cells make absolutely no noise at all. On the other hand, the giant machines utilized for pumping
oil / power plants are extremely noisy.
• Very little maintenance is needed to keep solar cells running. There are no moving parts in a solar cell
which makes it very less prone to defects.
• In the long term, there can be a high return on investment due to the amount of free energy a solar panel
can produce, it is estimated that the average household will see 50% of their energy coming in from
solar panels
 Disadvantages
• Solar power stations do not match the power output of similar sized conventional power stations; they

can also be very expensive to build.

• Solar panels can be expensive to install, so breakeven period is substantially long

• Electricity generation depends entirely on the panels location and exposure to sunlight; this could be

limited by a region’s climate.

• The batteries can often be large and heavy, taking up space and needing to be replaced from time to

time.
Biomass Plants
 Biomass plants
• Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals.

• Biomass continues to be an important fuel in many countries, especially for cooking and heating in

developing countries. The use of biomass fuels for transportation and for electricity generation is

increasing in many developed countries as a means of avoiding carbon dioxide emissions from fossil

fuel use.

• Biomass contains stored chemical energy from the sun. Plants produce biomass through

photosynthesis. Biomass can be burned directly for heat or converted to renewable liquid and gaseous

fuels through various processes.

 Biomass sources
Biomass sources for energy include

• Wood and wood processing wastes—firewood, wood pellets, and wood chips, lumber and furniture

mill sawdust and waste, and black liquor from pulp and paper mills

• Agricultural crops and waste materials—corn, soybeans, sugar cane, switchgrass, woody plants, and

algae, and crop and food processing residues

• Biogenic materials in municipal solid waste—paper, cotton, and wool products, and food, yard, and

wood wastes

• Animal manure and human sewage

Biomass sources
Biomass plants
 Biomass plant working
• The seedlings are planted to grow for 5 to 8 years to mature into trees. While the trees grow they absorb from the
atmosphere Carbon Dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. Mature trees are harvested, debarked, and loaded
as tree logs onto trucks. Tree logs are then transported to a centrally located power plant site.
• Tree logs are processed on site into wood chips to fuel our biomass power plant. Wood chips are channelled into the
combustion chamber through a conveyor system and burned to heat water in the boiler. The burning wood chips
release stored carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, remaining ash is used as plantation fertiliser and for road
construction.
• Under high temperatures of the heat, the water in the boiler becomes high pressure steam that is used to spin the
turbine, and the turbine drives the generator.
• The generator creates electricity which flows into the grid to power residential, commercial, government, and small
industry customers.