Solen Project

Pilot Project (Solen 1 Project)

Report revision date December 2013

Summary:

1.) Solen 1 project has saved Php9,258.13 from March 2012 to March 2013 Meralco billing.

2.) Solen 1 project has generated, 745.2 kW-hr (March ’12-’13).

3.) Solen 1 project has saved 29 trees required to absorb CO2 gas (March ’12-’13).

Details.

The Solen 1 project (herein after called Project) was set up to test the technical viability of on-grid PV system for a typical residential condition. The Project will run up to 1 year of full recording and monitoring on a daily basis. Project is expected to end in March 2013. Although the Project will end in March 2013, the set-up shall be implemented to its full life cycle or 25 years.

The Project is located south of Metro Manila and the Project determined that the peak sun of 4.5-5.1 hours is correct.

Project set up description

The Project is composed mainly of 2x 230 watts PV module and grid connected inverter (otherwise known as main system components.) Main system components are UL approved equipment and are both listed in the California Energy Commission approved equipment for grid connection. Other components which is basically termed as Balance of System (BoS) consist of site fabricated mounting frames, electric cables, 15 Amps breaker, weather proof junction box and control panel, single phase sub-meter, digital meter and IP44 extension cables. The BoS are all locally procured and site connected/installed.

Original design is to allocate 15 amps breaker in the house main panels. With this breaker a dedicated AC line will be connected directly with the grid inverter AC output. The 15 amps breaker serves two way protection for utility isolation and maximum current surge protection generated by the inverter. But since the main panel runs out of breaker space/spare it was decided that an alternative breaker panel is required for both grid isolation and surge protection. The alternative breaker is now located outdoors and also serves as the main on-off switch of the PV generator.

Connected downstream of the breaker is an analogue single phase meter. The analogue meter is meant to comply with regulation to provide PV generation sets with separate generation meter to record the energy generated. To provide a local energy production monitoring a digital consumer grade digital meter is provided at the tapping point with the main AC. On March 23, 2013 the digital consumer grade watt meter was replaced with an Efergy E2 monitor.

The Efergy E2 monitor is capable of data storage, graph analysis (hourly, daily, monthly and annual). It is also capable of remote monitoring via cloud computing (internet portal).

Refer to pictures of the actual set up by clicking the Solen Project Pictures subpage.

Generation Capacity

The location has a 4,500 – 5,100 watts per sq meter / day solar energy capacity or 4.5 – 5.1 sun hours. 4.5 sun hours is the annual sun hours average and 5.1 is the summer daily average sun hours.

From the average 4.5 annual sun hours, the system was projected to generate 2.07 kW-hr of electricity daily (62.1 kW-hr per month or 745.2 kW-hr annually).

Actual generation from March 2012 to March 2013 is 726.56 kW-hr of electrical energy. This actual generation is 97.5% of the rated capacity, proving the high reliability and efficiency of the system.

Chart 1: March 2012 to March 2013 Power generation.

March 23-April 21 2013 Generation

The Solen Project from March 23, 2013 to April 21, 2013 has yielded 70.83 kW-hrs of electricity. This recorded generation capacity is 14% more than the average generation capacity of 62.1 kW-hr per month.

Chart 2: March 25, 2013 – April 21, 2013 (28 days) generation chart (Solen 1 Project, Efergy portal)

Also the March 23-April 21 record shows daily average generation capacity of 2.361 kW-hrs. Refer to Charts 3-5.

This proves that during hot summer months where more electricity is needed to cool the house, it also produce more electricity for in-house demand. In perspective, the 2.361 kW-hrs of average daily generation also translates to 2.361 hours operation of air conditioning running on pure solar energy (1 kW air conditioning unit.) With a 1 HP air conditioner, this means operating for 3.16 hours daily on 100% solar energy from March 23 to April 21, 2013.

Charts 3 to 5: Typical 24 hours generation chart (Solen 1 Project, Efergy Portal)

Chart 3. April 15, 2013, 2.3 kW-hr generated

Chart 4 April 16, 2013, 2.51 kW-hr generated

Chart 5 April 17, 2013, 2.33 kW-hr generated

Power Bill Savings

From March 2012 to March 2013, the house where Solen 1 was installed imported from Meralco, 2,821 kW-hrs. The total power bill for this period is Php30,844.49.

Without solar power generation installed the power demand should have been 3,547.57 kW-hrs. This is derived by adding the total imported energy and the solar power generated electricity (726.57 kW-hrs). Exported energy or net energy given to the grid (Meralco) is not considered since net metering is not implemented yet by Meralco.

At 3,547.57 kW-hrs the power bill should have been Php40,102.62 when the 2012 annual average rate of electricity is pegged at Php11.30425 (price at 300 kW-hr consumption level sourced: http://bit.ly/2m7W4Op ).

Total power bill savings from March 2012-March 2013 is Php9,258.13.

Carbon off-set

The global standard for carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel power plants is 1 kilogram per kW-hr (source: http://bit.ly/1rHiLW8 )

For March 2012-2013, the Solen 1 Project has prevented the emission of 726.57 kg of CO2. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a leading global warming gas released by burning fossil fuels in a power plant.

Number of Trees saved by Solen 1 Project

One mature tree can absorb 48 lbs (22 kg) of CO2 (source: http://bit.ly/1WgzBLF ).

For every 25 kW-hr of electricity a mature tree (5 years old tree at least to be called as mature tree) is required to absorb the carbon dioxide emitted by a power plant to prevent global warming. The Solen 1 Project has prevented 726.57 kg CO2 into the atmosphere that also translates to 29 saved trees to prevent global warming. In the life span of the Solen 1 unit, it will save 725 trees in 25 years.

Project Expansion (Revision Dec 2013)

Since October 2013, the project has expanded into 1,165 watts-peak installed capacity. And has been applied for Net Metering inspection and approval. Currently the Project generates 133 kW-hr in October 2013 and 145 kW-hr in November 2013.

Solen Project (prototype project circa 2012) pictures

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