TWO GRID INTERACTIVE SOLAR POWER PROJECTS SET UP

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Two diesel grid interactive solar power projects were commissioned last year: a 50 KW project at Neil Island in Andaman and Nicobar and another at village Khatkar Kalan in Nawanshahar district of Punjab, with a capacity of 200 KW. The 50 KW grid interactive Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) power project at Neil Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands pertains to diesel saving application. The project was installed in April 2002. Thousands of litres of diesel could be saved thus.

A 200 KW grid-interactive SPV power project at village Khatkar Kalan in Punjab has been installed for voltage support and meeting local lighting loads. Khatkar Kalan is the native village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. The project will provide power to 100 streetlights in the village and on the road leading to the museum in the village. The project has been set up at a cost of Rs.4.85 crore by the Punjab Energy Development Agency. Of this Rs.2.94 crore is borne by Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources and the balance by Government of Punjab. The President, Shri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam dedicated the project to the nation in March this year. The power conditioning unit will automatically wake up in the morning and shut down at night.

A diesel grid interactive SPV power project can help in saving diesel in an island/remote location by providing electricity during a sunny day. A grid-interactive SPV power project can boost voltage of a rural wek grid and can meet partial electrical demand in a village. A typical grid interactive system comprises SPV modules, which supply electrical power to the load through a high quality inverter. This inverter converts direct current generated by SPV to grid quality alternating current. When the SPV system produces more power than is needed in the load area, the excess power can be sold to the utility.