Team 18

Investigating the feasibility of Solar Panels in the School : 

Investigating the feasibility of Solar Panels in the School Group 18 Janice Tang, Amanda Wang, Elaine Lui, Alice Wong, Karishma Surtani, Andy Wu 2009 Group 4 Project

What are we doing? : 

What are we doing? Our Solar Panel models Subsidies $$ Manufacturers Inverters Comparison for 4 different companies Installation

Possible Companies : 

Possible Companies 2009 Group 4 Project

Criteria : 

Criteria System Energy Yield Cost Environmental Implications Other offers (maintenance, etc…) Advantages & Disadvantages

Slide 5: 

System PV-Panels: REC SCM 210 Inverter: SMA SB 2500 Others: PMS Energy Yield 1.5 million kWh in 35 years Cost $400,000 = 4kW What they will offer us? Maintenance - Free visits whenever called. Education E-learning resources which acts as a platform for schools to communicate and share ideas.

Widex : 

Widex System: PVM-W1, 180 (Mono-crystalline) Inverter: SMA Sunny Boy 3300/3800 Energy Yield: 3600 Watts per hour, 8 hours per day, Equals to 28800 Watts per day, Save over 0.5kg of CO2 each day Cost: $46, 000+$20,000 (engineer costing) + $8000 (audit) = $74,000 What they offer us? Maintenance warranty: 3 years Guarantee 5 years, 25 years output power efficiency, Education: Monitoring System in SMA Inverter will be connected to an LCD Display Talks, Presentations, Interactive workshops

(no formal proposal) : 

(no formal proposal) System PV Panels: Sharp/Suntech/CSG PVTech Inverters: SMA SB3800 Energy Yield Around $500,000=4kW Cost Around $500,000 What do they offer us? One Year Maintenance Package Installation Registered Electrical Engineer Education Information can be viewed online

Eco Tech : 

Eco Tech System: Solar panel array, Power conversion unit [PCU] and Performance Monitoring System [PMS] Proposed module: Eco-SST175-72M Energy Yield: 3973 kWh (annual) Cost: $163,000 What they will offer us: The whole system will be warranted for 2-year defect liability period (DLP) The PV modules will have a 5-year product warranty and 25-year performance warranty Benefits : Save HK$3,973 (Annual) Total annual GHG emission reduction: 3.03 ton CO2 per year Included Education (PMS) Disadvantages: Builder’s work not included Hiring Structural Engineer not included ($5000-10,000)

Conclusion… : 

Conclusion… Best system  Best cost  Best ‘offers’  Best education 

Our solar panel models : 

Our solar panel models Design solar panels to test whether or not shadowing would be a problem Materials we used were cardboard and tape Ratio (38.8cm X 58.2cm) Real ratio is 1m by 1.5m 2 rows of 5 panels 52cm in between the two sets of panels The arrangement of the test Conclusion of the test

Pictures : 

Pictures

Subsidies : 

Subsidies Grant of $500,000 Completed Application Form should be signed by the person-in-charge and returned to the ECC Secretariat at least four months before commencement of project. Criteria Set out by the Committee: (a) the benefits that it will bring to Hong Kong’s environment, ecology, flora and fauna etc. Enhance environmental awareness Integration into the schools curriculum, School Fair, CAS Activities etc. (c) whether the programmes of the project proposal can bring about positive impacts in the longer run Amount of Carbon Dioxide reduced = Sustainability Carbon footprint through education Set up an example for other schools in Hongkong to follow (f) whether the proposed budget is prudent, realistic and cost-effective, with full justification for every expenditure item 4 different companies with 4 proposals to compare and choose the best one

Manufacturers : 

Manufacturers

Manufacturers : 

Manufacturers SMA Based in Germany The only vendor that has a product range with the matching inverter type for any module type and any power class System: Grid-Connected Inverter: Sunnyboy SB 2500 (SaVita) Max Efficiency: 94.1% Grid Voltage: 220V Ideal for small commercial applications PMS option available Standard 10 Year Warranty Good yields even with high ambient temperatures (70c) Convection cooling

Manufacturers (cont.) : 

Inverters: Sunnyboy SB 3300/3800 (Widex) Best yields even with high ambient Temperatures (60c) Efficiency up to 95.6 % OptiCool cooling system Standard 10 Year Warranty Manufacturers (cont.) REC Based in Sweden We have 25 years of polysilicon manufacturing expertise. Core Values – responsibility, enthusiasm, commitment, innovation, drive Encouraging Stewardship All solar energy consultants drive hybrid vehicles and uses biodiesel. Printing only on paper with 30-100% recycled content Investing in energy-efficient appliances and machines Minimize waste and pollution - silicon waste from the wafer (thin slice of semiconductor material) cutting process is collected and reused. Technology Silane (SiH4 ) is a gas, which is the raw material in producing polysilicon

Manufacturers (cont.) : 

Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) technology The purified silicon crystals are placed into a chamber that has heated silane gas entering from below and exiting above. The flow of silane gas suspends the silicon crystals and deposits silicon layers onto it, causing them to flow like a liquid. The granules becomes larger and the purified silicon is taken from it. Siemens Process Silane gas is heated at a very high temperature, depositing the vaporized silicon onto rods inside a giant chamber. At the time, the chamber walls need to be cooled in order to avoid silicon deposition onto the walls. FBR is more energy efficient, saves up to 80-90% energy in the silicon refining process (less energy is wasted for heating and cooling) FBR lowers production cost  cheaper price for consumers (The cost of an REC solar energy system was reduced by 12 percent last year) FBR produces more silicon per unit space, because the silicon crystals have a larger total surface area than the rods used in the Siemens process. FBR is a closed loop process, meaning that all of chemicals we put into the refining process are collected and reused, therefore reduce waste production. All Products … 10 years limited warranty of 90% power output 25 years limited warranty of 80% power output 63 months limited product warranty Manufacturers (cont.)

Manufacturers (cont.) : 

Energy Embodiment REC has a small carbon footprint they use hydropower to fuel their silicon, wafer and cell production. Energy is required to produce energy. In order to make a solar panel system, energy is consumed in the manufacturing process: extracting natural oil for the sea, burning coal at power plants and purification of silicon etc The energy payback time = the amount of time an energy system must operate in order to generate the same amount of energy that was required to manufacture the system. Shorter energy payback time = energy source is more energy efficient One year payback time Shorter payback time  minimize the initial energy investment  maximizes the contribution the energy systems can provide for the school. A analysis, carried out in 2005 by The Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, showed that typical energy payback times of solar systems installed in Southern Europe ranged between 1.7 to 2.7 years. REC solar systems was lower than for any others systems. Manufacturers (cont.)

Manufacturers (cont.) : 

Models System: GRID CONNECTED SCM 210 (225 WP) (3Tech and Savita) $630 PV Peak Power = 2.25 KiloWatt 14.38 % Cell Efficiency light weight (22kg)  quick, simple installation suitable for low light condition power output tolerance +/- 5% Panels: Poly-Crystalline Solar Grade/Quality and Types of Silicon: Smaller crystallite size  reduce grain boundaries  better Grain boundaries are defects in the crystal structure; they tend to decrease the electrical and thermal conductivity of the material, higher chances of the onset of corrosion. Manufacturers (cont.)

Manufacturers (cont.) : 

Panels: Semiconductors (e.g. silicon) used for solar cells can be single crystalline, multicrystalline, polycrystalline or amorphous. The main difference between these materials is the size of the crystals making up the material and the order of their crystal structure. Inverters: It converts the direct current generated in photovoltaic cells into alternating current suitable for the grid. It is also an intelligent system manager, responsible for performance monitoring system (PMS) and grid management. Grid-Connected (or “On-Grid”) A grid-tied home is connected to power lines which transmit electricity to the school, mainly from power plants, yet it can also produce power on-site using renewable energy systems Manufacturers (cont.)

Installation : 

Installation Waterproof H-frame, concrete Ventilation Typhoon Proof Spacing/No Shadows Durability

Maintenance : 

Maintenance Annual Checkups Registered Electrical Engineer Contaminants Dust, leaves, dirt… Monitoring SaVita Monthly Cleaning

Bibliography : 

Bibliography http://www.fulikent.com/2009/09/16/how-to-solve-the-solar-cell-production-process-of-the-pollution-problem/ http://www.recgroup.com/en/products/polysilicon/packages/ http://www.wholesalesolar.com/solar-panels.html#REC_SOLAR_PANELS http://www.sma-america.com/en_US/products/grid-tied-inverters/sunny-boy/sunny-boy-5000us-6000us-7000us.html http://www.savitasol.com/products.php http://www.3tech.net/down/3TechSolarSchoolProgramme.pdf http://www.solarcompanies.com/silicone-solar-grade http://www.recgroup.com/en/tech/ http://www.solarexpert.com/instroof5.html http://www.recgroup.com/aboutsolar/recfilm/ sustech.emsd.gov.hk/cindex.html