Happy New Year 2016
Aspiration Energy wishes all a very happy new year, 2016
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India: Solar System Suppliers Call for Solar Process Heat Obligation
A recent post in solarthermalworld.org A thought provoking article stressing on much required move towards Solar Heating in Industrial process Heating. (SHIP) The article: solar concentrating system on the roof of bearing manufacturer SKF Technologies in Mysore The Indian industry imports 80 % of the oil it consumes for heating, boiling, drying or other purposes. The government of India has spent USD 112.748 billion in financial year 2014-15 on the import of these 189.43 million tons of crude oil. Solar thermal is seen as a key technology for reducing government spending and greenhouse gas emissions in the industry on the subcontinent. Despite being heavily subsidised, solar process heat installations are still rare across the country. Now, the solar thermal industry is calling for additional regulations in form of a Renewable Heating Obligation to speed up the deployment of solar thermal technology in the manufacturing sector. Stakeholders in the Indian solar thermal sector proposed a decree which would stipulate that all industries use process heat to cover at least 5 % of their energy demand by renewables and, in particular, by solar thermal. Thermax India, the largest supplier of heating and vapour absorption cooling equipment, has been repeatedly making the case for such an obligation at every solar thermal event over the last years. Non-compliance with the decree should result in penalties as proposed by the solar thermal industry sector. Equal opportunities for solar thermal technologies Devinder Kaushal of Inter Solar Systems, India’s largest supplier of commercial low-temperature solar thermal systems, refers to the successful Renewable Purchase Obligation, which is one of India’s major growth drivers regarding renewable power generation, and calls on the government to elevate solar thermal to equal importance. Power distributing companies must cover at least 10% of the traded kilowatt hours by renewable sources, including 1% by solar electricity. Kaushal emphasises that solar thermal technologies save nearly four times as much energy per area as solar PV and that this should be enough to prove it’s worth investing in it. It seems that MNRE is now seriously considering the proposal. During a recently organised MNRE event on solar thermal process heat in the dairy industry, a high level officer favoured the idea of a renewable heating obligation for the industry and assured the participants that this option would be thoroughly examined. Convert solar process heat into electricity units to receive Renewable Energy Certificates One crucial point will be the measuring of usable solar heat at manufacturing plants, since solar thermal energy is not fed into a central grid like solar electricity is. Dharmendra Gor, Chairman of Taylormade Solar Solutions, a manufacturer of concentrating solar collectors, counters the argument, saying that it is possible to directly co-relate energy output by converting thermal heat to electrical units displaced. There will have to be a mechanism involved to identify the annual energy saved with solar process heat installations and directly convert it into equivalent electrical units of measurement, which can translate into Renewable Energy Certificates. Project developers could then bundle up solar thermal systems and their renewable energy project and bring it into the fold of renewable obligation to sell the certificates to utilities or other large energy consumers. However good the idea of a renewable heat obligation may be for the industry, the path leading to an effective obligation is still long. If all goes well, India would likely be the global front runner in non-residential renewable heat obligations. This article was written by Mr. Jaideep Malaviya, an expert in solar thermal based in India (malaviya@solrico.com)
Aspiration Energy, Blog
Footprints – Second edition
After a successful inaugural footprints event, SICCI and CIIE, this time along with TiE is hosting the second edition of “Footprints“, to celebrate Climate Change Action in Manufacturing Industry on 28th August, 2015 at 6 PM. PROGRAMME AGENDA: Date: 28th August, 2015 Time: 6.00 p.m. Venue: My Fortune, Chennai Welcome Address: Mr. Jawahar Vadivelu, President, SICCI Theme Address: Mr. Bhoovarahan Thirumalai, Chairman, SICCI Energy Committee Speech By: Mr Srivats Ram, Managing Director, Wheels India Limited Speech By: Mr. Ranganath N K, Managing Director, Grundfos Pumps India Pvt. Ltd. Interactions Vote of Thanks Mr Ranganath N K, will be talking about the green initiatives at his organisation. He is noted for his focus on water and energy conservation. Mr. Ranganath is the Managing Director of Grundfos Pumps India Pvt. Ltd, since its inception in 1998. About Mr. Ranganath: Managing Director, Grundfos Pumps India Pvt. Ltd. since its inception in 1998. Mr. Ranganath’s focus has been on water and energy conservation. Ex-Chairman of the CII – Tamilnadu Council Ex-President of the Madras Management Association The EX-Chairman of the board of AEEE Member of the Working Group on ‘Land & Water’ constituted by the Planning Commission, New Delhi for the Formulation of Twelfth Five Year Plan 2012 – 2017 Mr Srivats Ram, will be talking about his experience in automobile industry and his organisation\’s green initiatives. He serves as Managing Director of Wheels India Limited. He has over 3 decades of work experience in Vehicle and Component Industry. He serves as the President of The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). About Mr. Srivats Ram: Managing Director, Wheels India Limited Chairman and Managing Director, Sundaram Hydraulics Limited Director, TVS & Sons Pvt Limited Director, Axles India Limited President, Automotive Component Manufacturer’s Association (ACMA) – 2010-11 President, TKM Suppliers’ Association – 2006-2009 Senior Vice President, Madras Management Association – 2012-13 President, Madras Management Association – 2013-14 23 years experience in Automotive Industry It is easy to leave carbon footprints and move on, while it requires conscious effort to try and rub some of those carbon footprints and leave green ones instead. This series of event is all about taking that extra mile and make little changes that will make our planet a better place to live. While it takes more effort to start not green and move towards green, it is easier for new entrepreneurs to start their venture greener way. SICCI, TiE and CIIE invites everyone this event. To register for the event, please click here Viji Suresh, Aspiration Energy
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Few questions; few answers (3) – FAQs on Roof Top Solar PV Plants
Capacity of the power plant Solar PV power plants are specified in KWp, not KW. KWp means Kilowatt Peak. Please read this link for more information. So a quote for 100KWp does not guarantee that you will get 100 units of electricity per hour. Typically a 100 KWp plant will produce 1,50,000 to 1,80,000 Units of electricity per year. The actual generation every month, week, day and hour will depend on various factors and location. 2. What are the parameters that affect actual generation? Actual delivery of energy will depend on the following parameters: Sunshine intensity: The variation of sun\’s intensity in your location. The history of this data is available for your specific location (latitude and longitude). You can look for it in MNRE\’s database. Angle of the sun to the installed base. We normally propose fixed tilt installation – which means modules are fixed at an angle and sunshine incident angle on the module will vary by the day. Ambient Temperature : Change in Ambient temperature affects the solar cell temperature and in turn that it will affect the power generated. You can look at the solar module specification to know the power de-rating for various cell temperatures. 3. What happens when the solar energy generated is more than what we need or if it is less than what we need? Solar energy is infirm power, and that is why, we either sync it to the Electricity Grid or have a battery back up or Sync it to a DG set. For Industrial applications, we sync with grid or DG. When the solar power generated from the plant is less than what is required by your load, the additional required energy will be drawn from either grid or DG for supplying the load. If it is more than what is required, it can be fed back to the Grid, provided you have a net meter connection. 4. Can Sunshades and porticos be used for mounting solar panels in addition to roof tops? In theory, Yes. But feasibility needs to be studied by an engineer during preliminary assessment. 5. Can the Solar plant be synchronised with Grid Power and DG Power? Yes , it can be synchronised. Check the specifications of the invertor – it should mention that it is sync-able to both DG and Grid. 6. Can AEPL do a turnkey project from design, engineering and supply to mounting on roof top, installation and commissioning, including the electrical circuit for power evacuation? Yes. The detailed scope of work will be detailed in the commercial contract. Drawings will be submitted for customer’s approval. 7. Can AEPL take care of the CEIG approval and also organize Net Metering facility? Yes. There will be a liaising fee for the same. 8. Do we need Lightning arresters in addition to what we already have in the building? If the condition of the existing arresters are OK, then additional arresters may not be required. This will be ascertained during execution. 9. Who will do the Earth pit for the Solar Plant? Separate chemical earthing up to 5ft as per standard design norms will be constructed by us as part of our execution scope. 10. Will the mounting of Solar Panels, damage the roof / weathering course? Will it load the roof? No damage will be caused because of mounting Solar panels. The additional weight of Solar panels will be within the load bearing capability of concrete and metal roofs. If customer uses Asbestos roofing or if the roof is damaged in some places, the same needs to be replaced / repaired by customer. The structural details of the mounting arrangement will be submitted for customer’s approval before commencement of the project. In case of concrete roofs, there are 2 basic approaches: Penetrative fixing of modules: In this case, sufficient care is taken in finishing the rooftop back after competing the foundation to ensure that the resultant surface is equal or better than the original surface. Dead weight: If you are very strict that there should be no perforations, then we need to go for concrete legs which will function as weights to hold the module and structure. We can design optimally, based on your requirements. 11. Are there are any Safety Standards for Solar Power Plant? Yes there are published safety standards for roof top solar power plants. AEPL will ensure that the supply and installation follows all the safety standards applicable. 12. Will you guarantee the no. of units produced or the efficiency of Solar Plant? Yes we can guarantee the no. of units produced per year per KWp installed. This guaranteed generation will vary from location to location. The exact guarantee figure will be incorporated in the commercial contract. In any case since the contract is based on price per KWH, if the plant produces less, the revenue is less. Which means, there is an in-built guarantee and incentive for us to produce the most. 13. Can the Solar Panel withstand wind, rain and seismic conditions? Yes, the design takes care of all these conditions, as relevant to the city / location of installation. The structural engineering and drawings on roof top installation will be submitted for customer’s approval. This can be further validated by the customer with the help of a suitable architect / expert. 14. What are the warranty terms? Solar PV Modules are covered under a 20 year manufacturer warranty with performance warranty with the following terms: 90% minimum rated performance in 10 years 80% minimum rated performance in next 15 years. Inverters are covered with a 5 years warranty with the following terms: As per the Manufacturer All other structures, electrical wiring and other components are covered by 1 year warranty. 15. Do you offer AMC? Yes. Please refer to our Warranty and AMC terms below: Quarterly inspection of Solar Panels,Inverters,protection circuit, cabling junction boxes,means of isolation and earthing for 5 years, 4 Visits for the entire system Staff will be trained for cleaning as to
Few questions; few answers (1) – About Aspiration Energy
We started our blog a year back during July 2014. When we look back, the year had moments of jubilations, we became a WWF climate solver, won couple of projects that differed from the usual industries we worked on. Great learning curve. We are now 40 posts richer, sharing our thoughts, our views, current trends, setbacks. This is our 40th blog post, with a promise that there will be more blog posts that will strive to create the awareness within the industries to use Solar as their fuel, we present to you our few questions, few answers series. What we might feel as a simple question can have wealth of meaning. The simplest questions fetch answers that in turn pave way for research and growth. Few questions; few answers: Who are we? Aspiration Energy Private Ltd (AEPL) provides roof top, Solar Thermal Systems on pay-per-unit (KWH) model, for Industrial Heating Applications in the temperature range of 60 to 120 Degree Celsius. By innovative systemic enhancements to proven technologies, AEPL has achieved a cost per MW which is 30-40% cheaper than Solar PV and Solar CSP, making it economical and viable without government subsidy. The monthly bill is based on the heat energy delivered to the process through a heat exchanger. AEPL takes all the risks and converts the CAPEX investment in to an OPEX expense similar to fuel purchase / utility bill. What is our vision? According to a KPMG report in 2012, there is a potential to replace 4.8 Million Tons of Oil per year in Low Temperature Industrial heating applications (< 250 Deg cel) in India alone, valued at USD 3.5 Billion per year, requiring 70 Million SQM of thermal collectors. This translates in to 20,000 MW of Solar thermal capacity in manufacturing sector alone. Our vision is to achieve 10,000 MW within the next 5 years. At an average of 2 MW per factory, the no. of possible projects over the next 5 years in India is 5000+ executed through 50+ partners. What are the obstacles that mar our vision? Inspite of solar thermal being 30-40% cheaper than Solar PV and Solar CSP, due to the dependence on commercial financing, we are finding it difficult to provide PPU rates like Rs.3.0 per KWH. 90% project finance with a longer tenure say 15 years can speed up the voluntary adoption. Voluntary adoption and decision making is very slow. If the Government mandates the use of Solar thermal for all industrial heating below 120 Deg Celsius, we can execute 10,000 MW for industrial heating in India alone. Million of Tons of Oil could be saved per year. The resultant foreign exchange saving and energy security advantages for India will be huge. What are our innovations and how they benefit? Innovations in Systems Design: Through our constant enhancements on existing globally proven ETC solar thermal collectors, we achieve higher temperatures required in the industry (60 -120C). The design and engineering innovations allows us : To install large scale systems on factory roof tops (500 KW to 5 MW) Efficiently extract the heat from the ETC modules Transport it through 1000-2000 meters of pressurized piping circuits Transfer it to the manufacturing process of the customer through a heat exchanger. The energy delivery is measured and totalized at the customer’s process end for monthly billing purpose, if only the guaranteed process temperature is achieved. Energy generated below the guaranteed process temperature is not billed.’ Pumps, Solenoid Valves, Temperature Sensors and PLC based Automation are used to manage energy delivery and billing. We have achieved INR 45 Million per MW (USD 700,000) for projects executed in India which is 40% cheaper than Solar PV and 30% cheaper than Solar CSP. The energy delivered is 4 times more than Solar PV per SQ MTR. Innovations in Business Model: By linking the monthly payments to the thermal energy delivered, we completely de-risk the project for the customer and make it in to an opex expense like fuel purchase or utility bill. (5, 10 or 20 year contracts with pre-agreed rate per KWH). The asset is owned by AEPL or a leasing company or a third party investor. For customers who have accelerated depreciation benefits, we offer a very unique “Customer Owned but Pay-per-unit monthly billing model”. The customer owns the asset in his balance sheet and claims income tax benefits. The monthly billing (PPU price X Energy Delivered) realized from customer is posted in AEPL books in two parts : a) interest free EMI for the balance asset value and b) performance linked fee for AEPL. Comprehensive O&M and AMC are also offered as an option. How unique are our innovations? Burning of fossil fuels in boilers, is the most common approach for industrial heating applications even for temperatures in the range of 60-120 Deg Cel. Grid electricity is also used in some places. The cost per unit of thermal energy derived from these sources is on par or higher than the prices offered by AEPL for Solar Thermal Energy. Solar CSP systems (Concentrator Dish type) cannot be mounted on factory roof tops and ground space availability is a major constraint in manufacturing industry. They are also 30-40% more expensive than AEPL thermal systems and hence require government subsidy to make it viable. While these are justified for high temperature applications (>250 Deg Cel), these are not economically viable for 60-120 Deg Cel. Traditional Solar Water Heaters used in Domestic and Commercial sectors cannot be used for Industrial heating applications. ~to be continued
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CSP vs CST
In other words: Solar Power vs Solar Heat Solar PV for generating electricity using Solar modules has been gaining immense attention worldwide. Small CSP? I do not believe there is an opportunity for small scale CSP. However, a lot of micro-grids and mini-grids are coming up at rural areas in India with Bio-mass and Solar PV. Companies like Desi Power, Gram Power, mera gaon power, OMC power, are all doing good work in this area. If and when small scale CSP plants become economical, they can play a role. I am not seeing it any time soon. On the other hand, CST (Concentrated Solar Thermal) is certainly a good opportunity for Indian industry. Some early installations are doing well. In the mid-term I expect that to pick up. However, we are betting more on ETC based technologies without tracking in the lower temperatures of 60-150 Deg C. Here are our reasons: CST is a relatively newer technology, and there are still technology kinks that needs to be worked out. On the other hand, what we are doing in terms of system level and slight technology modifications of ETC collectors is just incremental innovation, and hence more reliable. Just to give a perspective – SHIP database, as is referred by IEA (link), has identified many industrial applications across the world. Another statistic: Against the installed base of solar PV in the world of 175+ GW. Solar heating is more than 300 GW . Significant share of this is ETC based technology, and hence the technology kinks of the underlying technology of evacuated tubes are fully solved, and it is proven for decades. All said and done, CST costs are higher than basic ETC based collectors KW to KW or KWH to KWH. That is another constraint. CST collects only DNI whereas ETC at lower temperatures collect GHI, which makes ETC energy plants\’s PLF much more than that of CST. Economics rule the roost here. ETC based plants can be implemented on factory rooftops whereas CST needs ground space or RCC roofs. These factors make us bet more on ETC based lower temperature solutions. Coupled with the recent drop in fossil fuel prices, and the above factors, I feel CST will take longer for adoption in India compared to ETC based solar heaters for the industry.
Blog, Solar thermal
Small Renewable Projects Eligible For Priority Sector Lending in India
The Reserve Bank of India said it will make small renewable energy projects eligible for priority financing. The nation\’s banks will offer loans of up to 150 million Indian rupees ($2.37 million) for purposes such as the purchase of solar-based power generators, biomass-based power generators and windmills, as well as for non conventional energy-based public utilities such as street-lighting and remote village electrification systems. For individual households, the loan limit will be 1 million Indian rupees ($15,800) per borrower. Under the priority lending route, banks must provide 40 percent of the net banking credit to specified sectors, according to the Reserve Bank of India\’s April 23 announcement. Vishal Pandya, director of REConnect Energy, told Bloomberg BNA April 27 that priority sector lending will bring significant traction to the rooftop solar industry, “especially for industrial and commercial consumers across states where industrial and commercial [electricity] tariffs are higher.” Wind, small hydroelectric and biomass-based projects also will benefit, he added. India has a target of installing 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2022 as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi\’s goal of 24-hour power supply, clean drinking water and a toilet for each household by India\’s 75th year of independence.
Blog, Solar thermal
Solar Thermal Power plant vs Solar Thermal Energy Plant
I am asked in many forums about the delays and cost over-runs of solar thermal power plants, and how we have chosen to play in this field. Lets understand the differences: 1. Solar Thermal Power plants deliver electrical power – produce steam using sun, and produce electricity by running a power turbine using the steam. Solar heaters that we deliver directly deliver heated water into process heating systems. The sunshine is converted to heat, and used as heat energy. In Solar Thermal Power, sunshine is collected as heat, and then converted to electricity. 2. The technology that we use (ETC – Evacuated Tube Collectors) has a worldwide installation base of 175 GW. (64.6% of thw total worldwide installed base of solar heaters of 269. GW). This is comparable to 142 GW of solar power installations worldwide. and 3.65 GW of solar thermal power plants worldwide. Contrary to popular belief, solar heaters are HUGE and has been proven for decades. 3. Solar thermal power plants are based on optical concentrators, and the concentrating technology is relatively new, not yet fully proven. ETC collectors have been around for more than 3 decades. (Take an extract from session called brief history. We need to make our own version of history, not from here. You can learn more about ETC Collectors here. ETC is certainly a mature technology whereas concentrating solar is a relatively new field, yet to prove its mettle, while holding a lot of promise. ~Bhoo, CEO, Aspiration Energy
IEA SHC – Task 49 – 7th Expert Meeting
IEA SHC Task 49: Solar Process Heat for Production and Advanced Applications The Solar Heat for Industrial Processes – SHIP database has been created in the framework of the IEA Task 49/IV. This online database contains a worldwide overview on existing solar thermal plants which provide thermal energy for production processes for different industry sectors. Each plant description contains a number of information e.g. about the size of the collector field, collector technology or integration point in the production process. The user of the database has the possibility to extract detail information from all identified solar thermal plants and create statistics like the share of collector technologies, size of the collector field per country or industry sector and cost per square meter. The SHIP – database is a living platform and will grow immensely. It is a privilege to receive the invite as an expert for the IEA SHC Task 49 7th meeting happening at San Sebastian, Spain on 12th and 13th of March 2015. Aspiration Energy an early mover in mid, high temperature sector, stayed course in this pioneering area of Industrial heating and today we are proud to showcase some of our successes at IEA SHC.. What is the objective of IEA Task 49/IV? Develop and improve solar process heat collectors and components Analyze and provide new knowledge on high temperature behavior of process heat collectors and solar loops Develop a testing procedure and to provide a basis for the comparison of collectors under certain conditions Provide engineering tools for optimized heat integration and optimized planning of solar thermal integration by advanced pinch analysis and storage management Identify new applications for solar thermal energy in several production processes through the combination of process intensification technologies Develop planning tools, calculation tools for solar yields in large scale plants Gain proven solutions for stagnation behavior Install and monitor large-scale demonstration systems Develop guidelines for solar process heat To lower the barriers for market deployment Bhoo also been invited to do a presentation on “Solar Heat Integration in Industrial Processes”, organized in the framework of the joint task of IEA SHC Task 49 and Solar Paces IV on 11th March 2015. Excited on the happenings and representing India as an expert is a proud moment for us at Aspiration Energy. Will update more on the happenings after the Task 49, Expert Meet. ~Viji Suresh
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SHIP – the Noah’s Ark of energy?
SHIP – the Noah’s Ark of energy? Solar Heat for Industrial Process – is now named as SHIP by many consortium around the world, particularly Europe. It is so economical that I feel it is aptly called as SHIP. It is like Noah’s Ark of the energy future! SHIP: Renewed focus in Europe Good to see this project. There is a lot of focus on SHIP – Solar Heat for Industrial Process – here.