Existing Power Plant Evaluation

CEPALCO Photovoltaic Power Plant

SALVA, L. K.
 NAME and LOCATION
CEPALCO (Cagayan Electric
Power and Light Company
Inc.) 1MW PHOTOVOLTAIC
POWER PLANT

Date of Operation: Sept 2004

Location: Brgy. Indahag, Cagayan de
Oro City
- Coordinates:
8°26'10"N 124°39'39"E
-2 hectare land area
 MAPS

http://www.wikimapia.org
 MAPS

http://www.cepalco.com.ph/solar.php
 STOCKHOLDERS
CEPALCO has a 100 MW power distribution
company serving the city of Cagayan De Oro and
Misamis Oriental. The primary shareholders of
CEPALCO are:
The Abaya Group (45%)
The Carlos Group (19%)
The Unchuan Group (13%)
All Asia Capital Group of Companies (11%)
Others(12%)

http://www.energytoolbox.org/gcre/bibliography/183_Philip_PV1.pdf
STOCKHOLDERS
 OBJECTIVES
1. The PV plant is designed to provide an
estimated annual electricity generation of
1,261,400 kWh. (CEPALCO objective)
2. The reduction of CO2 and greenhouse gases
emissions in power generation. (GEF
objective)
 SIGNIFICANCE

• The first PV power plant to operate in the

Philippines that is commercially available for
power generation that is connected to the
grid.
 GENERATING PROCESS
DIRECT CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY
- photovoltaic energy conversion

- the use of solar cell to convert the solar

radiation to electricity.

- there is no working fluid.

 PROCESS FLOWCHART

ENERGY DIRECT
SOLAR ENERGY
CAPTURE CONVERSION

DC CURRENT

VOLTAGE CURRENT
AC CURRENT
AMPLIFICATION INVERTION
EQUIPMENT FLOWCHART

SOLAR CELLS
EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS
 OPERATIONS CONTROL and
MAINTENANCE

1. Cepalco’s PV plant is operated in conjunction

with its 7-megawatt Bubunawan hydropower
plant, enabling the joint PV/hydro operations
to effectively reduce system demand.
2. The PV installation is operated to meet the
peak power demand during the daytime and
allow the hydro plant – which has insufficient
water flow to run 24 hours a day – to store
capacity for night time use.
OPERATIONS CONTROL and
MAINTENANCE
OPERATIONS CONTROL and
MAINTENANCE
 OPERATIONS CONTROL and
MAINTENANCE

1. The plant operates only during the daytime,

while monitoring and control are done
remotely at Cepalco’s operations center in
Puntod, Cagayan de Oro City through
automated monitoring via distribution
system supervisory control and data
acquisition.
2. Weekly cleaning of the glass shield for dust.
OPERATIONS CONTROL and
MAINTENANCE
 MATERIAL BALANCE

INPUT OUTPUT

Sunlight Electricity
Plant Equipments Waste Heat
Cleaning materials
Manpower
ENERGY BALANCE
 ENERGY BALANCE

Ps = 1082 kW PV array capacity

K = 0.70
Gs = 1 kWh/day

Solar insolation at Cagayan De Oro City: 1840 kWh/m2 annually = 5.04 kWh/m2 daily

Ep = 1082 * (5.04/1) * 0.7 * 365 = 1,393,616 kWh/year AC Power

CEPALCO average annual electricity generation of 1,389,700 kWh

http://www.ied-asean.com/upload/WO39.pdf
 POLLUTANTS GENERATED/CARBON
FOOTPRINT
• No combustion takes place.
• No contribution to noise pollution.
• Thermal pollution is present.
• Much of the pollution generated by the plant
is made in the manufacturing of the PV
equipment. The processing of the silicon solar
cells are very energy intensive(hence pollution
generating).
 BENEFITS, COSTS, and PROFITS

Project costs - $5.3 million

Source of Finance - GEF (Global Environment
Facility)($4 million), CEPALCO ($1.3 million)

“CEPALCO’s upfront investment in the project is

equivalent to the estimated project net benefits over
its 20-year lifetime, discounted at a rate of 10%.”

Profits = (US$1,300,000)(.1) = US$130,000

http://www.energytoolbox.org/gcre/bibliography/183_Philip_PV1.pdf
 SAFETY RECORDS
Fire hazard – Heat sinking for a diodes in the DC
string inverters to prevent reverse current
flow (short circuiting) is inadequate resulting
in an electrical fire on the one of the
enclosure. (2005)
 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
• CEPALCO Volunteer Fire Brigade w/ two
firetrucks, 37 personnel
• Donated an Isuzu Passenger Van (IPV) to the
Bomb Squad of the Cagayan de Oro City Police
Office
• The PV plant has already been visited by over
10,000 students and visitors both local and as
well as foreign renewable energy enthusiasts
since it started operations.
 EQUIPMENT
• Solar Cells
– a device that converts the energy of
sunlight directly into electricity by the
photovoltaic effect
– made of silicon semiconductor wafers
covered with a sheet of glass to
protect it from the elements
– materials used
• Monocrystalline/Polycrystalline Silicon
• Amorphous Silicon
• Cadmium Telluride
• Copper Indium Selenide/Sulfide

Source: Powerplant Technology, M. M. El-Wakil, 1984

 EQUIPMENT
• Solar Cells
– Typically produces less
than 2 watts at
approximately 0.5 volts
DC

Source: Photovoltaic Systems Engineering, Roger Messenger, 1999

 EQUIPMENT
• Module
– A number of solar cells
electrically connected to
each other and mounted
in a support structure or
frame
• Array
– Multiple modules wired
together

Source: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2002/solarcells/
 EQUIPMENT
• Inverters
– performs the conversion
of the variable DC output
of the Photovoltaic (PV)
modules into a utility
frequency AC current that
can be fed into the
commercial
electrical grid or used by
a local, off-grid electrical
network.

Grid-tied Solar Inverter

 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
IMPROVEMENT
1. Replace the glass shielding by self-cleaning glass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-cleaning_glass
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
IMPROVEMENT
2. Device a mechanism/control system that can
switch the position of an array relative to the
present location of the sun at any time of the
day to ensure the maximum solar power
absorbed.
 STATE-OF-THE-ART PVPP

BENCHMARKING: TECHNOLOGY USED

SOLAR TRACKING TECH. vs FIXED TILT TECH.

http://www.power-technology.com/projects/bavaria/
 CONCLUSIONS
1. The PV plant has exported to CEPALCO a total of
4,169,100 kWh or an average of 1,389,700 kWh
annually, which is 10% higher than the expected
annual energy generation of 1,261,400 kWh.

2. The PV power plant generates electricity that if a

thermal power plants produced, would have
increased CO2 emissions by 800 metric tons per
year and displaces about 1500 barrels of fuel oil per
year.
 RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Feasibility studies focusing on the cost-
benefit relation of the adaption of self-
cleaning glass and also the installation of the
solar-tracking arrays.
2. Future expansion in terms of site area to
install more solar arrays.
3. Turning the unpaved road beside the power
plant into asphalt or cement to lessen the
dust accumulation in the solar arrays.
 References
http://www.cepalco.com.ph/solar.php
http://www.wikimapia.org
http://www.energytoolbox.org/gcre/bibliography/183_Philip_PV1.pdf
http://www.cepalco.com.ph/readNews.php?id=163
http://business.inquirer.net/4939/cepalco-spending-p2b-in-next-4-years
http://www.power-technology.com/projects/bavaria/