Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Smart Factory… are the talk of the town in recent times. Whichever term we use, we are ultimately referring to how smart technology is impacting on the industrial sector with connected devices, sensors and analytical tools that converge to provide an unprecedented level of control and supervision. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines the Smart Factory as any plant that features fully integrated and collaborative production systems, in other words, convergent and connected systems, which provide a real time response to the aim of meeting both the changing demands of the plant and the supply chain, as well as the needs of customers. Put another way, we are talking about production benefiting from the multiplier effect provided by operational technologies (OT) and information technologies (IT) working together and which translates into efficiency improvements at every level…By Óscar Garrido, OEMs & BIC Business Development Manager, Schneider Electric
On 23 October 2019, two new combined heat and power (CHP) units built by the company ETW Energietechnik GmbH for municipal waste management company Rems-Murr (AWRM) entered into operation in Backnang-Neuschöntal. This renovation project involved replacing AWRM’s two old gas engines after 65,000 operating hours and more than eight years in operation. This produced a leap in efficiency, essentially thanks to the installation of larger, more powerful gas engines, as well as the more advanced gas engine technology. Fuel savings are also achieved by using the residual methane contained in the fermentation residue exhaust air…
We closed 2018 with the approval of Royal Legislative Decree 20/2018, which had given a respite to those high efficiency CHP plants whose service life would have ended at the start of this year, extending it for two more years; a right that will disappear if the new regulation for the long-awaited stable framework is approved. Another year of uncertainty has passed and there is still no stable framework and no investment plan for plant renovation. If the respite was for 24 months, there are now only twelve left to run. And the interim Government, with its own preoccupations, is still failing to take action as regards the industrial, economic and environmental consequences of this serious situation… By Antonio Pérez Palacio. Chair of ACOGEN, the Spanish Cogeneration Association.
LONGi announces that it has achieved a new world record of 22.38% conversion efficiency for its monocrystalline module. The record has been verified by the global independent certification agency TÜV Rheinland.
“LONGi has continuously pushed the PV modules efficiency limits of our high performance mono-crystalline products to further improve the price-performance ratio. This breakthrough once again confirms the development headroom of monocrystalline PV module technology. With continuous R&D investments in technologies and processes, new innovations can be rapidly applied to large-scale production, thus promoting the energy transformation led by solar energy.” Lv Jun, Vice President, LONGi Solar commented.
LONGi has always focused on the improvement of PV cell and module conversion efficiencies. In the past few years, LONGi’s mono-crystalline cell and module products have broken conversion efficiency world records many times.
As a global leading solar technology company, LONGi has the confidence and commitment to lead the global energy transformation with technological innovation. The large-scale production of high efficiency module validates LONGi relentless focus on technology.
Installed capacity of renewable power in Colombia is expected to rise from 2% in 2018 to 14% in 2025, with a further rise to 21% by 2030. Renewable capacity in the country is slated to increase fivefold to reach 5.9 GW at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.4%. This growth can be attributed to new government policies facilitating funds for renewable energy projects, energy efficiency measures and announcement of renewable energy auctions in 2018, says GlobalData.
However, GlobalData’s latest report, “Colombia Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2019 – Market Trends, Regulations and Competitive Landscape, also reveals that the country’s coal-based capacity will increase by 43% between 2018 and 2030 to reach 2.4GW while gas-based power will contribute 14% of total capacity.
Renewable energy and energy efficiency projects will handle the demand side management in the near future. The country’s onshore wind capacity is expected to increase from 19.5 MW in 2018 to 3.4 GW in 2030, representing the country’s largest growth among its renewable sources. PV capacity is expected to reach 1.7 GW in 2030 from 172.6 MW in 2019 at 23% CAGR, while the biopower segment will see growth of 7% CAGR to reach 719 MW. To date, Colombia does not have any installed geothermal capacity but it is expected to have 50 MW installed by 2024, leading to 115 MW capacity in 2030 growing at 15% CAGR.”
Colombia’s Generation and Transmission Expansion Plan 2015-2029 is expected to accommodate high volumes of renewable energy in the near future. The anticipated grid expansion and modernization of 4.2GW to 6.7GW, which is aimed to support 1GW coal and 1.5 GW hydro, will involve huge investment in grid infrastructure industry. This, in turn, is likely to open up new markets for energy storage and energy efficiency systems to enable steady supply of power when adequate renewable energy is unavailable.
Acciona has created a hub in its El Romero Solar plant (Atacama, Chile) to test new photovoltaic technologies that will improve the efficiency and performance of solar energy facilities.
The hub will focus on the mechanical and energy capacity of double-sided crystalline, split-cell and thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) technologies, all of them in the development phase, with the intention of shaping PV energy’s evolution. The solar modules have been produced by JA Solar and First Solar, and a variety of solar trackers will be used, manufactured by STI Nordland and Soltec.
The innovation center, in which two of the three tracker zones have already been installed, will have a power generation facility with a total capacity of 492 kWp (180 kW rated) consisting of 1,280 modules in three series of trackers connected to nine inverters. These will be assisted by other equipment to measure and monitor parameters such as incident and reflected solar radiation, ambient temperature or the production temperature of each kind of module, among others.
Unlike conventional solar modules, which only have photovoltaic cells on one side, the double-sided modules have cells on both sides of the panel to capture reflected solar radiation and increase output per surface unit occupied.
In split-cell modules each cell is divided into two parts. This reduces energy losses and improves the durability of the panel.
Finally, the thin-film modules are made from semi-conductive materials as alternatives to conventional crystalline silicon –such as cadmium telluride- that reduce both manufacturing costs and their carbon footprint during their working life.
Advanced technologies
Advanced technologies in photovoltaic solar are one of the main strategic approaches that guide Acciona’s innovation activities in the field of clean energies. One of the most innovative projects to date is the hybridization of organic photovoltaic panels in a wind turbine tower to power a turbine in the Breña wind farm (Albacete, Spain).
El Romero Solar is one of the biggest photovoltaic plants owned and operated by Acciona, with a capacity of 246 MWp. Located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, an area with some of the highest levels of solar radiation in the world, it produces energy equivalent to the consumption of around 240,000 Chilean households. Part of its capacity will be used to supply Google’s data center in the country.
JinkoSolar has announced that the maximum conversion efficiency of its Cheetah size cells and N-type cells reached 24.38% and 24.58%, respectively, during testing conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in March 2019, China’s authoritative national academy for the natural sciences.
Additionally, power generated by JinkoSolar’s 72 version high efficiency monocrystalline module (cell: 158.75*158.75) reached 469.3 W during testing conducted by TÜV Rheinland in May 2019. JinkoSolar has made significant breakthroughs in the field of high efficiency and high power of cells and modules, setting a new industry standard for peak performance.
JinkoSolar’s production chain, including R&D teams from silicon wafers, solar cells and solar modules, all made significant technological breakthroughs which were key to the extremely high solar cell efficiency and module power output. Several advanced technologies have been implemented, including: silicon wafer growth with extremely low oxygen and defect concentration, HOT solar cell technology, low-loss cell connection technology, and in-module light harvesting technology.
“With our commitment to revolutionize the industry using technological innovation, JinkoSolar has been continuously breaking world records for the efficiency of solar cells and modules.” commented Dr. Hao Jin, JinkoSolar R&D Vice President, “To complement our efforts in continuously upgrading product technology and create more value for our global customers, JinkoSolar has established a joint research platform with many advanced R&D institutions across the globe.”
With a volume of more than 4 GW of capacity shipped in 2018 and more than 12 GW of total capacity installed all over the world, in 2018 GoodWe became the 7th largest supplier of PV inverters on a global scale. That is according to a recently released report by Wood Mackenzie and titled Global Solar PV inverter market: Market shares and shipment trends 2019.
This is not the first time that according to an authoritative international institution GoodWe makes it to the list of the largest suppliers of PV inverters (IHS and Bloomberg on previous years have also identified the company a major supplier).
According to the report: in 2018, the GoodWe shipments of PV inverters reached 4% of the global market share. In two large solar markets, Europe and Asia-Pacific, GoodWe maintained an outstanding performance: last year, GoodWe supplied 3% of the inverters acquired by the European market, which made the company the top 10 largest supplier of this continent. In Asia-Pacific, GoodWe reached a 5% of the market share, making othe company the 4th largest supplier, which is remarkable given the volumes involved and the size of the national markets of this region, that include the largest world markets of China and India and the sophisticated market of Australia.
The year of 2018 was very challenging for the Chinese solar industry, but GoodWe still managed to expand in the global market and the inclusion of our company on the Wood Mackenzie top ten list bears witness to those efforts. It is also worth mentioning that the more than 4 GW volume shipped by GoodWe last year was 35 times more than what we shipped in 2012 and more than double of what we shipped in 2016. The Wood Mackenzie report fully illustrates that despite the challenges of last year, GoodWe has managed to maintain a remarkable high rate of annual growth that since 2012 has averaged 100%.
Across the world the solar industry is experiencing a fresh wave of growth and the demand has continued to expand and diversify. The quality expectation of consumers around the world has become more complex and the inverter suppliers are forced to innovate and deliver value to meet the rising demand and excel amid fierce competition. GoodWe’s competitors are formidable companies and being part again of the big leagues is not a small feat in these times of rapid evolution.
The continuation of GoodWe on the selected group of the world top largest PV inverter suppliers rests on several factors. Three of them stand out: GoodWe has understood that service is of critical importance to win customers trust and satisfaction and as such it has set up local service teams in Europe, Latin America, India, Australia, Korea and other markets. The expansion seen over the past year of the GoodWe businesses across the world is just a reflection of those efforts. Another factor is that GoodWe is distinguished by its capacity to react quickly to the customer demand, something that has been allowing the company to improve its products over significantly short periods of time. Last but not least, it is worth mentioning the wide and expanding portfolio of GoodWe products that allow the company to cater to different market segments and within these, meet the quality expectations of different kinds of customers.
The Energy Division of Acciona has developed a pioneering solution at global level in the field of hybridization between wind and photovoltaic power. It consists of covering a wind turbine tower with flexible organic panels to produce energy for the internal electricity consumption of the turbine. The innovative project will allow the study of the performance of the organic panels -an emerging photovoltaic technology- and their application to improve wind turbine efficiency.
The system has been installed in one of the turbines of the Breña Wind Farm (Albacete, Spain), which ACCIONA owns and operates. The turbine is an AW77/1500 of Nordex-Acciona Windpower technology, mounted on an 80-metre-high steel tower (hub height).
Installed on the tower are 120 solar panels facing southeast-southwest to capture the maximum of the sun’s rays throughout the day. They are distributed at eight different heights, occupying around 50 metres of the tower’s surface area. The photovoltaic modules, with an overall capacity of 9.36 kWp, are of Heliatek technology (HeliaSol 308-5986 model). They are only 1 mm thick, and each one has a surface area of 5,986 x 308 mm.
In contrast to the conventional technology used in the manufacture of photovoltaic models based on silicon, these organic panels use carbon as raw material and are characterized by their structural flexibility, which makes them adaptable to very different surfaces. Other key features are lower maintenance costs, less energy consumption during manufacture, easier logistics and the complete recycling of the materials used, although their efficiency is still below that of silicon modules.
“The hybridization project in Breña means the optimization of the use of space for renewable energy production and it will enable us to test the efficiency of organic photovoltaics, a technology that we believe has one of the best improvement curves in terms of technological efficiency. That is why we have decided to pilot it”, says Belén Linares, Energy Innovation Director in Acciona.
Optimizing generation
The immediate application of the Breña project is to produce part of the energy that the internal systems of the wind turbine need. When the turbine is running, some of the energy generated is used to power the auxiliary systems. In shutdown mode, certain systems need to continue functioning so they are fed from the grid, which means that the wind turbine is registering a net consumption of energy.
The new photovoltaic system with panels on the tower will be able to cover, completely or partially, the energy demand related to the operation of the wind turbine when there is solar radiation, or even -in a possible later phase of the project- when the sun is not shining. This would be done through a battery storage system, leading to an improvement in the net production sent to the grid.
The organic panels are connected to two inverters that convert DC into AC for later connection to the grid which supplies the electrical equipment of the wind turbine.
The entire system is monitored with a view to evaluating it under real conditions, both from the point of view of energy production and degradation of the solar modules. Conceptually, it is a very innovative design in relation to previous experiences in wind power-photovoltaic hybridization, based on panels installed on the ground.
The idea is part of a wide-ranging innovation project driven by Acciona to study a number of emerging photovoltaic technologies, with the aim of pioneering the adoption of more efficient solutions in each case and consolidating its leadership as a PV developer. The company currently has over 1,200 MWp in operation or under construction in different parts of the world.
For most people, their personal energy revolution begins with the installation of a PV system on the roof of their home. This allows them not only to cover their domestic energy needs, but also to make use of the entire spectrum of options offered by energy sector integration thanks to the intelligent solutions from Fronius Solar Energy. The ultimate goal is to power an entire household exclusively from self-generated solar energy, which can also be used to heat water and for e-mobility. This helps to increase the rate of self-sufficiency and to more efficiently utilise the PV system. When it comes to e-mobility in particular, it is important to have a suitable overall concept comprising a PV system, energy storage system, hot water generation and a wallbox – in other words, a domestic charging station for electric cars, bringing a new level of meaning to ‘solar power’.
A personal energy revolution involves exploiting the entire spectrum of energy sector integration. Optimum energy management enables the highest possible rate of self-sufficiency to be achieved with self-generated solar energy. This increases profitability and the rate of self-consumption while simultaneously reducing costs. Alongside electricity and heat, mobility is the third major sector that can be powered with electricity from a user’s own roof using solutions from Fronius.
“If you own an electric car, you’ll want to power it with solar energy,” explains Martin Hackl, Global Director Solar Energy at Fronius. “But you’re often not at home when the electricity from your domestic PV system is available.” This is where Fronius comes in: the solar energy experts are taking e-mobility to the next level and are making it possible to charge an electric car in the afternoon or evening with the electricity stored throughout the day. “It’s about having an energy solution that guarantees an electric car really is fuelled with green electricity,” adds Hackl. “To achieve this, you need to get the entire package right.”
Fuelling a car with green electricity
Owners of electric cars essentially have three ways of charging their vehicles. The easiest, yet most ineffective method, is to simply plug the car into the socket or wallbox when power is required and use the energy available at that moment. This often only enables the user to achieve a slight increase in self-consumption, as a large proportion of the electricity needed is drawn from the public grid.
To charge the electric car’s battery intelligently, a Fronius inverter with an integrated energy management function and a compatible wallbox (charging station for the home) is required alongside the PV system on the roof. The inverter informs the wallbox when there is surplus electricity available, which then charges the electric car. Self-consumption can typically be increased by a further 20% in this way.
Dynamic charge control (the car is charged with precisely the amount of surplus electricity that is available at the given time) and an additional Fronius battery raise the rate of self-consumption up to almost 100%, depending on the system size and consumption behaviour. With this method, the energy management system sends the surplus electricity that has been produced throughout the day to a Fronius Solar Battery for temporary storage until it is later needed to fuel the car with solar power.
“This ingenious method enables users to really get the most out of e-mobility,” says Hackl. “If you also upgrade your system with a Fronius Ohmpilot, which draws on surplus electricity to generate hot water, you will have a solution that makes the most economic sense and achieves the highest level of self-sufficiency.”
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