SOLARAWARDS2011 SHOR TLISTED
was achieved using a conventional layout involving 60 multi crystalline cells. The photovoltaic industry is still pursuing two basic approaches when it comes to lowering costs even further: improving the production processes, on the one hand, and increasing efficiency, on the other. This innovative approach to industrial manufacturing of high-performance cells and modules, will help achieve higher efficiency.”
Rural Electrification Development Award
Bergen Associates Pvt Ltd
AEG Power Solutions
Thyrobox™ PI power system AEG Power Solutions (AEG PS) Thyrobox™ PI power system sets efficiency standards in polysilicon production. Using proprietary technology developed by AEG PS, the Thyrobox™ PI, allows manufacturers of polysilicon, to increase the production output of their existing polysilicon reactors by 10% to 20%, depending on reactor configuration and process condition.
Polysilicon is the base material used in the manufacturing of solar cells. With decreasing poly silicon prices, manufactures are under ever increasing pressure to lower operational manufacturing costs. Thyrobox™ PI can easily be added to existing AEG Power Solutions Thyrobox power systems. That way it allows for permanently lowered operational costs with minimal investment as no new or additional deposition reactors are needed. In addition to increased polysilicon productivity the Thyrobox™ PI reduces internal thermal stresses thus preventing rod cracks, allows for more uniform growth, improves rod joint bridge shaping and minimizes hot spots.
AEG Power Solutions partnered with GT Solar to offer the Thyrobox™ PI as part of a turnkey solution using GTSolar’s SDR™ series of CVD reactors. This next generation power system is designed to be integrated with GT’s SDR-400 to enable reactor capacities over 500 MTA. The vision is to deliver sustained value to customers by lowering the cost of PV manufacturing.
JHARGAON Project Jhargaon is a small village located in the state of Jharkhand. The village has 50 households with a population of around 500. Most of them are Below Poverty Lline households. The sole source of income is agriculture but that too was way too low as the paucity of water did not allow them to have more than one crop which was dependent on monsoon. Further, the impact of climate change has been worst felt by the villagers as the erratic monsoon schedules have wrecked havoc on the crops thereby leading to almost no income for the villagers in the last few years. Most of the households even lacked the basic amenities like clean drinking water, healthcare, education, physical infrastructure like roads and bridges and the most important ingredient for development - Electricity. The area is further afflicted by acute Naxal activities retarding economic growth.
Bergen has proactively gone into the village which had no access to electricity and provided a 20kWp Solar Power Plant which gives power to the households for domestic consumption and also provides electricity for irrigation. It also powers a Rice Mill, Flour Mill, and a water filtration plant. The source of power has brought around a mini revolution in the village with each villager getting access to clean and uninterrupted power.
The Power Plant has a battery back-up for three days and the material has been sourced from the world over to ensure state-of-the art installation.
The major challenges faced were: Getting access to land to build the power plant, for this purpose a local NGO was roped in
To make the villagers aware of the benefits of the plant and also get them to pay for the electricity being used though at a nominal rate
Acute problem of terrorism Inaccessible regions and area prone to bandhs and closures
Making the plant self-sufficient and sustainable
Bergen has put in place a village energy committee which collects revenues from villagers for the domestic as well as the commercial application and the plant is operated upon by the locals. Further, the revenues so collected are utilized for the upkeep and the maintenance of the plant. The revenue charged from the villagers is nominal and the domestic rate is slightly lower than the commercial rate. The access to power has improved the income levels of the villagers, improved health and has also helped mitigate the Naxal problem to a major extent.
Bergen is the only company to have entered the Rural Electrification Segment in such a big way and in addition, Bergen has also invested its own capital for the construction of the plant. Bergen was the pioneer in rural electrification and the first such project commissioned under it was an 8.67kWp plant in Rampura near Jhansi. In fact, under the aegis of MNRE and the patronage of Hon’ble Member Parliament, Ms Mabel Rebello, Bergen has already executed about 200kWp of rural electrification with others in the pipeline.
Since a deep correlation between Energy and Development has been seen, the potential way to pull the village out from the depths of poverty was to give the people access to a Sustainable Energy Source. The non-availability of the national grid in the region paved the way for the use of Solar Energy as a viable alternative. However, the villagers had to be convinced beforehand about the benefits that would accrue to them after the installation of the power plant. Thus an NGO was roped in to mobilize the villagers so that a sense of ownership could be inculcated and subsequently they agreed to pay for the operating and running cost of electricity that was to be generated. With a view to engage the local youth and people, a Village Energy Committee (VEC) was formed which was entrusted with the task of maintaining and operating the plant and also for the
Issue VIII 2011 I
www.solar-pv-management.com 29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56