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SAUR ENERGY I N T E R N A T I O N A L EDITOR
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
MANAS NANDI editorial@saurenergy.com
DIRECTOR MARKETING & SALES
Introspect Past. Define Future.
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ASSOCIATE EDITOR NILOY BANERJEE niloy@saurenergy.com
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Quantitative forecasting models are used to forecast future trends as a function of past and present data. Saur Energy International in this yearend special issue intends to provide you with a bouquet of information of what all happened in 2017 in the Indian solar industry. We bring you all the major updates in the policy front both from Centre and States, Investment happened around the year, major market trends and numerous other data points which will help forecast and plan your 2018 market strategy. India added nearly 2,247 MW of solar capacity during JulySeptember period, registering a 15.40 per cent growth as compared to 1,947 MW added in Q2 of 2017. Our total capacity crossed 17 GW. All these can be termed as smart energy. I am calling it 'Smart' because the entire system used to generate, monitor and transport the energy uses a lot of smart and intelligent electronic products. But this also indulge challenge of securing these systems from a host of threats as all these systems are becoming very vulnerable of cyber-criminals who try to breach the security systems and cause massive damage with these installations. In this MegaIssue, we have tipped into the cyber-security space for secure Smart Grids of the future. That's not the end of the story, our honest-and-goodness philosophy made us cultivate and argue on "How Solar Panels Can Work At Night". The insights are rational and purviews the 'Night-Bright' future of solar panels. To Explore Together, Let's meet in a person at "Intersolar India - 2017". Lot more inside to keep you hooked for the next 30 days. Happy Reading!
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
ManasNandi manas@saurenergy.com
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CONTENT 08
HEEDING the Call for CYBER SECURITY 36 NATIONAL NEWS
-10
- Delhi Metro to Set Up Solar Panels on Pedestrian Bridges to Generate Power - CleanMax Solar Installs Solar Power System at Dilli Haat in Pitampura
42
- Coimbatore City Corpora-tion to Set Up Two 1MW Solar Plants at Rs 5.5cr Each - Government Buildings in Goa to be Solar Powered by 2018 - Mumbai’s Pharmacy College Gets 70 Percent of Electricity from 453 Solar Panels - India and Other Emerging Econmies Can Unlock Trillions of Dollars in Climate Finance: IFC Global Report - India Plans Rent a Roof Policy to Boost Solar Power Generation - Telangana Government to Generate 5000MW Solar Power by 2019 - HCL to Set Up 49 Mini Solar Grids in 63 Villages under its CSR Initiative Samuday
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
What SOLAR PANELS Do At NIGHT?
INTERNATIONAL NEWS -18 - China Gets its First Modularized and Pre-installed Battery Energy Storage Power Plant - EBRD Strengthens Ties with International Solar Alliance - China Aims To Install Record Amount Of Solar Power Capacity
SOLAR POLICIES
- Yingli Supplies All Solar Panels for a 38.4 MW PV Poverty Alleviation Project
ROUND-UP
in China
2017
- EESL and UK Firm Collaborate on New Renewable Energy Pact
MARKET RESEARCH
-34
- Efforts to Address Climate through Clean Energy Lag in Emerging Markets - Focus on Reduction of Carbon Emissions to Boost the Solar Freezer Market
PRODUCTS
-56
INNOVATION
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FOR CENTRE AND STATES
- Scientists Elevate Quantum Dot Solar Cell World Record - UNIST Researchers Develop Highly Stable Perovskite Solar Cells
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NATIONAL NEWS Government Buildings in Goa to be Solar Powered by 2018 Government buildings in Goa will adopt solar energy as a means to generate power by way of setting up rooftop solar plants by this financial year. “Government buildings in Goa are the ones that constantly run on power. Adopting this technology will help ease consumption levels and set an example for the rest of Goa. This will also reduce the power bill by 50%,” said field assistant, Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), Saji Mangaonkar. A survey is being carried out to determine the power capacity of each government building in the state. “The process will be complete by the next financial year. All government buildings, including departments, institutions, municipalities and panchayats will be surveyed,” GEDA official Gaurish Khautankar told TOI. He added that GEDA has already proposed the same for all social sector buildings in the state. Mumbai’s Pharmacy College Gets 70 Percent of Electricity from 453 Solar Panels Mumbai’s pioneering institution Bombay College of Pharmacy in Kalina generates its 70 percent of electricity from 453 solar panels. The 140 kilowatt solar power system (kWp) allows the college to save around Rs 1.6 lakh every month of electricity bills. The rooftop solar power system generates about 15399 units of electricity per month and provides power from airconditioners to fans to lifts across 13 laboratories. Besides that, seven classrooms, the canteen and the college administration area also runs on the solar power system.
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Delhi Metro to Set Up Solar Panels on Pedestrian Bridges to Generate Power Delhi Metro will be installing solar panels on the roof of pedestrian over-bridges to generate clean and cheaper energy for use at stations. The first project will be taken up on a 250-metre over bridge at Kalkaji station on the soon-to-start Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West line in the phase 3 expansion of the rail network. Power comprises 34 percent of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s total input cost. The corporation had cited rising power costs as one of the main reasons for justifying the recent tariff hike. DMRC has so far commissioned solar power facilities with a generation capacity of approx. 2,800 kWp with plants at Dwarka Sector 21, Anand Vihar, Pragati Maidan, Metro Enclave, Yamuna bank station, Yamuna bank depot, Faridabad RSS, ITO, Ajronda depot and the Faridabad metro stations. It has also signed an agreement with the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar to source 35 million units of solar power to meet effectively the entire energy needs on the phase 3 network. Since most of the pedestrian over-bridges or foot-over bridges (FOBs) at Metro stations do not have roofs, the corporation will check the feasibility of the project at Kalkaji. If it is a success, then it will be replicated at other stations. DMRC has so far installed solar power plants at all the stations of the Faridabad corridor and Ajronda Depot with a total generation capacity of 1.9 Mega Watt peak (MWp).
CleanMax Solar Installs Solar Power System at Dilli Haat in Pitampura
Coimbatore City Corporation to Set Up Two 1MW Solar Plants at Rs 5.5cr Each
As part of the 2.5 MW contract secured with
The city corporation of Coimbatore plans to tap
the Delhi Government’s power generation arm,
solar energy to bring down its electricity bills by
Indraprastha Power Generation (IPGCL), Clean-
setting up two plants of 1MW capacity each at
Max Solar has commissioned a 140 kWp solar
Ukkadam and Kavundampalayam. The panels
plant at the food and craft bazaar, Dilli Haat in
will be set up on a 10-acres land at a cost of Rs
Pitampura. This rooftop solar power plant is
5.5cr each, corporation sources said. As per
expected to generate 1.97 lac units of electricity
the data available for 2015-2016, the civic body
through the year. This will help achieve a whopping
consumes 4.47 million units at its office buildings,
50 percent saving per unit, reducing INR 9.7 lacs
9.16 million units at the sewage treatment plants
per annum on the electricity cost.
at Ukkadam and Ondipudur and water treatment
With Delhi’s electricity consumption on the rise,
and pumping stations at Velliangadu and Pillur.
rooftop solar plants will assist in bridging the
Another 46.37 million units are consumed by
demand-supply gap. Moreover, with the rising
streetlights. The two solar panels are expected
levels in pollution, plants will provide some respite
to produce 4000 units each per day. "These two
to the smog engulfed city with the inclusion of
panels will be connected to the electricity board
sustainable energy. The solar plant is expected
sub-station and the power generated will be
to reduce CO2 by 186 tonnes per annum. Com-
transferred to the grid directly. The Tamil Nadu
missioned under the unique OPEX or pay-as-
Generation and Distribution Corporation has
you-go model, the plant is investment free, risk
been informed about the project and they have
free and hassle free. This has made it a good
agreed to support us. The formal papers will be
business proposition for the State Government
submitted soon," said executive engineer of the
of Delhi in their efforts to make this renowned
west zone Saravana Kumar. About 6000-6800
tourist destination green and sustainable.
panels, each of which will produced between
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
300-320 watts, will be installed.
NATIONAL NEWS HCL to Set Up 49 Mini Solar Grids in 63 Villages under its CSR Initiative Samuday Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has unveiled HCL Foundation’s biggest corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative called ‘Samuday’ in Uttar Pradesh a rural development initiative to create model villages, which has touched lives of around six lac people in the state. Under the Samuday CSR initiative, 49 mini solar grids are being set up across 63 villages by HCL. Also, Samuday has set up over 380 ICT-based classrooms and enrolled 1865 people for adult literacy programme. Samuday has also engaged 5000 farmers under various interventions and constructed 5500 toilets, which are currently under usage. Currently the project is being implemented in three blocks of Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh. India's Effort in Renewable Energy Led To Drop in Solar Price India's massive effort towards renewable energy has result-ed in considerable drop in solar price and the country now believes that the solar power is cheaper than coal without subsidy. "I was really struck by just the transition in this single year between April and June, driven I think by decisions in India related to that dropping price," influential Senator Jeff Merkley said during a Congressional hearing last week. Merkley said during the hearing on Energy and International Development that because of India's effort in renewable energy there has been a considerable drop in solar price. He referred to his conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the transition.
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India and Other Emerging Economies Can Unlock Trillions of Dollars in Climate Finance: IFC Global Report
Developing countries like India can meet climate targets promised in the landmark Paris Agreement by catalyzing trillions of dollars in private investments through a combination of smart policy reforms and innovative business models, according to a new global report by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The global report identifies seven industry sectors that can make a crucial difference in catalyzing private investment: renewable energy, off-grid solar and energy storage, agribusiness, green buildings, urban transportation, water, and urban waste management. Already, more than $1 trillion in investments are flowing into climate-related projects in these areas. But trillions more could be triggered by creating the right business conditions in emerging markets, the report found. India’s success in creating markets for solar power, estimated at more than 13 GW in capacity in 2017, has led the government to expand its National Solar Mission. The new target of 175 GW of installed solar energy by 2022 is five times the original target. Similarly, India has now become the world’s fourth largest wind power generator, with a target to install 60GW of by 2022. The government also recently announced a commitment to end the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2030.
India Plans Rent a Roof Policy to Boost Solar Power Generation
Telangana Government to Generate 5000MW Solar Power by 2019
To achieve the ambitious target of adding 100GW of solar energy by 2022, the Government is planningon a “rent a roof” policy, said Anand Kumar, secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy. Kumar in his first interview with media after assuming charge at the ministry said that Government is actively working on a ‘rent a rooftop’ policy. “We are now trying to work out a new programme called ‘rent a roof,’ wherein the developer will take rooftops on rent and will offer lease to each household, and then feed the power to the grid,” said Kumar. The country has a huge potential to generate solar energy as it records around 300 sunny days a year, with an average solar radiation range of 4-7 kilowatt-hours per square metre. “Under ‘rent a roof’, anyone can take a roof. Right now, net metering is happening but it is for the individual household to go for it on its own. After this, all the responsibilities such as maintenance will be with the developer. We are working on the policy,” Kumar said.
The Telangana Government is all set to achieve 5000 MW solar power generation by 2019, Energy Minister B Jagadesh Reddy said. Telangana State at present produces 2792 MW solar power which is highest by any state in the country. Responding to a question during Question Hour in the State Assembly, Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy said that the state government has planned to encourage power generation through non-conventional energy sources in the state. “We have chalked out an action plan to achieve cumulative target of 5,000 MW by 2019,” he added further.To meet the growing demand and reduce the pollution level, the Minister said many countries in the world are going for renewable sources of energy like solar energy, wind energy and so on. The Minister stated that during the last three years, the Telangana state has produced 2792MW solar power and the state was ahead as compared to other states in the country. While giving the details of the total solar power generation, the Minister stated that during 2014, the solar power generation was 500MW and supplying at the rate of Rs 6.29 to Rs 6.45. After formation of Telangana State, it was increased to 2792 MW and supplying at the rate of Rs 5.59 to 5.17.
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NATIONAL NEWS International Solar Alliance to Become a Legal Entity on December 6 International Solar Alliance (ISA), the India-headquartered grouping of 121 nations for promotion of solar energy, will become a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization on December 6 this year, according to Interim Director-General, Upendra Tripathy. Speaking at a curtain raiser for the founding ceremony of the (ISA) in Bonn, Germany, Tripathy, in a statement said, 44 countries have already signed the ISA treaty. Tripathy also spoke on the ISA’s three ongoing programmes: facilitating affordable finance for solar, scaling up solar applications for agriculture, and promoting solar mini-grids in member nations. The discussions also covered the ISA’s Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM) project, aimed at de-risking investments in solar energy projects in developing countries and, thereby, encouraging flow of funds into the sector, the statement added. Tata Power Solar Bags the Prestigious Dun & Bradstreet - Everest Infra Awards 2017 Tata Power Solar, India’s largest integrated solar company, won ‘Dun & Bradstreet - Everest Infra Awards 2017’ under Infrastructure Project award for commissioning India's largest solar project under Domestic Content Requirement for NTPC at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. The 100 MW project is expected to generate nearly 160 million units (kWh) of energy per year and help offset approximately 110,000 tonnes of CO2 in the first year. Spread over 500-acre site and using high quality TIER-1 module and cells manufactured in-house, the project was delivered within 80% of the stipulated timeline and three months ahead of the stringent schedule.
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TATA Power Commissions 25MW Solar Power Plant in Gujarat Tata Power's wholly-owned subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. has successfully commissioned a 25MW solar power plant in Charanka, Gujarat Solar Park. The company secured the project in November 2016 through viability gap funding mode under the National Solar Mission of Government of India. Notably, the foresaid commissioning has been achieved way ahead of the actual timelines of December 2017 in the PPA. Built over a sprawling 113 acres of land, the solar plant has been tied up under a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement with SECI at a tariff of Rs 4.43/unit. The total installed operating capacity for TPREL with this project now stands at 1484 MW. "We aim to create a focused renewable energy business in TPREL with a sustained growth trajectory. The commissioning of a 25 MW solar plant in Gujarat marks a milestone in our drive, to grow our portfolio of clean and renewable energy generation. We are grateful to the Government of Gujarat and to the nodal agencies for their support while developing the project. As always, we will continue to look for opportunities to acquire operating wind and solar plants, apart from our own organic growth pipeline, to grow our generation portfolio," said Rahul Shah, CEO, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited.
Indian Solar EPC Sterling and Wilson Expands its Presence in Australia Sterling and Wilson has strengthened its global
Progress in Solar Energy Sector Helped India Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2017: Report
presence with the recent announcement of expansion into Australia market. The company plans to construct 500 MW in the coming three years. These projects would attract an investment of AUD 600 million. The target is expected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 750,000 tons annually. This would generate an employment for more than 750 personnel during course of project construction. Bikesh Ogra, CEO – Renewable Energy, Sterling and Wilson, said, “Australia is witnessing a solar boom, as the country has had a phenomenal year with respect to large scale solar projects. The solar industry has also seen a sharp decline in costs, and is seen as a pivotal force to help the country achieve its renewable energy targets by 2020. We are definitely excited to be a part of this transformational journey and aid in realizing its potential to transition to a future of sustainable and renewable energy. As a truly global solar EPC company with experience across geographies, we not only want to bring our best practices to the industry, but also learn alongside our peers to attain our target of 500 MW’s installations.”
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In a significant development, India’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 was significantly lower than the average in the last decade because of the rapid progress made in installation of solar energy, according to the 2017 Global Carbon Budget report, published simultaneously in the journals in Nature Climate Change, Environmental Research Letters, and Earth System Science Data Discussions.The report also states the Government policies like demonetization and introduction of GST also had some role to play in it. The report said India’s emissions are projected to grow by 2 percent in 2017, less than the average increase of 6 percent over the last decade. However, global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and industrial use is likely to increase by 2 percent after three stable years, led by a 3.5 percent rise in emissions in China, the world’s largest polluter.
NATIONAL NEWS New Delhi to Source 1GW Solar Power by 2019 By 2019, the capital city of India, New Delhi would have over 1GW of clean energy, lessening the burden on fossil fuel, said power minister Satyendar Jain. Jain also mentioned that after six months of deliberations, all three DISCOMs and the power ministry have agreed in principle to switch to green energy. Jain further added that his department has approved subsidies for solar pumps for Delhi farmers. Central PSU Solar Energy Corporation of India is the nodal agency and would be in charge of the tender process over the next three months. The solar panels, though, would be set up elsewhere in the country; Delhi would only buy the power generated. NLC India to Build Solar Power Plants on Railway Land Neyveli Lignite Corporation has been tasked with setting up solar power plants on the vacant land of Railways. Addressing the World Mining Congress, Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal said, “The Railways are going to tie up with NLC and have them put up solar power generation equipment at their investment. The Railways will buy the power out of that.” While the agreement for this deal has not yet been signed, Goyal said the broad framework for the same had already been prepared. He said: “Wherever we have railway land, I want NLC to put up the solar plants so that I can save them from encroachers.”
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Farmers in Maharashtra to Get Low Tariff Electricity through Solar Feeders
The government of Maharashtra will provide cheap and assured electricity to farmers across the state through solar feeders in the next three years, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at Ralegan Siddhi. Fadnavis also mentioned that the important decision of using solar powered feeders has been taken to become self sufficient in the power sector. He further added that the plan was to provide solar pumps to farmers. However, when we realized that there were limitations for distributing solar pumps, it was decided to connect the solar panels to feeders for supply to agricultural pumps for farmers to ensure power for 12 hours a day. Currently each unit of electricity is generated at around Rs. 6.50 and the cost will come down to Rs. 3-3.25 when solar power is used. Farmers will be provided electricity at Rs. 1.20. Moreover, the money saved in generating power will be used for development of farmers. This scheme has been appreciated by the NITI Aayog and it has asked the other states to replicate this model.
Farmers to Get Uninterrupted Power Supply under Mukhya Mantri Feeder Scheme in Maharashtra
The Mukhya Mantri (CM) agriculture feeder scheme’s first project has been launched. The Maharashtra government aims to provide 12 hours a day of uninterrupted power supply to the farmers of the state under the scheme. While launching the first project Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis took to twitter and Facebook live proudly announcing the policy after receiving an optimum level of response against the solar pumps and considering it to be the reason to launch the scheme. Ralegaon Siddhi village, located in the Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra was the place where the scheme was launched. An amount of INR 30 million has been sanctioned to each project under the scheme. Fadnavis while speaking at the opening ceremony said “Maharashtra government would provide cheap and assured electricity to farmers across the state in the next three years”. The decision has been taken to become self-sufficient in power sector he further added. The cost of electricity has been lowered significantly in recent times and with the solar power it can go low, varying presently around INR 3/kWh. The project has gained popularity due to the continuous fall in the installation cost and per unit cost of solar power. This innovative project has also been endorsed by the NITI Ayog (National Institute of Transforming India) while urging other states to adopt the same.
Waaree Recognized with D&B Infra Award 2017 Waaree’s Solar Rooftop RESCO PV Project for Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd was recognized with D&B Infra Award 2017. Dr. Hitesh C Doshi, CMD Waaree Group was felicitated by Shri Nitin Gadkari Hon’ble Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. The 2.290 MW the rooftop project will source 30 percent of its non-traction energy requirement through solar panels which have been installed at Andheri - Ghatkopar Suburban Metro stations. The project is installed on roofs 12 metro stations across Mumbai, will generate 3.2 million units per year. This unique project was completed well within stipulated time, adhering to safety standards thus achieving zero accident. The periodic Quality checks, inspection and highly skilled staff led to smooth commissioning of the project. The Installation is with Marginal static Load and robust design of Aluminum Module Mounting Structures to withstand the tough climatic Conditions for the long life of the system and the Tier 1 WAAREE make module with “Make in India” Initiative. “It is an honor to be named D&B Award for Mumbai Metro RESCO Solar PV Project 2.290 MW capacity successfully commissioned in all 12 Stations in stipulated timelines with zero Accident and excellent Quality following Quality Assurance Plan project form Andheri to Ghatkopar Metro Station. These evidences prove the best of quality work towards to promote clean & environment friendly non-conventional renewable initiative campaign “Go Green Go Clean”, quoted Dr. Hitesh C Doshi CMD Waaree group. Waaree also initiated the retrofit installation of LED lighting at Mumbai Metro stations, depot and administrative buildings to reduce its electricity consumption.
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NATIONAL NEWS India-France Cooperation a 'Partnership for Planet': Foreign Minister Le Drian
Amplus Energy Solutions Inks with Indian Army to Boost Solar Power in J&K
Describing the Indo-French cooperation as a "partnership for the planet", French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA) will play a crucial role in helping developing nations gain access to sustainable energy at lower costs. Le Drian said India and France have expressed the desire to maintain the momentum generated during the 2015 Paris Climate Summit and the founding of the ISA, which has the support of 121 solar-rich countries to tackle energy issues. The French foreign minister and minister of Europe said the India-France bilateral cooperation is a "partnership for the planet, which is at the core of our global diplomacy." He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron have wished to have the state visit coincide with the first summit of the ISA, scheduled early next year in Delhi.
Solar power producer Amplus Energy has inked a deal with Indian Army to provide solar lamps to the people of Gurez valley in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. Gurez is a valley located in the high Himalayas, about 123 kms from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. At about 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and is one of the strategic locations for the Indian Army, a company statement said. Lack of electricity supply, combined with inclement weather, leads to increased hardships for the people of Gurez, it said. Sanjeev Aggarwal, MD and CEO, Amplus Energy said, “Solar power can play a key role in providing power to isolated regions which get limited electricity from the government. With this project in Gurez, we are committed to more such projects so to do our part for the society.”
HCL to Set Up 49 Mini Solar Grids in 63 Villages under its CSR Initiative Samuday State-owned power generator NTPC's Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Plant (KhSTPP) near Bhagalpur has planned to produce at least 15MW electricity through solar energy even while continuing to rely on conventional coal for power generation. KhSTPP executive director Rakesh Samuel told newsmen on Thursday the geotechnical project report had already been prepared and the topographical survey for power generation through solar energy done for the purpose. In all likelihood, power generation through solar energy will start soon, he said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS Developing World Says Rich Nations Shirking on Climate Change Pledge The failure of wealthy nations to deliver on short-term climate commitments could hinder the rollout of a landmark treaty, a bloc of 134 developing countries, including India and China, warned at UN negotiations in Bonn. The diplomatic spat has underscored the difficulty of reaching a consensus at the 196-nation talks. "If we do not respect decisions that we have made, then how can we build trust among the parties?" said Chen Zhihua, China's senior negotiator, referring to longstanding pledges by rich nations to enhance financial support and "revisit" targets for curbing greenhouse gas emissions before 2020. The treaty, inked outside the French capital in 2015, calls on the world to cap global warming at "well below" two degrees Celsius and even 1.5˚C if possible. US Based Solar Farm Developer Announces 1.26GWac of Mega Solar Project Portfolios for Sale Innovative Solar Systems has announced that the company is offering its two large portfolios of Solar Farms for sale which afford buyers a projected 13% IRR. The project portfolio of high quality, high return projects with lower build costs, range in size from 20MW’s to well over 200MW. These pro-jects are easy build and the most sought after solar markets in the US. The first portfolio is made up of a mixture of mega site projects in Texas and totals 680MWac. The second portfolio totals 580MWac and are high return projects located in the following eight states of UT, NC, SC, TX, CO, MT, AL, WA and CO.
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China Gets its First Modularized and Pre-installed Battery Energy Storage Power Plant The Modularized and Pre-installed Battery Energy Storage Power Plant of Four Seas (Suzhou) Food Co., Ltd. made by Narada has been put into operation recently. This is the first modular pre-installed energy storage station in China. This Modularized and Pre-installed Battery Energy Storage Power Plant is located inside the factory of Four Seas in Suzhou, and the scale of the project is 250KW/1MWH, which covers 45m2, and the expected life is 10 years. Narada has been constantly exploring new models of energy storage power station construction, this modular pre-assemble energy storage station filled the gap at home and abroad. This Power Plant consists of prefabricated foundation module and prefabricated standard container. Some advantages of this Power Plant are short construction period, controllable construction quality, saving the required area and cost, high reliability, expandability, less service interface and being in harmony with environment. The commissioning work has already been done in the factory. It can be operated while it is connected to the grid. The Modularized and Pre-installed Battery Energy Storage Power Plant reduces the load of the main power network by discharging at peak periods and increasing power utilization rate at non-peak period through charging the system.
EBRD Strengthens Ties with International Solar Alliance
China Aims To Install Record Amount Of Solar Power Capacity China, being the world’s largest carbon emitter, now aims to be the biggest installer of solar power capacity with record numbers pushing the researchers to add almost 80 percent
The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) have agreed to strengthen cooperation in pursuit of their shared goal of mobilizing green energy financing. A joint declaration to promote solar energy in the countries, where both organizations operate was signed in New Delhi by Nandita Parshad, the EBRD’s Managing Director for Energy and Natural Resources and Upendra Tripathy, the ISA’s interim Director General. During the signing, the EBRD President said: “This is a very important agreement for the EBRD, which has always been eager to share its expertise with new partners and also to learn from them. With the ISA we share the vision of sustainable development and of green energy, which ultimately benefits the global economy.” Upendra Tripathy, the ISA’s interim Director General, commented: “It is a pleasure to sign a joint declaration that formalizes and deepens our partnership with the EBRD. Promoting energy security and increasing the use of solar energy are the two most important objectives of the ISA.”
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
more capacity to stipulated one. The amount of additional capacity of 30GW of forecasted capacity will likely help China, surpassing all the solar energy generated in Japan in 2017. About 54GW is added this year, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said. The spike in the market growth has aid top panel producers like Jinko Solar Holding Co. and Trina Solar Ltd. to gain. In the first nine months of 2017, almost 43GW of solar power is installed by China, exceeding last year’s total of 34.5GW. Yvonne Liu, a BNEF analyst in Beijing said “The amount of rooftop solar plants and projects aimed at easing poverty were more than expected and developers rushed to build some groundmounted solar projects before they have been allocated subsidies.” China has left Germany behind having most installed photovoltaic power capacity in 2015 and has also been the world leader in solar market since 2013.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS Yingli Supplies All Solar Panels for a 38.4 MW PV Poverty Alleviation Project in China
Aurora to Deliver Decima 3T
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited has announced that it is supplying 38.4 MW of solar panels to a rural distributed PV poverty alleviation project in China. Located in Zhangbei County, Hebei Province, this project includes 128 rural distributed PV poverty alleviation plants for Zhangbei County's remaining 128 low-income villages and each plant has the capacity of 300 Kilowatts (kW). The 128 rural distributed PV poverty alleviation plants will be constructed in one site with the total installation capacity of 38.4 MW. Once completed, it will benefit more than 10,000 low-income villagers in Zhangbei County over the next 20 years with revenues from electricity sales. This project will utilize over 140,000 Yingli Solar panels, around 10,000 panels of which adopt advanced techniques, including Yingli's patented Panda Bifacial panels, multi-crystalline 12 bus-bars panels and multi-crystalline black silicon panels. In addition, the project will adopt the axis tracking system to capture more sunlight by following the sun, thus increasing the power generation. The project is expected to be connected to the grid in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Aurora Solar Technologies has
EESL and UK Firm Collaborate on New Renewable Energy Pact A joint venture of Indian PSU Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and UK-based EnergyPro Limited (EP) will invest USD 12 million in a new partnership with leading battery storage solutions provider Leclanché. EESL EnergyPro Assets Limited (EPAL) launched the new partnership at India House in London for the investment in an advanced battery storage project in Ontario, Canada, known as Basin 1 and 2. "This partnership marks the beginning of a significant development in the energy efficiency sector. With the ever- increasing energy consumption, technologies like battery storage will go hand in hand with efficiency to balance supply and demand,said Dinesh K Patnaik, the acting high commissioner of India to the UK. "I am very hopeful that EPAL, with its excellent track record in driving the UJALA (UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All) initiative, will bring a revolution in the market with its advancement into battery storage projects," he added. The Canadian project, built and owned by Leclanché and development partner Deltro Energy, is the first utility scale energy storage facility designed to balance the Ontario power grid.
Ingeteam Uses Drones for Enhanced Solar PV Plant Performance Ingeteam is involved in a research project focused on optimizing PV plant performance with the use of drones. This new system is directed at meeting the main challenge faced by solar PV plants: The need to achieve high returns in order to compete against other sources of energy, both renewable and fossil. The first drone-based inspection service is set to be launched in the course of next year. The drone is equipped with in-built sensors, algorithms to detect and classify potential causes of reduced panel performance (damage, soiling or deterioration), other algorithms to provide reliable, robust indicators of the technical and economic performance of the system, and an application to optimize maintenance activities. The project is named SCARAB and is headed by Ingeteam, with the participation of the University of Castilla La Mancha. It is set to be completed by the end of 2019 and has a budget of 648,510 euros. At an operational level, the project will lead to improved panel inspection, shorter measurement-taking and post-processing times, while minimizing operation and maintenance costs and maximizing the service life of the plant.
and Veritas Units to REC Group for Cell Optimization ann-ounced that it has received an initial order from REC Group for two Decima 3T and Veritas products, with a letter of intent for additional units. Subject to a decision to expand production beyond this initial phase, the project will encompass up to eight Decima 3T and Veritas units. The first two systems are expected to ship in January 2018 with the shipment of the balance to follow in accordance with additional purchase orders. “We are excited to see another endorsement of our unique capabilities for solar cell characterization from an industry leader,” said Michael Heaven, Aurora’s Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to working with REC Group to realize the benefits of the inline measurement systems for rapid ramp-up of the new lines and to optimize the manufacturing yield of these advanced cells. XsunX Project Channel Sees Future Boost Potential from USITC Trade Remedy Recommendations XsunX, Inc. has announced that a much-anticipated recommendation by the USITC offers encouraging news for growth in US solar industry. With the potential for looming import duties on certain imported solar cells and assembled solar modules, XsunX has seen its access to a broad range of manufacturers and economically priced product narrow over the past several months.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS Europe's First Blockchain Project to Stabilize the Power Grid Launches The first pilot project in Europe using decentralized networked home energy storage systems and blockchain technology to stabilize the power grid had kicked off. Transmission system operator TenneT has been successfully using those home energy storage systems for re-dispatch. With this and after several months of preparation, TenneT and the world’s largest residential energy storage company sonnen launched the pilot phase of the project, which is expected to
Inseego Announces Smart City Deployment with Current, Powered by GE Inseego has announced integration with Current, powered by GE, including the world's largest smart city IoT sensor platform installation in San Diego. This large scale deployment involves 3,200 intelligent CityIQ sensor nodes that will help optimize traffic and parking, plus enhance public safety, environmental awareness and overall livability for the city of San Diego, CA. “IoT sensor platform” is included as there are larger single use sensors deployed, but none that offer an array of sensors in an integrated platform like the CityIQ sensor nodes. Current, powered by GE will continue to integrate Inseego’s modems as cities mobilize and scale municipal digital footprints through network partner AT&T. Inseego has provided leading support and advantages through integration of the Skyus DS 4G cellular modem, which allows for the real time transmission of critical meta data and on-premise analytics, that are key components in smart city initiatives like San Diego.
NV Energy Seeks Approval for Three New Solar Energy Projects In its continuing effort to serve its customers with low-cost renewable energy, NV Energy filed a request with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to approve three new long-term power purchase agreements totaling 100 megawatts. The three new solar energy projects, if approved, will be built
continue until mid 2018. During
in Nevada. NV Energy's President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Caudill noted that the projects
this time, decentralized ene-
include the largest solar energy array in Northern Nevada at a nameplate rating of 50 megawatts.
rgy storage systems will be inte-
The largest of the three new projects is the 50-megawatt Turquoise Nevada solar project, to be
grated into TenenT’s grid via blockchain technology. The blockchain solution was developed by IBM while sonnen provides the pool of home energy storage systems that form the network
constructed in the Reno Technology Park in Washoe County, Nevada. The project will benefit from a 25-year power purchase agreement with NV Energy and is expected to be operational by the end of 2020.
Schneider Electric and NGK Partner Collaborate to Promote Large Capacity Energy Storage System
and are operated by sonnen
Schneider Electric along with NGK insulators has announced the conclusion of a memorandum of
e-Services.
understanding (MOU). Under the MOU, the two companies will explore global opportunities to jointly
Vivint Solar Commence
market NGK's NAS (R) battery and Schneider Electric's inverter (Conext (TM) Core XC ES).With
Operations in Delaware
increasing demand and use of renewable energy, there is an increasing need for large-capacity battery
Vivint Solar has expanded availability of its affordable solar energy systems into Delaware.
storage systems, which can stabilize the distribution of electricity, and global demand is expected to grow going forward. In November, 2016, the team of NGK and Schneider Electric successfully conducted integration testing of the interface between the NAS battery and ES Box at NGK's factory
Following this expansion into
in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.
the "First State," Vivint Solar now Delaware's renewables port-
Softbank Collaborates with Saudi Wealth Fund to Frame Solar Energy Plan
folio standard (RPS) targets to
SoftBank has joined hands with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF)
operates in 21 states.
achieve 25 percent of its power from renewables by 2025, with 3.5 percent required from solar. Delaware residents who wish to install solar energy systems can interconnect to the grid under traditional net metering.
to frame a 'Solar Energy Plan 2030' for the kingdom and set up a giant 3000 MW solar project there. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between SoftBank Vision Fund and PIF was signed on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative, held in Riyadh from October 24-26 and attended by business and investment leaders from all over the world. The energy plan will set out a new framework for developing Saudi Arabia’s solar sector, while the solar project will be executed by Saudi Electric Company (SEC) in which PIF has 74.3% stake. SoftBank is also likely to acquire a significant minority stake in SEC. The joint venture will also look for opportunities to set up solar equipment manufacturing and battery manufacturing ecosystems in Saudi Arabia.
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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
INTERNATIONAL NEWS Hanergy Enhances its Green Development Efforts in the Transportation and Construction Industries Hanergy Holding Group, China's largest thin-film solar cell manufacturer has announced that following the call for "green development" at the recent 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the company will further enhance its clean development efforts and leverage its thin-film technology to contribute to the green transformation of the transportation and construction industries. With regard to the construction industry, Hanergy has made great progress in material innovation. In March 2017, China's State Power Investment Corporation completed the construction of its headquarters building with Hanergy's industry leading thin-film solar panels embedded in the building's facade walls, roofs, shades, windows and other areas, providing a steady stream of green electricity.
JinkoSolar's Monocrystalline PERC Solar Cell Efficiency of 23.45 Percent Verified JinkoSolar attended the 19th China International Industry Fair (CIIF) that opened in Shanghai. JinkoSolar showcased a suite of "Intelligent Manufacturing" innovations including MES system, smart devices, facility monitoring, smart factory, robotic workstations, quality traceability capabilities, and many more. At CIIF, JinkoSolar also announced that it has broken its own world record for P-type monocrystalline PERC solar cell efficiency by achieving that of 23.45%. The record was independently validated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Photovoltaic and Wind Power System Quality Test Center. This new achievement eclipses JinkoSolar's world record breaking P-Type monocrystalline PERC solar cell efficiency of 22.78% that was achieved just last month in October. JinkoSolar's previous successes clearly did not stop the company's pursuit of further excellence.
juwi Commissions Two Solar Power Projects in Turkey The German juwi group, one of the world’s leading project developers and EPC service providers in the field of renewable energies, successfully put into operation two large solar power projects in Turkey. The first project consists of an 18.6MW portfolio which is located in the cities of Konya and Nevsehir, the second one is located in the city of Burdur and has an installed capacity of 1.1MW. The 18.6MW project consists of 18 separate (unlicensed) solar power plants and was commissioned in November this year. Eight solar power plants are installed in Konya, in the Central Anatolia region, some 300 kilometers north-east of Antalya, and ten solar power plants in Nevsehir. Nevsehir is located about 200 kilometers north-east of the city of Konya. The combined module surface is more than 110,000 square meters; the projected annual energy yield is more than 30 million kilowatt hours of climate-friendly electricity. All projects have been planned, designed and executed by juwi’s subsidiary juwi Yenilenebilir Enerji A.S.
PlantPredict Energy Modeling Used as Basis for Project Performance Guarantees
First Solar has confirmed that PlantPredict, the company’s utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) energy prediction software, has been used to generate the reference energy predictions in the sale of three utility-scale projects totaling more than 350MWac. The transactions demonstrate that the cloud-based modeling tool has gained acceptance by lenders and asset owners as a bankable primary resource in analyzing and predicting performance of utilityscale PV solar projects. Energy predictions generated by PlantPredict were used as the basis for EPC and O&M guarantees for projects including the 40MWac Cuyama Solar Project, owned by an affiliate of D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments, and the 150MW second phase of the California Flats solar power plant, owned by Capital Dynamics.
First Solar Signs Deal with Obton to Provide 19MW of Solar Modules in the Netherlands The world's biggest thin film solar module manufacture, First Solar has signed a 19MW module supply deal for projects with Denmark-based Investment and Management Company specialized in renewable projects Obton. First Solar Modules will be powering two solar plants in the municipality of Stadskanaal, the Netherlands. The construction activity for the first project with a direct current (DC) capacity of 13.92MW was launched and 4.4MWdc, project is expected to come in the middle of 2018. Both projects will be implemented under the under the Netherlands’ Encouraging Sustainable Energy Production (SDE+) programme. The projects also mark Obton’s entry into the Dutch market as an independent power producer. JinkoSolar Powers One of Kenya’s Oldest Distillers with Largest Commercial Rooftop Project JinkoSolar has announced that it supplied 924 KW of PV modules to be installed on the rooftop of the London Distillers’ distillery in Athi River, Kenya. Executed by Solarcentury, a major international developer and independent power producer, the project is the largest commercial rooftop installation in East Africa. With the installation, London Distillers will save roughly $180,000 USD in electricity costs per annum and eliminate 330 tons of carbon emissions per annum. Mohan Galot, Chairman of London Distillers noted that “we are always looking for ways to improve the cost efficiency of our operations and protect the environment, and investing in solar presented us with a solution for both these ambitions.”
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India Marches Ahead: Solar Outlook 2017
INDIA
Marches Ahead
A
s 2017 comes to an end, it is worth taking a holistic look at the Indian solar market to analyze key trends, challenges and outlook. By many accounts, the Indian solar industry is on a roll. According to a report released by consulting
firm Bridge to India, India is expected to reach an installed solar capacity of 20GW by the end of the present financial year (2017-18). 20GW of solar power by 2022 was the original target under India’s national solar mission set by Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. But in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government revised it to 100GW by 2022. The time is curious of solar sector in India. The country has come off a period of exceptional growth of over 80% over the last 3 years. The cumulative solar installations in India have now surpassed 17 GW as of September 2017, with over 7.5GW installed in first nine months of 2017, and is expected to reach 20GW of installed solar capacity by the end of the present financial year (2017-18). So, it needs to add an additional 83GW in the remaining four years and six months. Out of the 7.5 GW capacity added in this period, 57% came from three southern states— Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. With this, Telangana now ranks number one for commissioned capacity followed by Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. There has been a marginal increase in the share of Indian module manufacturers, but Chinese module manufacturers continue to dominate with over 80% of the total market share. Chinese Trina Solar leads the market with a 16.6% share followed by JA Solar (9.2%) and Canadian Solar (8.7%). On the domestic front Waaree was the biggest manufacturer last year, followed by Vikram Solar and Tata Power Solar. Overall, 2017 business volumes are expected to grow by 90% Y-o-Y, making India the third largest solar market worldwide. But it is still an unnerving time for project developers and investors as rising competition forces tariffs down and the sector faces headwinds from module price rises, tender cancellations, GST and anti-dumping duty related uncertainty.
2017 KEY HIGHLIGHTS Lightning the Darkness 10 lakh solar lamps distributed to student to enable them to
India’s Total Solar Capacity Surges Ahead
study in the absence of electricity. Another 70 lakh rural students
The total utility scale solar capacity reached 17 GW by September 2017, and is expected to reach 20GW of installed solar capacity by the end of the present financial year (2017-18).
to be provided with solar lamps in the FY2017-18.
Investigating the Imported Solar Cells The Office of the Directorate General of Anti-dumping & Allied Duties India has initiated an investigation into imported solar
Indian Solar Tariffs Fall 25% in Three Months Historic low Tariff of Rs. 2.44 per unit discovered in Bhadla Phase-III Solar Park in auction by SECI.
cells originating in or exported from China, Taiwan, and Malaysia.
India Tenders 20GW of Solar Power The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy is planning to auction
Global Leader in Solar Power
off 20GW of solar power capacity in one go.
International Solar Alliance cemented India’s status as Jagatguru. With 44 countries signed the ISA treaty, many more set to join, ISA turns into a treaty-based legal entity on December 6, 2017.
GST Woes Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced from July 1, 2017. The industry is relieved that modules qualify for a concessional
Fighting Greenhouse Gas Emissions
rate of 5%, but there is still confusion about the rate on other
India’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 was significantly lower than the average in the last decade because of the rapid progress made in installation of solar energy, according to the 2017 Global Carbon Budget report.
India’s RE Capacity Crosses Milestone of 60GW India has achieved a major milestone in solar power generation capacity. India added 10,000 MW clean energy capacity in the last nine months, taking country’s total renewable energy capacity to 60,000 MW in September. India is expected to add 5000MW of rooftop solar and 10,000 MW from large scale solar power projects in the current fiscal.
equipment. Overall, a net increase of 3-8% in project cost is expected depending on GST rate for other equipment.
Tender Progress Updates The largest tender in Q2 2017 was issued by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) for 1500 MW. Other new notable tender was issued by SECI (750 MW Bhadla solar park). er Progress Updates
RK Singh Appointed as the New Power Minister In a recent cabinet reshuffle, Piyush Goyal has been replaced by Raj Kumar Singh as the new Power; and New and Renewable
Pumping Hopes
Energy Minister of State.
About 9 times higher solar water pumps installed between 2014
India’s Solar Auction Activity
to 2017. Close to 1.1 lakh solar pumps now as compared to 11600 to March 2014.
Solar project auction activity in October 2017 witnessed a steep 54.9% decline while tenders were up 25.3 percent compared to September 2017 in India.
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INVESTMENT SCENARIO The beginning of 2017 saw the International Finance Corporation, along with IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, the private equity fund of IFC Asset Management Company investing US$ 125 million equity in Hero Future Energies. In January 2017, ReNew Power announced securing US$ 390 million debt funding from its existing investor Asian Development Bank (ADB) for developing and expanding capacities of 709 megawatt (MW) across various states of India. In April 2017, an infrastructure fund of Australia’s Macquarie Group agreed to buy about 330MW of operational solar assets from power producer Hindustan Powerprojects an enterprise value of $600 million. Of the $600 million deal value, $250 million is the equity value and about $350 million is the debt associated with the projects. In May 2017, the Asian Development Bank and the Punjab National Bank signed a financing loan worth US$ 100 million, which will be used to support solar rooftop projects on commercial and industrial buildings across India. In May 2017, Private Equity investment firm, Actis announced its plan to invest about US$ 500 million in Solenergi Power Pvt Ltd, its second renewable energy platform in India. In May 2017, the government approved the raising of bonds worth US$351.03 million for renewable energy through the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). In June 2017, GE Energy Financial Services (GEEFS) planned to invest US$ 90 million to develop a solar power project of 500MW in partnership with Rattan India Group. In June 2017, Tata Capital Ltd and International Finance Corporation invested Rs 200 crore (US$ 31.05 million) in their joint venture (JV), Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd (TCCL), to increase its loan book for investing in renewable energy projects. In July 2017, International Finance Corporation announced its plan to invest about US$ 6 billion for the next five years in several sustainable and renewable energy programmes in India. In July 2017, IDFC Alternatives Infra Fund acquired seven solar projects from First Solar for $300 million in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana aggregating to a capacity of 190MW. In July 2017, Warburg Pincus, the New York-based private equity firm, invested $100 million in CleanMax Solar to fund growth opportunities outside India and to improve product offerings. In September 2017, Mytrah Energy raised $277 million (about Rs. 1,800 crore) from Piramal Group. The funding is made into Mytrah Energy's Indian subsidiaries in the form of non-convertible debentures (NCDs). In October, State Bank of India funded 43 rooftop solar power projects, amounting to Rs 2317 crore with an aggregate capacity of 475MW, by availing line of credit from World Bank. SBI availed $625 million from World Bank. In November 2017, the Government of India and the World Bank signed a US$98 million Loan Agreement and US$2 million Grant Agreement to help India increase its power generation capacity through cleaner, renewable energy sources.
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES In September, the 'Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana', with an outlay of Rs 16,320 crore (US$
2.51 billion) was launched by the
Government of India with the aim
of providing electricity access to over 40 million families in the country by December 2018.
In March 2017, India become an associate member of the International Energy Agency, which made Paris-based body more significant, indicating India's growing prominence in playing an important role in the global energy dialogue, according to the IEA.
In February, the CCEA approved the enhancement of capacity of the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects from 20GW to 40GW, which will ensure setting up of at least 50 solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW and above in various parts of the country.
In August 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India clarified that solar PV (photovoltaic) power, solar thermal power projects, and solar parks will not require the environment clearance which was mandatory under the provisions of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006.
In January 2017, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy planned to introduce a fixedcost component to the tariff for electricity generated from renewable energy sources like solar or wind, in a bid to promote a green economy.
In August 2017, by installing 3 million LED street lights to illuminate 50,000 kms of roads in India under the Street Lighting National programme (SLNP), the state-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited achieved 390 million kWh in annual energy savings.
BILLION WATTS SMILE »»13872 villages electrified out of 18425 as on September 2017. »»India’s rank increased to 26 in 2017 from 99 in 2015 on World Bank’s Ease of Getting Electricity Index. »»Amount of coal required to generate per unit of electricity has reduced by 8% in the last 3 years. »»2017 saw, for the first time, net capacity addition of renewable power exceeded that of conventional power. »»Almost 1/3rd drop in average all-India price of short term electricity purchased at the exchange in 2016-17 compared to 2011-12. »»UDAY bonds worth Rs. 2.32 lack cr. issued leading to savings of Rs. 12000 cr. in interest. »»Over 56 cr. LED bulbs distributed- 23 cr. by Government of India under UJALA and 33 cr. by private sector. »»India ranks third among 40 countries in EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, on back of strong focus by the government on promoting renewable energy and implementation of projects in a time bound manner. »»India has moved up 73 spots to rank 26th in the World Bank's list of electricity accessibility in 2017. »»In September 2017, the Government of India launched the SAUBHAGYA scheme to provide electricity connections to over 40 million families in rural and urban areas by December 2018 at a cost of US$ 2.5 billion. »»A total of 26.3 million households which are below poverty line (BPL) have been electrified under the Rural Electrification component of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).
THE ROAD AHEAD
India could become the world's first country to use LEDs for all lighting needs by 2019, thereby saving US$ 6.23 billion on an annual basis. The Indian power sector has an investment potential of Rs 15 trillion (US$ 225 billion) in the next 4–5 years, thereby providing immense opportunities in power generation, distribution, transmission, and equipment. The government’s immediate goal is to generate two trillion units (kilowatt hours) of energy by 2019. This means doubling the current production capacity to provide 24x7electricity for residential, industrial, commercial and agriculture use. The Government of India is taking a number of steps and initiatives like 10-year tax exemption for solar energy projects, in order to achieve India's ambitious renewable energy targets of adding 175 GW of renewable energy, including addition of 100 GW of solar power, by the year 2022.
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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
- Laique@saurenergy.com
SOLAR POLICIES
ROUND-UP
2017 FOR CENTRE AND STATES
NATIONAL/CENTRAL SOLAR POLICY ROUND-UP: • The Cabinet Committee on Economic
• Solar rooftop material and equipment
The program has a project outlay of Rs.
Affairs has doubled installed capacity
made exempted from customs and
163.2 billion (~$2.5 billion) and Gross
of solar parks from 20GW to 40GW in
excise duty. The Ministry of New and
Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs. 123.2
February 2017. As many as 50 solar parks
Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued the
billion (~$1.89 billion).
having a capacity of 500MW or even
customs and excise duty exemption
above are in pipeline by 2019-2020.
certificates to all solar rooftop project
• T he validity of solar and non-solar
contractors with the immediate effect
Renewable Energy Certificates that were
• For special category states and union
with a minimum 100 kW capacity as
due to expire between April 1, 2017 and
territories, the Ministry of New and Rene-
a single project or bundled project in
March 31, 2018, up to March 31, 2018
wable Energy (MNRE) proposed to dec-
April 2017.
has been extended by the Supreme Court in October 2017.
rease minimum project size from previously 10MW to 5MW under the viability
• The forbearance price of solar RECs
gap funding (VGF) program in February
(Renewable Energy Certificate) has
• The national average power purchase
2017. A total of 7,000 MW of grid-
been reduced to Rs. 2,400 (~$36.91)/
cost (APPC) is set at Rs. 3.48 (~$0.0542)/
connected solar is expected to be ins-
MWh and the floor price will be Rs. 1,000
kWh, is Rs. 0.08 (~$0.0013) higher than
talled under the VGF program.
(~$14.962)/MWh by Central Electricity
the national APPC for FY 2016-17 by
Regulatory Commission (CERC). Prev-
the Central Electricity Regulatory Com-
• The fixed tariff for the projects falling
iously, the CERC had proposed a forbe-
mission (CERC) in September 2017. The
under the ambit of Defense Viability
arance price of Rs 2,500 (~$37.41)/MWh
states of Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Delhi,
Gap Funding (VGF) has been reduced
for solar RECs. The new REC prices were
Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
to Rs.4.50 (~$0.06735)/kWh from the
made applicable from April 1, 2017.
Assam, Kerala, and Rajasthan are excluded from the revamped APPC which
previous Rs.5.50 (~$0.8232)/kWh, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
• The Government of India has launched
is applied during the financial year
(MNRE) has proposed the amendments
a solar energy program for decentr-
(FY) 2017-18 and until further orders for
to the guidelines for the implementation
alized power loom units, came in effect
deviation settlement with respect to
of the program in February 2017.
from April 1, 2017. The scheme provides
open access.
financial assistance and capital subsi• The upper limit of VGF has been red-
dies for the installation of solar. Solar can
• In a bid to have a check on quality
uced to Rs.0.011 billion ($164,637)/MW
be implemented as either an off-grid
project development, the Ministry of
for all project sizes compared to the
project or an on-grid project, under
New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)
previous VGF rate provided for different
the program,. Financial assistance will
issued requirements for Compulsory
project sizes:
be provided at rates of 50 percent, 75
Registr-ation order for Solar Photovoltaic
percent, and 90 percent is given at the
Systems, Devices, and Components
a. Category I: Rs.25 million (~$374,176)/
basic cost of the project (cost of solar
Goods.
MW for projects of up to 5 MW.
panel + inverter + batteries).
b. Category II: Rs.20 million (~$299,341)/ MW for project capacity ranging from
• Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar
a minimum of 5 MW to a maximum of
Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) program laun-
25 MW.
ched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
c. Category III: Rs.15 million (~$224,506)/
which aims at electrifying all willing
MW for project capacity more than 25
households in the country in rural as
MW.
well as urban areas using solar power. VOL 2 l ISSUE 4 l DECEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
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STATE POLICIES ROUND-UP:
ANDHRA PRADESH
DELHI
The state’s renewable purchase obligation (RPO) is set at
Delhi Solar Policy 2016 released by the Delhi state government
9 percent in April 2017 by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity
applicable for the period, 2016-2020. Promotion for investment
Regulatory Commission (APERC) for the financial year FY2017-
climate enabling multiple financial models is the primary
2018. Out of the 9 percent, the 6 percent for the non-solar
focus of the policy. With the major focus on self-owned
RPO excluding the large hydro.
Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) to third-party owned Renewable
The RPOs up to financial years FY2021-2022 have been set
Energy Service Company (RESCO) models applied to any
consecutively, required the state to have generated capacity
solar energy generating system with a capacity of 1 kW or
of 17 percent from renewable energy of which 7 percent
more the updated policy was drafted in March 2017.
corresponding to solar and rest 10 percent for non-solar by 2022.
Draft for the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO)
The New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation
and Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) for framework
of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) has established Rs. 80,000
implementation regulations was issued by the Delhi Electricity
(~$1,238.87) as project cost for a 1 kW rooftop solar project,
Regulatory Commission (DERC) in July 2017. The newly
Rs. 1,43,000 (~$2,214.48) for a 2 kW rooftop solar project,
formed regulations are confined to any Delhi bound captive
Rs. 2,19,150 (~$3393.73) for a 3 kW rooftop solar project, Rs.
users and for open access consumers in Delhi. A solar RPO
2,64,680 (~$4098.80) for a 4 kW rooftop solar project, and Rs.
of 4.75 percent for financial year (FY) 2017-18, 6.75 percent
3,45,000 (~$5342.63) for a 5 kW rooftop solar project inclusive
for FY 2018-19, and 8.75 percent for FY 2019-20 has been
of GST and other applicable taxes.
mentioned in the draft by the DERC. The 50 percent cap of the approved load or contracted demand by small residential rooftop owners has been removed by the government of Gujarat enabling the residential consumers to install rooftop solar systems of any capacity of their own. The order came in effect from April 13, 2017. The cap has only been exempted for residential consumers and the 50 percent of the maximum sanctioned load/contract demand for the first two years of the connectivity agreement
GUJARAT
is still applicable.
JAMMU AND KASHMIR HARYANA
The solar rooftop projects aggregating 450MW will be installed in the state by 2022 has been approved by the
A discussion paper was released by the Haryana Electricity
state cabinet of Jammu & Kashmir as per the solar rooftop
Regulatory Commission (HERC) in July 2017, stating Terms
policy 2016 to be followed for a 10-year period implemented
and Conditions for Determination of Tariff from Renewable Energy Sources, Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) and Renewable Energy Certificate (REC)) Regulations, 2017. The draft mentioned the useful life for solar power projects
in accordance with the provisions of Jammu & Kashmir Electricity Regulatory Commission (Grid Interactive Rooftop Photovoltaic Systems based on Net Metering) Regulations, 2015.
determined by HERC. An amount of Rs.7.5 billion (~$116.38 million) of loan will be provided to the state’s distribution companies (DISCOMs) at a concessional rate of about 3 percent lower than the market rate under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) program by the state government.
KARNATAKA The solar installation target has been changed from 2,000 MW to 6,000 MW by March 2021 as per the amendments to Karnataka Solar Policy 2014-2021 were announced. The changes were made to reflect the new tariff policy and targets fixed for the state by the MNRE. The current installed capacity of the state is 300MW including rooftop.
JHARKHAND A 50 percent subsidy to residential consumers and a 10 percent subsidy to commercial (industrial) consumers installing rooftop solar will be provided by the Jharkhand State government, the policy was implemented in July 2017.
MADHYA PRADESH The payment guarantee to be provided to solar project developers in the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar (RUMS) park approved the state cabinet of the Government of Madhya Pradesh in September 2017.
MAHARASHTRA As per the new proposed changes by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) in July 2017 the new regulations will be called the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Net Metering for Roof-top Solar Photo Voltaic Systems) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2017. Some of the highlights of the proposed changes are as follows: 1. The terms solar PV generating system and solar PV system will be substituted by the term renewable energy generating system. 2. The term solar generation meter will be substituted by the term renewable energy generation meter. 3. The terms solar renewable purchase obligation and solar
RAJASTHAN The new fixed tariff of Rs. 3.93 (~$0.06)/kWh as the generic tariff levelised for 25 years for solar PV projects excluding accelerated depreciation (AD) has been announced by the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) in October 2017. The fixed AD component is fixed at Rs. 0.27 (~$0.004)/kWh making the new tariff including AD is Rs. 3.66 (~$0.056)/kWh. The new tariff is applicable to all solar PV projects with signed power purchase agreements (PPA) on or before March 31, 2018, and commissioned on or before March 31, 2019.
RPO will be substituted by the term renewable purchase obligation. 4. The term solar energy will be substituted by the term renewable energy.
TELANGANA SIKKIM After joining the Ujwal DISCOM (distribution company) Assurance Yojana program, Sikkim became the 22nd state to join the scheme. Under the scheme Sikkim is entitled to get net benefits valued at ~Rs. 2.07 billion ($0.03101 billion) through the UD AY program by cheaper funding, reductions in Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) and transmission losses, and through increased energy efficiency.
In order meet the state’s rooftop solar target of 2,000 MW by 2022, the state government of Telangana will allow equated monthly instalments (EMI) base rooftop installation program for individual consumers prior being served to government employees in the state.
According to policy draft the state will help public and private sector entities develop solar parks with a minimum 100 MW capacity. The State government will provide a subsidy of Rs. 10,000 (~$155)/kW up to a maximum limit of Rs 20,000 (~$310)/kW per consumer on a first come, first serve basis for the first 100 MW applications submitted online to Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy development Agency (UPNEDA). UPNEDA will undertake a single window clearance for all
TAMIL NADU
solar power producers. Banking of 100 percent energy in every financial year will be permitted and for 10 years, the
Tamil Nadu became the 21st state to join the UDAY program
electricity duty will not be levied on sales to distribution
in January 2017. Distribution company debt of Rs. 304.2 billion
licensees, captive consumption, and third-party sales for
(~$4.48 billion) will be taken over by the state government.
all solar projects set up within Uttar Pradesh State.
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC)
The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission
has fixed Rs. 4.50 (~$0.066)/kWh as the new benchmark tariff
(UPERC) has proposed the use of aggregator model for
for solar PV projects and Rs. 10.19 (~$0.157)/kWh for solar
installation of rooftop solar systems in July 2017 stating the
thermal projects excluding the accelerated depreciation
settlement between the individual consumers in the group
(AD) in April 2017. The AD component of the tariff has been
and the third party (if involved) will be the responsibility
fixed at Rs. 0.09 (~$0.0014)/kWh for solar PV and Rs. 0.21
of the group and third party and will be driven by the
(~$0.0032)/kWh for solar thermal.
agreement between them.
The pooled cost of power purchases for the Tamil Nadu
The aggregator model under a net-metering arrangement
Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) at
will allow the group or third-party owner to install rooftop
Rs. 3.70 (~$0.056)/kWh for the financial year (FY) 2017-18
solar captive power up to the total capacity of cumulative
has been fixed by The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory
contracted load of the group of consumers connected
Commission (TNERC) in September 2017.
with the same distribution transformer, up to 25 percent of the capacity of transformer.
- Hari@saurenergy.com
UTTAR PRADESH A target of 10,700 MW for solar power, including 4,300 MW from rooftop solar projects, by FY 2022 has been set by the Government of Uttar Pradesh mentioned in the ‘Draft Solar Power Policy-2017’ for Uttar Pradesh in June 2017. At the time of announcing the policy remains in operation for a period of five years or until the government issues a new policy. VOL 2 l ISSUE 4 l DECEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
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MARKET GLANCE
Efforts to Address Climate through Clean Energy Lag in Emerging Markets Two years since the signing of the Paris climate agreement and eight years after Copenhagen, countries on both sides of the rich-poor divide are falling short on promises made to address climate change through clean energy investment, research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) finds. Total new clean energy investment in non-OECD countries fell by $40.2 billion to $111.4 billion in 2016 from $151.6 billion in 2015. While China accounted for three quarters of the decline, new clean energy investment in all other non-OECD countries also fell 25% from 2015 levels. The data was collected as part of BNEF’s annual Climatescope project (www.globalclimatescope.org) focusing on clean energy activity in developing countries. Beyond the drop seen 2015-2016, the longer-term trend is also potentially disconcerting for policy-makers. The number of non-OECD countries globally that have recorded clean energy asset finance of $100m or more per year - approximately the cost of one large onshore wind or solar PV power plant - has stagnated at around 27 since 2010. At the historic United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen in December 2009, the world’s wealthiest nations pledged to make $100 billion per year available to less developed nations to address the impacts of climate change. The figure was intended to include all forms of climate-related investment. Based on totals calculated by BNEF in Climatescope, there is little to suggest that clean energy finance will make a sufficient contribution to ensure the headline goal will be achieved. Funds specifically deployed from the world’s wealthiest OECD nations to the non-OECD countries to support clean energy build fell to $10 billion in 2016 from $13.5 billion in 2015, BNEF found. This figure is inclusive of both public finance (largely in the form of development bank and export-import institutions) and entirely private capital. A swifter pace of clean energy scale-up will no doubt be required if the world is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. BNEF estimates that a total of $8.7 trillion
34
will be invested in zero-carbon emitting energy projects through 2040 under the firm’s long-term New Energy Outlook estimates. However, an additional $5.4 trillion will be needed to keep the total temperature rise at 2-degrees Celsius – and to keep the worst potential impacts of climate change in check. In terms of the $100 billion per year promise, the UNFCCC Standing Committee estimates non-clean energy climate-related investment totaled $60.5 billion in 2014. Had BNEF’s “north-south” figure for clean energy flows for that year been included in that analysis, the total would have come to $71.3 billion. Given the $10 billion deployed from wealthier to less developed countries for clean energy in 2016, unless all other forms of climate-related investment have risen very sharply since 2014, the $100 billion goal appears far from reach with only three years to go until 2020. Two years ago at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, nearly 200 countries pledged to address CO2 emissions through “nationally determined contributions”. While these promises varied in ambition and scope, virtually all required countries to undertake additional domestic policy-making to meet their internationally-stated goals. In that regard, the Climatescope survey suggests developing countries have substantial work to do. Of 71 nations researched in detail by BNEF, 76% have established domestic CO2 containment goals. However, only two thirds (67%) have introduced feed-in tariffs or auctions to support clean energy projects, and just 18% have set domestic greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies. These detailed, technical regulations have proven critical to attracting private capital in developing countries clean energy and facilitating scale-up. “The figures highlight the gap between talk and action when it comes to addressing climate and supporting clean energy,” said Ethan Zindler of BNEF. “Wealthier countries have been slower to ramp investment than might have been expected, given the promises made eight years ago at Copenhagen. But poorer nations have in many cases not built the policy frameworks needed to build investor confidence and
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
attract clean energy investment.” The Copenhagen $100 billion pledge was reiterated in the 2015 Paris Agreement. In response, some developing countries pledged to meet emissions targets only on the condition that sufficient financial and technical assistance was provided. Twentyfive nations examined through Climatescope pledged to achieve more aggressive CO2 reduction goals if the wealthiest nations followed through entirely on the Copenhagen promise. Another 19 countries said they would cancel their commitments altogether if sufficient assistance was not provided. Brazil, for example, has committed to cut its harmful greenhouse gas emissions by 37% from 2005 levels by 2025 regardless of what support it receives from others. However, the country has also said it will cut emissions 43% with sufficient support from the international community. Decarburizing the world’s power-generating sector was not the only intention of the original $100 billion per year pledge, but the power sector today accounts for around a third of green-house gas emissions in emerging markets. And total CO2 emissions from non-OECD countries skyrocketed 65% from 2002 through 2012 thanks to exceptional economic growth rates in China and other countries. Looking ahead, supporting clean energy in developing countries is potentially crucial to addressing climate change as these nations are expected to see the fastest rates of economic and electricity demand growth. The Paris Agreement brought 195 countries together to agree on the urgency of add-ressing climate change. The accord showed its resilience when world leaders collectively condemned plans by the U.S. to withdraw from the pact. Yet Paris can only be judged a success when its signatories follow through on their promises. For wealthier nations, this means fulfilling the promise first made at Copenhagen to provide financial assistance to lesser developed countries. For non-OECD nations, this means adopting detailed clean energy policy measures shown to build investor confidence.
HEEDING the Call for
CYBER SECURITY
In 2012, a computer virus, dubbed Stuxnet, disabled 1000 of Iran’s 5000 centrifuges, detailing a joint US-Israel cyber attack on Iran that undermined its nuclear enrichment facilities.
In 2014, Unit 61398, a Chinese hacking group, penetrated the computer networks of major US companies like Westinghouse and US Steel in order to loot trade secrets.
In 2015, grid control center operators in Ukraine watched helplessly as their cursors moved across their computer displays, clicking substations offline. They frantically struggled to retake control until being involuntarily logged out.
And recently earlier this May, the
ransomware attack brought global attention to the scale and sophistication that cyber threat can unleash.
Yes, You Read That Correct! The cyber threat is real and even the biggest and secured solar installations aren’t immune to it. The digitalization of power grids with increasing connectively of solar power plants put the PV assets on high risk by illegitimate hackers who can break into the grid security, which can put the power supply at risk. As reported in Symantec’s Internet Cyber Security Threat Report of 2017, India has been ranked fifth most vulnerable country in terms of cyber security breaches in the world in 2016, after the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. While India’s vulnerability to cyber attacks is high, cases of data breaches are often underreported in the absence of mandatory legal requirements. Most people would not consider cyber attacks on solar plants to be capable of causing much damage. Researchers, however, have shown that such threats should not be taken lightly. There are multiple vulnerabilities found in products manufactured by the leading providers of PV assets. A serious cyber attack against solar panels could shut down an entire nation’s power grid. Due to security vulnerabilities, hackers could disable grids and transformers remotely. Disabling the solar power system and grids at the same time could disrupt the power supply and would result in electrical grids getting knocked offline. Solar plants are part of a global, interconnected network that allows plants to draw power from those who have a surplus available. The grids are operated based on the expected amount of power generated and power consumed. Any disruption to that balance could result in the shutdown of the entire grid.
Hacking Solar Power Could Be a Thing
a mixture of default and weakly secured passwords,
Dutch cyber security researcher Willem Westerhof in his report pinpointed
and even the ability to induce a denial-of-service state.
a clutch of software flaws in one manufacturer’s solar power inverters he believes could, if exploited widely enough and with clever timing, disrupt the energy grid of an entire country. Every solar power system has a wall-mounted inverter to convert DC photovoltaic (PV) power generated by solar panels into AC power that can be used by the owner or exported to the grid should any be left over. A growing number of these come with “smart” software interfaces designed to let engineers monitor the inverter remotely while giving customers the fashionable ability to analyze their energy consumption using an application. According to Westerhof, it is this software layer that creates the opening for attackers. In total, his research, dubbed as Horus Scenario identified 21 vulnerabilities (14 of which have formal CVE numbers) in inverters from German manufacturer SMA. Westerhof disclosed on how they might be exploited for security reasons, but studying the CVE descriptions revealed
vulnerable remote authentication, dodgy firmware updating In some cases, a DoS attack could knock out part of a grid or setting up a TELNET session to the database port of SMA’s Sunny Explorer, crashing the application. In others, the use of default passwords or weak hashing algorithms can leave the operation of solar panels at risk of being hijacked. Other flaws can be exploited remotely, requiring little more than an internet connection to carry out. Willem Westerhof also states that an attacker can exploit the flaws in solar panels and damage the operations of solar power plants. Such an attack could have far-reaching effects beyond disrupting the harnessing of solar energy at the point of attack. For a country like India, where solar energy is in the verge of elevation at a given time, such an attack could be devastating. Westerhof noted that it’s
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GRID SECURITY too costly for developers to keep large supplies of powers on standby at all times, meaning most countries wouldn’t have the type of energy reserves available to cover the lost production at a plant that falls victim to a cyber attack. More troubling than the Westerhof detailing the possibility of such an attack is the fact that the vulnerabilities that could be exploited to shut down the entire plant. Westerhof in his report stated that there are certain flaws that affect the inverters, which in turn will hamper the solar panels. The flaws could allow hackers to target the electrical grid by focusing on PV-installations. One country which would be severely affected by such a hack is Germany, since between 30 and 50 percent of its power demand is covered by photovoltaic panels. A cyber attack on that grid in particular at the right time would take out nearly half of the country’s entire power supply, which would be catastrophic. It could also cause continent-wide power outages due to the way its power grid is interlinked with the rest of Europe. Solar energy cannot be stored indefinitely, and producing new power takes up a lot of valuable time. Cyber Security events on the grid are of significant concern, given the increased deployment of smart grid technologies and other forms of intelligent controls and industrial control systems (ICS). Increased use of advanced controls increases the vulnerability to both loss of capability due to malware and the hostile takeover of operations. Additionally, there is the potential to merge cyber and physical events.
Energy Sector Ups Cyber Security
At the moment there has been just midget culture of cyber security in solar. The solar industry is not up to date when it comes to updating the software and controlling access. Especially in a country like India, there is no backup of the information from the meter. The developer is depending on the meter administrator however nobody is contemplating the way that a cyber attack can likewise affect the meters. This claim has point of reference with the United Kingdom enduring shrewd meter assaults. Ukraine has also suffered unprecedented hacks of its power grid infrastructure. With such circumstances, the risk solar industry faces cannot be overstated. where additional means of remote access are added or where redundancy is reduced. Other advancements may reduce inherent vulnerabilities in design or remove the potential for human errors. At the same time, the dependence of the public, business, government, schools, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure on reliable and secure electricity continues to grow, increasing overall sensitivity to the impacts of outages and disruptions, regardless of the cause. Ensuring the security and resilience of the electric grid is critical to both the owners and operators of infrastructure, as well as government authorities. Concerns about the security of the electric grid are widely recognized and shared. The fundamental issue at stake is to determine next steps for improving grid security and how to prioritize these steps among all of the other issues that face the industry.
The digitization of the grid system and the proliferation of renewable energy create opportunities for hackers that haven't been fully explored. An unplanned malicious attack, however, gives no room to prepare backup solutions. It would effectively cripple some countries’ power grids altogether, although it remains to be seen just how long that effect would last. Technological advancements within the grid improve reliability and capacity, but can introduce new vulnerabilities in cases
38
The potential for malicious hackers to access and adversely affect physical electricity assets of U.S. electricity generation, transmission, or distribution systems via cyber means is a primary concern for utilities. But in the last few months, several notable clean energy companies have taken steps to reduce the risk of a breach. The energy sector is sharpening its focus on cyber security amid growing concerns about cyber threats.
NEXTracker’s 30MW CleanMax in Tamil SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2site l ISSUE 4 Nadu
GRID SECURITY Utility owners and operators, whether investor-owned, municipal
term damage to power system operations. But, experts have
or cooperative, generally are responsible for making system
cautioned, there has been “a steady rise in cyber and physical
improvements. However, without timely and specific information
security related events since May 2017. The grid security is
on the ways in which equipment could be damaged or disrupted
perhaps the most critical element in the continued evolution
by adversarial threats, it is difficult for them to properly prioritize
of the energy sector. Every participant across the solar value
changes, upgrades, and mitigation efforts that could improve
chain from hardware manufacturers to project owners needs
physical security. Utility executives now understand the business
to aggressively neutralize the very real threat of cyber attacks.
impact of cyber security, making it easier to justify improvements,
The energy industry is focused on securing grid assets ranging
at least in some cases. Actionable threat and risk assessments
from power plants and substations to smart-metered customers.
are needed to optimize owner/operator investments in both new
Industry’s response to an increasing number of physical threats
technology and the replacement of aging infrastructure to improve
has been to invest in better security systems and barriers to
security. These investments also need to be appropriately valued
protect critical infrastructure. Additionally, the need to have a
by state public service commissioners when they evaluate rate
secure software and programs is must, which will allow bulk power
cases.
system asset owners and operators to network with one another
The good news is that grid operators recognize the threat and
in order to facilitate the sharing of transmission and generation
their reliability practices have so far kept the power system
step-up transformers and related equipment in the event of an
“secure and up to date. There had been no successful cyber
emergency or other non-routine failure.
attacks against Indian utilities that caused permanent or long
Cyber Security Climate in India and Beyond As India sets ambitious target for renewable energy sector growth, a number of opportunities have opened up. These include inverters, back up facilities, smart grids, net metering, distribution management systems for large solar parks, and Green Energy Corridors. And it has not been long that the electricity sector in India has started deploying smart grid technologies with the hope that they will play a central role in strengthening this sector so it can provide the clean, quality power the country needs to meet developmental, environmental, and political goals. Smart grids are equipped with information and communication technology (ICT) that helps to improve operational efficiency, but ICT also introduces cyber threat vulnerabilities.
the government moves to finalize standards and The US Industrial Control Systems – Computer Emergency Response Team institutions as utilities simultaneously roll out smart (US ICS-CERT) has published numerous reports on vulnerabilities in software grid projects, hopefully while giving cyber security and hardware that are used in India, including SCADA software. National cyber the importance it deserves. security standards for smart grids and regulation enforcing them are not in place. Michael Walstrom from International Policy Institute
The Indian smart grid institutional and regulatory environment is weak and the Cyber Security Policy Fellowship in his report problem is exacerbated by the extreme debt of electricity distribution companies. mentions that standards and regulations are also Due to insufficient regulation of information sharing and incomplete institutions to
incomplete. The Bureau of Indian Standards has facilitate it, information on cyber attacks and equipment vulnerabilities is nearly created some standards for SCADA systems, but non-existent. But we can infer from the international cyber security climate that in order to create a mechanism for statutory control
the energy sector is a target of increasingly sophisticated attacks. Additionally, over the implementation of such standards state the national climate shows that India is generally unsecure in cyberspace. level electricity regulatory commissions need to
As global cyber security threats pose daunting risks to the electricity sector, pass smart grid regulations, or the Central Electricity governments must do all they can to facilitate information sharing and best Authority (CEA) must issue guidelines that will practices. In India, the processes are underway to create strong institutions for apply to utilities across the country. The Forum of information sharing and attack mitigation through sectoral CERTs and ISACs Regulators issued model smart grid regulations that but there is much left to do. The state of regulation is in the same position.
will allow state regulators to mandate standards, As utilities deploy more ICT they will be the first line of defense against cyber but adopting is not moving quickly. Similarly the attacks, but the government must lead the way. The next year will be telling as Ministry of Power is looking over guidelines for VOL 2 l ISSUE 4 l DECEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
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GRID SECURITY critical information infrastructure in the power sector. Until these
throughout an organization and keeping a finger on the pulse of
regulations are put in place cyber security will be guided by limited
cyber risks and vulnerabilities. State utilities have been requested
and very general guidelines such as the functional requirements
to create a chief information security officer position to act as a
for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) put out by the CEA
nodal officer with CERTs and ISAC, which will be a big step in
in August 2016.
the right direction. But it seems this has been nothing more than
Standards and regulations only guide utilities as they create a
a standing recommendation.
cyber security posture; most important is cyber security awareness
Keeping Power Safe Any software that has network access, security software and data infrastructure should be continuously monitored and kept up-todate to stay defensive against the latest cyber threats. Energy sector has been now cautious enough to up its cyber security amid the growing IT threats. In India to enable comprehensive cyber security policy compliance, the government mandated implementation of security policy within government agencies in accordance with the Information Security Management System (ISMS) Standard ISO 27001. Computer Security Guidelines have been issued for compliance within government and are being circulated to all departments and ministries. Cyber security drills are being conducted to assess preparedness for critical organisations. The Five Year Plan on Information Security also states guides on standards. Nationwide Information Security Education and Awareness Programmes have been implemented to create necessary cyber security awareness through formal and informal programmes. This is the officially recognized national or sector-specific research and development (R&D) program/project for cyber security standards, best practices and guidelines to be applied in either the private or the public sector. A number of other R&D projects have been supported at premier academic and R&D institutions in the identified thrust areas like cryptography and cryptanalysis, steganography, network and systems security assurance, network monitoring, cyber forensics and capacity development in the area of cyber security. Michael Walstrom from International Policy Institute Cyber Security Policy Fellowship in his report also mentioned financial state of
capable of supporting and sustaining the efforts in securing the cyber space. Due to the dynamic nature of cyberspace, there is now a need for these actions to be unified under a National Cyber Security Policy, with an integrated vision and a set of sustained & coordinated strategies for implementation. With cyber threat looming around the vulnerable energy assets, its time for the government to foster and promote enhanced cyber security within the renewables sector. It may require a further push from governments and/or regulators to mandate measures and practices to achieve awareness and preparedness on a broader scale.
distribution companies is worth mentioning. Many electricity distribution companies have trouble paying for the electricity that they supply. Cyber security is a matter of economics as much as anything else. Companies must be willing to consistently upgrade infrastructure, as well as maintain the staff to perform tasks like patching software and altering configurations on field equipment. If utility company leaders don’t give cyber security its proper importance, no amount of regulation will secure assets in this critical infrastructure sector. There are various ongoing activities and programs of the Government to address the cyber security challenges which have significantly contributed to the creation of a platform that is now
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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
- Laique@saurenergy.com
S
un is the prime source wherein solar panels efficiently convert sunlight into electricity. But why can’t solar panels gleefully generate electricity at
night. Righto! The designing and technology of solar panels have been developed to work with sun. Few experts argue that Moonlight can be used to power PV cells at cost of 345:1. That is, a panel that would normally produce 3450 W at high noon would produce only 10 W of power during the full moon. The quarter moon (50% illumination) would likewise produce only 5 W, and so forth. Concentrating moonlight using reflective or refractive techniques would enhance the wattage. As long as the light has a wavelength within 400-1127 nm (violet to near-infrared) the PV cell will convert it to electricity. Some say in near future we will have a technology called “Lunar Panel”. Present solar panel needs energy of 1.1 eV (equal to band-gap of Silicon) to create electron-hole pair which moon light cannot provide due to less intensity(less energy). If in future, we are able to replace Silicon with a material whose band-gap is equal to energy provided by moon light then solar panel or say, Lunar Panel can be used at night for electricity generation. Presently, since solar panels can only produce power during the day, the question then becomes “how will solar panels provide power overnight when there is no sunshine?” There are two primary solutions that help to resolve that problem. Net metering and solar-plus-storage technology allow your solar panel system to access electricity overnight when solar panel production is dormant, either through connection to the electric grid or to a battery. Thanks to grid connections and solar energy storage, solar panels are a sustainable round-the-clock energy solution. This will also solve the problem of battery requirement for storage. To move beyond our wildest dreams of solar panel working at night we have to understand the possibilities and practicability behind to make it a reality.
WHAT SOLAR PANELS DO AT NIGHT?
Exploring the Night and its Light
Moonlight is just sunlight that has been reflected by the moon. Of course it's down by a factor of about 1/350. But it's still something. If you're designing concentrated solar energy a collector tracking the Moon is a great way to test out your system without having to worry about cooling or dealing with very high energy densities. Once you've tested your system under moonlight you can advance to sunlight once you're sure you're Cooling and tracking and focusing and anything else are all performing well with moonlight which you can track with a camera and won't melt anything like concentrated sunlight will. I spent two years developing a concentrated solar photovoltaic system. Dealing with 1000 x concentrated sunlight can be very scary. Dealing with 1000x concentrated Moonlight is like dealing with 3x sunlight. Still a little
prefer. The multilayer STPV cell incorporates
way, instead of getting a burst of energy
powerful but not nearly as dangerous as
an absorber made of carbon nanotubes
when the sun is shining and nothing after
1000x sunlight, notes Leo Baldwin, B.Sc.
that absorb most of sun’s spectrum and
sunset, you’d get a more steady energy
Honours Applied Physics, University of
convert it to heat, and an emitter made of
production day and night.
Waterloo - Faculty of Science.
a silicon photonic crystal that glows when
STPV isn’t exactly a new idea; the MIT
Few argue that to understand if solar panels
heated. The emitter’s output is tuned to
researchers simply improved its perf-
can work at night one has to first understand
the wavelength at which PV cells operate
ormance. Past attempts at using STPV cells
two factors:
most efficiently:
have produced experimental efficiencies
1. How much threshold energy does that
STPV makes more solar energy available for
of around 1%. MIT’s team brings that up to
particular solar panel(photovoltaic cell)
conversion by tuning the energy to match
3.2%. They believe that with slight impro-
needs to operate or strike off electrons and
the PV cell’s prefered wavelength. In other
vements, STPV will soon achieve around
get charge for storage . There are many
words, the PV cell is receiving more solar
20% efficiency, making it competitive with
types of solar panels depending on their
energy at the right wavelength, allowing it
today’s PV panels. Theoretically STPV
materials. Even now, researchers have
to produce more electricity with the same
could reach 80% efficiency, according to
used ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths
overall solar input.
Dr. Evelyn Wang, associate professor of
to get charge. Hence we should know the
What happens at night? Heat can be stored
mechanical engineering at MIT, one of the
wavelength range and power emitted in
more easily than electricity, so panels made
lead researchers on this project. But even
each electromagnetic spectral range.
of solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) cells
at 20%, the ability to store energy as heat
2. What is the range of wavelength of
can generate electricity at night, assuming
and convert it to electricity later gives STPV
that particular source? In this case this is
they hold on to the heat that they absorbed
an edge over a 20% efficient PV panel.
moonlight.
during the day. The researchers are a
Another research work from U.S. Depart-
Searching the Possibilities
little sketchy about how the heat would
ment of Energy's (DOE's) Argonne National
The solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) cell is
be stored. I’m wondering if the emitter
Laboratory of designing designed an inex-
an idea to concentrate sunlight onto a solar
material can have a relatively large thermal
cell, grab most of the solar spectrum, and
mass, so it heats up slowly and retains its
convert it to the wavelength that photovoltaic
heat after the sunlight disappears. That
44
NEXTracker’s 30MW CleanMax in Tamil SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2site l ISSUE 4 Nadu
TECH-PEEP
pensive thermal energy storage system that will be significantly smaller and perform more than 20 times better than current thermal systems. With funding from DOE's SunShot Initiative, the Argonne team is building a pilot-scale prototype of their highefficiency latent heat thermal energy storage system (LHTES) for testing. The SunShot Initiative is a national collaborative effort to make unsubsidized solar energy costcompetitive with other forms of electricity production by 2020. Argonne's thermal energy storage system relies on a "phase-change" material that melts as it stores thermal energy and releases energy as it re-freezes similar to the charge-discharge cycle in a battery. Inexpensive salts like rock salt (sodium chloride) can be used as phase-change materials, but their use in existing thermal storage systems is limited because of the poor thermal conductivity of the salts. However, the Argonne LHTES system drastically improves the conductivity of these salts by integrating them with a high-conductivity graphite foam. This combination reduces the overall amount of material needed to build the system and its cost, while making the thermal energy transfer significantly more efficient and still providing up to 8 to 12 hours of energy storage - a typical night of storage for a concentrating
solar power plant. "Phase-change materials tend to have low conductivity but meet the heat energy storage requirements," said Dileep Singh, leader of Argonne's Thermal-Mechanical Technologies group. "High-conductivity graphite foam meets the conductivity requirements, so we thought: why not combine the two?" The porous graphite foam traps the salts in pores, facilitating rapid melting and freezing. The team demonstrated that this rapid phase change holds up over time. After building and testing an initial prototype about the size of a blender, the team is now scaling up the prototype size by 50 times. Although still smaller than a full-scale power plant system, the pilot-scale modular system will be tested this fall and could expand on applications, such as providing backup power on a microgrid or storing waste heat from another energy source. The pilot system will also further improve 3-D thermal modeling used for estimating performance and planning the design of a full-scale system. "We are looking at developing the fullscale power plant system as a modular system, and the pilot-scale system we are building this year can actually be used as one module within a full-scale system that is made of many modules stacked or organized together," said Arg-
onne mechanical engineer Wenhua Yu. "Therefore, the performance characteristics we will measure from testing the pilot can directly reflect those of a power plant system." The full-scale design is expected to meet the needs of current power plants that operate steam turbines at about 450 to 600 degrees Celsius (850-1100 degrees Fahrenheit) using magnesium chloride as the storage medium. When advanced supercritical carbon dioxide turbines -which are more efficient than steam turbines but operate at a hotter 700 degrees Celsius (1,300 degrees Fahrenheit) -- come online, the same design can be used with sodium chloride. While there are some researchers in Mexico who are close to producing solar panels that work at night, nothing is commercially available yet and likely won’t be for many years. Today, researchers continue to come up with concepts, prototypes, and technology with the potential to not only be cost-effective, imprinted on flexible materials, and would be able to harvest the energy from the sun in order to work even after the sun goes down. One of the companies that have tapped into this research and development is the Idaho National Laboratory. Their technique involves embedding square spirals of conducting metal onto a sheet of plastic. These sheets are called nanoantennas. Thus, on top of absorbing UV light, the solar panels also absorb infrared energy by these nanoantennas. What happens is that these nanoantennas absorb infrared energy that has been previously absorbed by the earth during the day even after the sun has set. With the combination of energy from sunlight as well as energy from the earth’s heat, the nanoantennas may have greater efficiency than the conventional solar cells.
- Niloy@saurenergy.com
MARKET GLANCE
Consumption Segment Dominates the Global Smart Grid Cyber Security Market
According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global smart grid cyber security market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 10 percent during the forecast period of 2017-2021. The market research analysis categorizes the global smart grid cyber security market into the following type of application. They are: • Consumption • Generation • Distribution and control Consumption The consumption segment in the smart grid cyber security market accounted for more than 37% of the total market share in 2016. The growing electricity demand will increase the need to deploy smart grids for power supply. Smart meters, which are installed at consumer's premise, transmit consumer usage data to electric utilities. Smart meters are used for reading the power consumption in real time, provide accurate billing, and to identify electricity theft. They also allow consumers to manage electricity consumption of home appliances, which can be monitored either by a mobile
46
application or personal computer. According to Thanikachalam Chandrasekaran, a lead analyst at Technavio for power research, “Many government authorities have set guidelines, aimed at protecting smart meters from cyber-attacks. This leads to an increased adoption of safety measures such as data authentication and encryption, which will drive the demand for smart grid cyber security solutions for consumption applications over the forecast period.” Generation In 2016, the generation segment in the smart grid cyber security market occupied for more than 34% of the total market share. The increasing demand for electricity has put pressure on utilities to produce more power. As per the US EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2017, the cumulative planned electricity generation capacity addition in the US during 2017-2021 is expected to be 40.6 GW. Renewable energy is being increasingly integrated into power generation plants. As per IEA's World Energy Outlook 2016, power generation from renewables is expected to increase from 23%
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
of the global power generation in 2016 to 37% by 2040. “The increase in power generation demand by EV use can be met through grid modernization, which also increases cyber security concerns. Protection of generation assets is of prime concern for operators. In case of a cyber-attack, failure of generation assets will lead to a severe power failure that translates to high T&D and monetary losses. Thus, the introduction of SCADA systems will fuel development in the global market,” says Thanikachalam. Distribution and control The distribution and control segment in the smart grid cyber security market accounted for around 29% of the total market share in 2016. Power grid modernization enables grid system operators to centralize the control and monitoring of their distribution assets. Incorporation of SCADA into the grid has allowed operators to effectively manage the load and decrease the outage time, thereby increasing the reliability of the grid. SCADA system can record data and analyze it to prevent any severe incidents to occur.
TRENDS FOLLOW-UP
THAT SHAPE
INDIA’S ENERGY FUTURE -
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES AND EXHIBITIONS AT INTERSOLAR INDIA
Intersolar India
Mumbai, December 5–7, 2017
S
olar is set to remain in the limelight in 2017 as the entire industry returns strong growth. India is expected to
increase installed solar capacity to more than 17 GW by the end of 2017. Intersolar India displays all current trends from December 5-7 from around 260 exhibitors to more than 12,000 international solar and energy storage experts.
48 42
NEXTracker’s 30MW CleanMax site in Tamil SAUR l lDECEMBER 2017 l lISSUE 43 Nadu SAURENERGY ENERGYINTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2017l lVOL VOL22 ISSUE
PRESSRELEASE
According to Mercom Capital Group
and Energy (BMWi) will again organize
increasing the share of solar power in
about 10 GW of solar will be installed in
the official German Pavilion with 10
our energy supply.
calendar year 2017 in India and roughly
exhibitors from Germany in Mumbai.
Intersolar India is the country’s largest
8 GW more will be installed in 2018.
In total, exhibitors from more than 12
exhibition and conference for the solar
The solar project pipeline in India is
countries will join Intersolar India 2017.
industry. It takes place annually at the
now ap-proximately 13 GW. Currently, about 6 GW of tendered projects are
Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Intersolar India’s special activities
Mumbai.
Intersolar India will be powered by
The event’s exhibition and conference
With continued large scale integration
the tremendous energy generated by
both focus on the areas of photovoltaics,
of solar power into the grid, the mana-
special activities. Two unique forums
PV production technologies, energy
geable threshold is fast approaching
will be part of the event. One is the
storage systems and solar thermal tech-
and the time for introducing grid scale
Buyer Seller Forum, which is designed
nologies. Since being founded, Intersolar
energy storage system has arrived.
to generate new business opportunities
has become the most important industry
Battery energy storage systems turns
by allowing exhibitors to mingle with just
platform for manufacturers, suppliers,
out to be the most preferred among the
the right B2B professionals. The other
distributors, service providers and par-
storage systems.
is the Round table on financing solar
tners in the global solar industry.
India’s ambitious strategy to accelerate
projects in India for U.S. companies,
In 2016, 235 international exhibitors
the adoption of electric vehicles requires
which was designed to discuss how U.S.
and around 12,000 visitors attended
a concerted and coordinated effort
government agencies and commercial
Intersolar India. Over 100 distinguished
that brings together the best of the
banks assist U.S. companies financing
speakers and more than 800 attendees
private and public sectors in transport,
solar projects in India.
discussed current industry topics and
awaiting auction.
infrastructure and energy. Electric mobility solutions and energy storage sys-
shed light on the conditions surrounding Best in-class Conference
technological, market and political deve-
More than 100 internationally renowned
lopments at the accompanying con-
actively shape India’s future energy
speakers will share their insights from
ference.
system.
the global solar and energy storage
With more than 25 years of experience,
tems have additionally the potential to
industries, where these leaders are
Intersolar has the unique ability to bring
Intersolar India’s special exhibitions
advancing technologies and finding
together members of the solar industry
and Pavilions
ways to continue industry success at the
from across the world’s most influen-tial
In this context Intersolar India 2017
Intersolar India Conference. Whether it
markets. Intersolar exhibitions and
will be hosting and highlighting three
is the latest market insides, brand new
conferences are held in Munich, San
special exhibitions: ees India as the
technology up-dates, financing options
Francisco, Mumbai, São Paulo, and
major platform for storage technologies
and operating models or customized
Dubai. These global events are com-
reshaping India’s energy sector and
networking opportunities, conference
plemented by the Intersolar Sum-mits,
enhancing grid reliability, Power2Drive
attendees will find everything they need
which take place in emerging and gro-
India that showcases electric mobi-
at one spot. Special forums and tech-
wing markets worldwide.
lity solutions and technologies and
nical workshops will complete an exte-
For more information on Intersolar India,
EnergyDecentral India, the international
nsive program.
please visit: www.intersolar.in
exhibition for innovative energy supply. This year Intersolar India has also been
Organizers: The event’s local organizer is About Intersolar
MMI India Pvt. Ltd. and its international
With events spanning four continents,
contacts are Solar Promotion Inter-
for the second time and will present an
Intersolar is the world’s leading exhibition
national GmbH, Pforzheim and Freiburg
U.S. Pavilion. Germany will have a big
series for the solar industry and its
Management and Marketing Internat-
footprint on the show floor as well. The
partners. It unites people and companies
ional GmbH (FMMI).
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs
from around the world with the aim of
certified by the U.S. Commercial Service
VOL 2 l ISSUE 4 l DECEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
49
MARKET GLANCE
Battery Costs in Stationary Energy Could Fall by up to 66%, Grow 17-Fold by 2030: IRENA The cost of battery storage for stationary applications could fall by up to 66 per cent by 2030, according to a new report published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The falling price of batteries could stimulate 17-fold growth of installed battery storage, opening up a number of new commercial and economic opportunities, the report highlights. Launched during the ‘Innovation for Cool Earth Forum’ in Tokyo, Japan, IRENA’s Electricity Storage and Renewables: Costs and Markets to 2030 assessment of electricity storage in stationary applications
the transport sector where the viability of
remuneration is declining,” concluded
also found that global storage capacity
battery storage for electric vehicles (EVs) is
Gielen.
could triple if countries double the share
improving fast. At the end of 2016, the cost
By 2030, the calendar life of Li-ion batteries
of renewables in the energy system.
of Li-ion batteries had fallen by as much
could also increase by approximately 50
“As storage technology improves and
as 73 per cent for transport applications
percent, while the number of full cycles
prices decline, both utility-scale and small-
from 2010.
possible could potentially increase by
scale, distributed applications could grow
While Li-ion batteries in stationary
as much as 90 percent. Other battery
dramatically, accelerating renewable energy
applications have a higher installed cost
storage technologies also offer large cost
deployment” said IRENA Director-General
than those used in EVs, in Germany, small-
reduction potential. High temperature
Adnan Z. Amin. “In this dynamic, low-carbon
scale Li-ion battery systems have also seen
“sodium sulphur” batteries could see
energy environment, now is a crucial time
their total installed costs fall by 60 per cent
their costs decline by up to 60%, while
for storage technology.” added Amin.
between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the
the total installed cost of flow batteries
“This research demonstrates that the
second quarter of 2017. “The growth of
could potentially fall by two-thirds by 2030.
business case for renewable energy
lithium-ion battery use in electric vehicles
Although they are subject to higher up-front
continues to strengthen, positioning it
and across the transport sector over the
costs compared to other technologies, flow
firmly as a low-cost and secure source of
next 10 to 15 years is an important synergy
batteries often exceed 10,000 full cycles,
energy supply," he concluded.
that will help drive down battery costs for
balancing the costs with very high lifetime
The report, which is focused on stationary
stationary storage applications,” said Dolf
energy throughputs.
applications, highlights that while pumped-
Gielen, Director of the IRENA Innovation
hydro systems currently dominate total
and Technology Centre and an author of
installed power storage capacity, with
the report. “The trend towards electrified
96% of the installed electricity storage
mobility will also open up opportunities for
power globally, economies of scale and
electric vehicles to provide vehicle-to-grid
technology breakthroughs will support the
services, helping feed a virtuous circle of
accelerated development and adoption
renewable energy and storage integration.
of alternative storage technologies, such
Storage technology will deliver service
as lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and flow
flexibility to the grid and electricity storage
batteries. Stationary electricity storage can
to small-scale rooftop solar applications in
directly drive rapid decarbonisation in other
markets where commercial and residential
key segments of energy use, such as in
electricity rates are high, and grid feed-in
50
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
MARKET GLANCE
Focus on Reduction of Carbon Emissions to Boost the Solar Freezer Market The global solar freezer market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 10 percent during the forecast period. The growth of the market can be attributed to the increased focus on reducing carbon emissions. The energy sector accounts for nearly 40% of global CO2 emissions. As a result,
several countries are emphasizing the use of renewable energy sources for power generation. The top three emerging market trends driving the global solar freezer market according to Technavio research analysts are: • Increased adoption of SDD solar freezers • New markets for solar-powered appliances • Hybrid solar freezers Increased adoption of SDD solar freezers Solar direct drive (SDD) refrigeration is a
more sustainable and reliable option that is adopted to improve cold chain refri-geration management and optimization in areas with unreliable power supply. SDDs address some of the challenges of alternative technologies, which include high maintenance requirements, recurring costs, as well as availability of reliable power supply. “Although, there is an increase in adoption of SDD-based solar freezers across various applications, vendors in the market are focusing on providing SDD solar freezers chiefly for medical applications. UNICEF and partners support the scale-up and access to essential cold chain technologies to meet increased cold chain requirements, driven by new vaccine introductions and efforts to modernize existing cold chain infrastructure,” says Neelesh Prakash Singh, a lead analyst at Technavio for power research. New markets for solar-powered appliances
Conventional electricity sources are increasingly being replaced by solar power, especially off-grid solar power. An off-grid
52
or standalone status is conferred when the
SDD technology and battery-powered solar
solar PV system is not connected to the utility
freezers. The advantages of a hybrid system
grid and is producing enough electricity to
include accessibility and operation from
fulfill the operating demand of the integrated
any location, irrespective of the availability
system. This PV system will generally have
of power supply or not. The savings from
a battery bank to store excess electricity
hybrid system use will be considerably less
for use when needed.
than an SDD refrigerator/freezer.
Solar freezers and refrigerators are among
“The solar panel powering this hybrid refri-
the recent technologies gaining currency. A
geration unit is significantly oversized; thus,
solar-powered refrigerator runs on electricity
the battery is fully charged in a matter of a
generated from the sun. The cooler operates
few hours early in the day. Excess power
with a compressor powered directly from
could then be used to power a second
sunlight. The refrigerator stores thermal
battery, which could be used for lights or
energy in ice and a thermostat maintains
cell phone charging. Vendors in the market
the temperature within the required limits.
have already started offering hybrid solar
Hybrid solar freezers
freezers. A notable example is the Sun
The recent trend in the global solar freezer
Frost FRH-3 that has a SDD freezer and a
market is the advent of integrated hybrid of
battery-powered refrigerator,” says Neelesh.
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
TTK – Tenders To Know! Provision Of Control Room, Staircase And Water Pipeline At Administrative Building For Renewable Energy Solar Power Plant TDR: 14269931 Location: West Bengal - India Tender Value: 0 Tender No Tender Type Competition Type Document Fees EMD Tender Value
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Engg-30-2017-18 BUY Tenders Indian INR 2000 /INR 10310 /Refer document
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Rate Contract Tender For Empanelment Of Installers For Installation Of 1000 Nos Of Solar Powered Pumping Systems TDR: 14284083 Location: Tamil Nadu - India Tender Value: 49.90 Crore Tender No
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BUY Tenders Indian INR 1000 /INR 200000 /INR 499000000 /-
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Provision Of 2 Kwp Solar Power Plant At 3 Nos Gate Goomty In Bg-Ii Section. TDR: 14267891 Tender No Tender Type Competition Type Document Fees EMD Tender Value
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Provision Of Solar Power Plant Of 01 Mw At Af Stn Naliya TDR: 14256323 Location: Gujarat - India Tender No Tender Type Competition Type Document Fees EMD Tender Value
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Design Supply Erection Testing And Commissioning Including Warranty Comprehensive O&M Of Spv Plant Of Grid Interactive Rooftop Solar Pv Power Plant Of Various Capacities In The State Of Delhi Under Capex Model Part A B And C TDR: 14199266 Location: Delhi - India Tender Value: 128.32 Crore Tender No
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Tender For Design, Supply, Installation, Testing And Commissioning ( Dsitc ) Of 2.4 Mwp Grid Connected Solar Pv Carport System Including Civil & Structural Works In Front Of New Domestic Terminal ( T1 ) . TDR: 14170756 Location: Kerala - India Tender Value: 18 Crore Tender No
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PRODUCT ANATOMY Solarion M210 48 cell Glass Foil Module
GoodWe AC-Coupled Retrofit Inverter
Delta Electronics Modulon DPH 500kVA UPS
Product Brief: Solarion is offering a new
Product Brief: GoodWe launched its new
Product Brief: Delta Electronics announced
Product Feature: The modules are certified
Product Feature: GoodWe SPB Series is a cost-efficient, battery backup solution which can work alongside any grid-tied string inverters. Even though GoodWe SBP Series is a single phase AC retrofit device, it can also work with a three phase meter to become a three phase energy storage system. EzMeter can be used for detection of single-phase or three-phase inverter. By adding batteries, users can store the energy that the solar array is producing in the daytime and use it at night or even during a power outage.
Product Feature: The double conversion UPS boasts the world’s highest power density of 55.6kVA per 3U module. The Modulon DPH enables advanced control of power module redundancy as well as the ability to add capacity and pay-as-you-grow scalability.
generation of solar modules specifically designed for relatively low-bearing residential, commercial and industrial rooftops. The Solarion M210 is a glass-foil module consisting of 48 monocrystalline solar cells.
according to IEC 61215 as well as IEC 61730 and for flat roofs with an inclination between two to twelve degrees. The 2mm front glass is tempered and is very resistant to hailstorm and other mechanical impacts.
Application: The frameless encapsulation
of solar cells between TPO or PVC and glass provides mechanical stability, durability and ease of use for low-bearing roofing applications.
Benefits: The Solarion M210 glass-foil modules are encapsulated framelessly between a glass panel and a plastic roofing membrane, providing a low surface load that is about nine kilograms per square meter, making PV-installations on low-load-bearing flat roofs possible. The system also provided higher area utilization compared to elevated systems. Availability: Available
SBP series, which is claimed to be the world’s first AC-coupled retrofit solution with UPS function which allows energy storage and uninterruptible power supply to both single phase and three phase inverter systems.
Application: PV residential rooftop systems Benefits: GoodWe SBP Series works with any grid-tied string inverter and is compatible with BYD, LG, Pylon and GCL lithium-ion batteries. When the grid is down, GoodWe SBP seamlessly begins to invert power from the battery bank to power the critical loads. With its UPS function with an automatic switchover time of less than 10 miliseconds, GoodWe SBP is the world’s first AC-coupled inverter which ensures uninterrupted power supply to inductive loads such as air conditioners or refrigerators. Availability: Available
56
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
the global launch of its 500kVA Modulon DPH series Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). The Modulon DPH 500kVA UPS is the latest in its series, which includes 75, 150, and 200 kVA models.
Application: The modular UPS ideal for
medium-sized datacenters in large scale utility.
Benefits: The fault-tolerant design of the
500kVA Modulon DPH series UPS include power module redundancy and a dual CAN bus, onboard control logic, and self synchronization. An added benefit of the adaptable modular design is that critical components are hot swappable. Parallel expansion and N+X redundancy with up to 8 units are possible.
Availability: Available
PRODUCT ANATOMY DKEM DK92 Metallization Paste
Su-Kam Falcon Eco Pure Sine Wave UPS
GCL-SI Super 2.5 MW Solar Block
Product Brief: DK Electronic Materials
Product Brief: Su-Kam launched the
country’s most economic Pure Sine Wave UPS, Falcon Eco. With a transfer time faster than an ordinary UPS, in-built automatic bypass technology and high crest factor, this UPS is ideal for areas that have low voltage problems since it is designed to ensure efficient battery charging at input voltage as low as 90V.
Product Brief: GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI) launched its first modular PV power plant system. The ‘Super 2.5 MW Solar Block’ system utilizes GCL-SI’s 96-cell modules with a specially developed horizontal single axis tracker to accommodate the large-area modules as well as an all-inone Inverter Power Container for 1500V DC system voltage.
Product Feature: The product is curre-
Product Feature: The Super 2.5 MW Solar
Inc. (DKEM) launched a new generation of front-side metallization paste. ‘DK92’ series front-side metallization pastes have been developed to be compatible with different passivation technologies and processes for PERC solar cells, including ALD (spatial ALD, and time-based dual-side passivated ALD), PECVD (remote plasma and direct plasma) as well as other non-AlOx passivation solutions to boost the diversified PERC technologies and to further lower the LCOE
Product Feature: The DK92 series is claimed to demonstrate a superior process window and compatibility with different contact requirements and diversified passivation technologies and processes. Specifically for dual-side passivated ALD, a breakthrough of front-side silver paste has been achieved with improved Ohmic contact and about 2mV U c gain from low temperature firing. Application: Metallization of PERC cells including ALD (spatial ALD, and time-based dual-side passivated ALD), PECVD (remote plasma and direct plasma) as well as other non-AlOx passivation solutions Benefits: DK92A front-side silver paste
for ‘Black Silicon’ multicrystalline PERC cells provides more than 1 N/mm adhesion enhancement on Black Silicon textured wafers with superior low-temperature firing property (-20-30oC over industry PERC benchmark) and a contact window enlarged to >120 Ohm/ sq. The paste can achieve >20.20% efficiency for Black Silicon PERC multicrystalline cells. A special version has been developed for wrap-around deposited and dual-sided passivated AlOx for front-side PERC cells.
Availability: Available
ntly available in three models- 750V/12V, 1000V/12V and 2000/24V. It is certified by ETDC and CE and its manufacturing process is in line with ISO 9001 and 140001 standards.
Application: It is perfect for running sen-
sitive appliances like computers and printers.
Benefits: It is designed to ensure efficient
battery charging at input voltage as low as 90V. Delivers 8 hours of backup. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the product is so designed to ensure smooth and hasslefree operations.
Availability: Available
Block is a power generation unit built to supply energy to solar power plants. The Super 2.5 MW Solar Block is claimed to be cost-effective and maximizes space efficiency. All components apply with 1500 V DC standards, which ensures lower costs in cabling and power conversion, leading to high system efficiency. The all-in-one PV inverter power container was specially developed with two 1000 kW inverters with 1500 V DC System voltage, and one MV transformer, which further reduces on-site electrical and grid connection work. GCLSI uses a built in monitoring system for the inverter.
Application: Utility-scale PV power plants. Benefits: The strategic design of the Solar Block ensures long-term reliable operation, even in extreme environmental conditions. The block design utilizes GCL-SI’s in-house developed 96-cell modules with a specially developed horizontal single axis tracker to accommodate the large-area modules but with a reduction in panel fixture and electrical connections to support faster construction times. GCL-SI is offering a global service network as well as remote monitoring, regular inspections as well as a full O&M service. Availability: Available
VOL 2 l ISSUE 4 l DECEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
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INNOVATIONS
Scientists Elevate Quantum Dot Solar Cell World Record Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) established a new world efficiency record for quantum dot solar cells, at 13.4 percent. Colloidal quantum dots are electronic materials and because of their astonishingly small size (typically 3-20 nanometers in dimension) they possess fascinating optical properties. Quantum dot solar cells emerged in 2010 as the newest technology on an NREL chart that tracks research efforts to convert sunlight to electricity with increasing efficiency. The initial lead sulfide quantum dot solar cells had an efficiency of 2.9 percent. Since then, improvements have pushed that number into double digits for lead sulfide reaching a record of 12 percent set last year by the University of Toronto. The improvement from the initial efficiency to the previous record came from better understanding of the connectivity between individual quantum dots, better overall device structures and reducing defects in quantum dots. The latest development in quantum dot solar cells comes from a completely different quantum dot material. The new quantum dot leader
is cesium lead triiodide (CsPbI3), and is within the recently emerging family of halide perovskite materials. In quantum dot form, CsPbI3 produces an exceptionally large voltage (about 1.2 volts) at open circuit. "This voltage, coupled with the material's bandgap, makes them an ideal candidate for the top layer in a multijunction solar cell," said Joseph Luther, a senior scientist and project leader in the Chemical Materials and Nanoscience team at NREL. The top cell must be highly efficient but transparent at longer wavelengths to allow that portion of sunlight to reach lower layers. Tandem cells can deliver a higher efficiency than conventional silicon solar panels that dominate today's solar market. This latest advance, titled "Enhanced mobility CsPbI3 quantum dot arrays for record-efficiency, high-voltage photovoltaic cells," is published in Science Advances. The paper was coauthored by Erin Sanehira, Ashley Marshall, Jeffrey Christians, Steven Harvey, Peter Ciesielski, Lance Wheeler, Philip Schulz, and Matthew Beard, all from NREL; and Lih Lin from the University of Washington. The multijunction approach is often used for
space applications where high efficiency is more critical than the cost to make a solar module. The quantum dot perovskite materials developed by Luther and the NREL/University of Washington team could be paired with cheap thin-film perovskite materials to achieve similar high efficiency as demonstrated for space solar cells, but built at even lower costs than silicon technology - making them an ideal technology for both terrestrial and space applications. "Often, the materials used in space and rooftop applications are totally different. It is exciting to see possible configurations that could be used for both situations," said Erin Sanehira a doctoral student at the University of Washington who conducted research at NREL.
UNIST Researchers Develop Highly Stable Perovskite Solar Cells A recent study, affiliated with UNIST has presented highly stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs), using edged-selectively fluorine (F) functionalized graphene nano-platelets (EFGnPs). This breakthrough has gotten much attention as it is made out of fluorine, a low-cost alternative to gold. This study has been jointly led by Professor Jin Young Kim in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST in collaboration with Dong Suk Kim of Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER). Assistant Professor GiHwan Kim in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST partook in this study, as the lead author. The findings of the study have been published in the September issue of the prestigious journal, Nano Letters. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted more attention in the past few years, as the next-generation solar cells with the potential to surpass silicon
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cells' efficiency. Nevertheless, stability and cost issues in PSCs seem to block further advancements toward commercialization. The perovskite materials are easily decomposed in moisture conditions. They cannot survive even for one day without proper encapsulation and this result in low stability. To solve these issues and make progress toward the commercialization of PSCs, Professor Kim and his team introduced a highly stable p-i-n structure for PSCs using fluorine functionalized EFGnPs to fully cover the perovskite active layer and protect against the ingress of water for high-stability PSCs. "Fluorocarbons, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) are wellknown for their superhydrophobic properties and comprise carbon fluorine (C-F) bonding," says Professor Gwi-Hwan Kim at UNIST. "By substituting carbon for fluorine, we have created a two-dimensional material with high
SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
hydrophobicity, like Teflon. Then, applied it to PSCs." "This study overcame weakness of perovskite solar cells that have high efficiencies but low stability," says Professor Jin Young Kim. "This breakthrough holds substantial promise as the base technology for the application of the next-generation solar cells, as well as various IoT devices and displays," says Professor Jin Young Kim. The newly-developed perovskite solar cell device was fabricated using solution processes, a process that involves the coating perovskite materials on a flexible film. Using this process allows the future application of solar cells to wearable devices. The next-generation solar cells are advantageous in that they have a simple manufacturing process and a low manufacturing cost, compared the existing silicon-based inorganic electronic devices.
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ST Technology & solutions develop Smart Grids Sector
T
he expertise of STMicroelectronics in the smart grid sector is commodious. In fact the Geneva
headquartered semiconductor and electronics heavyweight was an early innovator in the smart grid landscape. Traversing across the years of innovation and technology advancement, Allan Lagasca – ST’s smart grid honcho draws the company’s innovative journey on building a sustainable and smart power future. Excerpts.
Allan Lagasca
Application Director System Engineering and Strategic Programs Business Development|PDSA|Greater China, South Asia, India and Korea (APAC Region)| STMicroelectronics
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Q
What is STMicroelectronics bent for the Smart Grids
sector and what are the technological developments
the company is undergoing ?
As a world-leading semiconductor manufacturer, STMicroelectronics has been actively involved in smart-grid technologies, products and applications from the earliest days, and offers a large product portfolio targeted to smart grid needs. ST delivers intelligent and energy-efficient products and solutions that power the electronics at the heart of everyday life. ST’s products are found everywhere today, and together with our customers, we are enabling smarter driving and smarter factories, cities and homes, along with the next generation of mobile and Internet of Things devices. A smart grid is a digitally-controlled, self-healing energy system that delivers electricity or gas from the energy source, including renewable energies, to the points of consumption. It optimizes power delivery by facilitating two-way communication across the grid, enabling end-user energy management, minimizing power disruptions and transporting only the required amount of power. The result is greater efficiency, leading to lower cost to the utility and the customer, more reliable power and reduced carbon emissions. With more than 20 years of presence and investment in the field of metering and smart grids, ST has developed the widest portfolio of semiconductor products and solutions meeting the needs of these segments. ST’s strategy in the smart grid is to be the one-stop shop for smart-grid applications. The long success stories with Enel Group and other leading energy utilities and meter manufacturers worldwide have already demonstrated the quality of our solutions. There are a number of reasons why smart grids have attracted so much interest and investment. Enhancing existing power grids by adding intelligence and digital communications: • Increases efficiency by optimizing energy supply and demand
• Increases reliability and power quality, improves responsiveness • Better manages current demand and prepares for the future • Reduces costs for the provider and consumer • Provides the communication platform for new applications. Smart grids have four key components: Smart metering, Building automation, Electric mobility and Renewable energy sources. All these are functionally linked by advanced subsystems, including power conversion modules, communication protocols and energy storage systems so they can share information and provide feedback to the utility, the consumer, and other systems on the grid.
Q
What are the new trends in your company for Smart metering ?
AMI (automatic metering infrastructure) or Smart metering essentially involves an electronic power meter supplemented by full remote control, diagnostics, power peak and consumption analysis, anti-tampering mechanisms, fault alert, timevariable tariffs, and many more possibilities. Using powerline communication (PLC) or other wired and/or wireless technologies to connect the meter to the service provider enables these features, through the powerful smart-grid protocols. An ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure in the home, called a home area network (HAN), enables smart management of all digital devices typically found in the home. A HAN can use the full range of wired and wireless connectivity technologies related to the specific subsystems included in the home system. Typical HAN subsystems include
VOL 2 l ISSUE 4 l DECEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
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PC networks, HVAC systems and alarm/security systems, as well as new types of subsystems for the emerging smart-grid applications, such as energy management systems, local alternative-energy generation systems (photovoltaic, for
Q
What sets ST solutions apart from the current solutions in the market in the field of Smart Grid?
STMicroelectronics offers the most advanced System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions in the market for smart grid applications,
example), and vehicle-to-grid systems. A HAN infrastructure
addressing both modular and super-integrated architectures,
can be open and must be connected with both the AMI and the
depending on the customers’ and markets’ needs.
Internet through a home gateway to enable high-end services.
For example, STCOMET platform is the industry’s first super-
STMicroelectronics offers highly-efficient products for HAN
integrated complete smart-meter System-on-Chip (SoC). It
applications aimed to meet the new market requirements. ST’s advanced technology and knowhow are ideal for both wired and wireless communication technologies. We offer a full range of components and evaluation boards as reference for HAN applications. The range of solutions covers: • Smart plugs
• Smart energy meters • In-home displays • Home gateways.
combines a precision metering front-end with programmable application processing and multi-standard PLC (Power-Line Communication) subsystem, along with the Line Driver and advanced security engine in a single device. The STCOMET10 SoC delivers unprecedented integration, leveraging the expertise in PLC and smart-meter ICs that ST has gained over 20 years and via more than 60 million devices delivered. OEMs can use this unique future-proof platform to simplify smart-meter design, reduce time-to-market, and significantly reduce component count and bill-of-materials costs. STCOMET has been widely deploying in the field and it’s been adopted in advanced Smart Grid programs worldwide, including SOGRID, and by ENEDIS French Utility aimed at developing a comprehensive communication system supporting smart-grid applications. Taking the PLC roadmap further, ST just recently launched its new modular Power-Line Communication (PLC) modem chipset ST8500 at European Utility Week 2017. The ST8500 is a fully programmable power line communication (PLC) modem system on chip (SoC), able to run any PLC protocol in the frequency band up to 500 kHz, packaged in an ultra-compact 7x7 mm QFN package. The device architecture has been designed to target CENELEC EN50065, FCC and ARIB compliant applications supporting all major PLC protocol standards such as ITU G.9904 (PRIME), ITU G.9903 (G3-PLC) and many other possible PLC protocol specifications and evolutions. The chipset provides more flexibility to manufacturers of:
• Utility meters
• Smart-grid nodes • Streetlamps • Home and industrial controllers. It enables customers to implement powerline communications cost-effectively, either as part of new designs or as the core of an add-on module on older devices. The solution is also a perfect fit for markets with specific regulatory requirements. In these scenarios, the ST PLC-modem chipset acts as an
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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l DECEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 4
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external communication module that interfaces with either the
• Reactive power accuracy:
existing or a new metering or controlling device. In addition,
• <0.1% error over 2000:1 dynamic range
flexible programmability allows multiple product variants to
• Fast single-point calibration and multiple flexible configurations
share a common hardware foundation, and permits software
for easy product design and low manufacturing cost
updating in the field to further lower cost of ownership.
• Embedded anti-tampering features and compliance with
Three leading global smart-meter manufacturers are already
international metering standards for worldwide safe adoption
designing solutions based on this new platform.
STPM3x is a mixed-signal IC family consisting of an analog and a digital section. The analog section consists of:
• Up to two programmable gain low-noise low-offset amplifiers • Up to four 2nd order 24-bit sigma-delta ADCs • Two bandgap voltage references with independent temperature compensation • A low-drop voltage regulator and DC buffers The digital section consists of:
• Digital filtering stage • A hardwired DSP • DFE to the input
• a serial communication interface (UART or SPI).
Q
Highlight key benefits in using ST chips in metering solutions?
In addition to the STCOMET, which we’ve previously discussed, the ST portfolio includes an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP) family designed for high accuracy measurement of power and energy in power line systems using the Rogowski coil, current transformer or shunt current sensors. The STPM3x family provides instantaneous voltage and current waveforms, calculates RMS values of voltage and current, active, reactive and apparent power and energy. The STPM3x is fully configurable and allows fast digital-system calibration in a single point over the entire current dynamic range. Meter manufacturers can produce a poly-phase metering solution using one STPM34 and one STPM32 interfaced to a general-purpose microcontroller to develop a polyphase meter as shown in the diagram on the next page (slide 15). We need 3 voltage, 3 current for phase and one for Neutral as neutral current is monitored for anti-tamper. Main Benefits:
• High accuracy over a wide dynamic range down to standby currents for accurate billing and power-quality monitoring • Active power accuracy: • <0.1% error over 5000: 1 dynamic range • <0.5% error over 10000: 1 dynamic range VOL 2 l ISSUE 4 l DECEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
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