Solar Development using Agricultural Land (An introduction to PV technology, key questions for developers and case studies) - David Owen (Solar Media Ltd)

An introduction to PV technology, key questions for developers and case studies Solar Development using Agricultural Land David Owen, Managing Director Solar Media Ltd Farming Futures – Everything you need to know about solar PV and your farm. 13 th October 2010

Who is Solar Media?
Media provider focussing on the business to business supply chain for the global solar industry
Coverage – Complete value chain-polysilicon to large scale power generation
Established 4 years – 16 years in microelectronics
PV-Tech.org is the No 1 website WW specifically for global solar industry. 170,000 visits per month
Solar Power Portal, Design Build Solar websites unique focus
14 print publications per year

Energy Potential for PV The sun radiates more than enough energy onto the Earth in just one day to provide enough energy for the global population of 5.9 billion people for 27 years

The Photovoltaic Effect The photovoltaic effect is the conversion of light energy into electrical energy and needs a semiconductor material like silicon to absorb the solar radiation and convert it into electricity. Unlike metals where electricity can only be conducted by electrons, semiconductors can conduct electricity with negatively charged electrons and positively charged “holes”

Basics of a grid connected PV system To Grid On-site Load PV Modules Inverter Export Meter Import Meter

The Clean Energy Cashback - Tariffs 25 29.3 Standalone Solar PV 25 29.3 >100kW - 5MW Solar PV 25 31.4 >10 - 100kW Solar PV 25 36.1 >4-10kW Solar PV 25 41.3 ≤ 4 kW retrofit Solar PV 25 36.1 ≤ 4 kW new Solar PV Duration (years) Feed-in tariff (pence/kWh) Scale Energy Source

The Clean Energy Cashback – Core concepts
It is a generation tariff which means you earn the amount for every kilowatt hour that is produced.
50% deemed to be exported attracts a min. 3p tariff. Some DNO’s may offer higher rates
Standalone system means off grid, not a field based installation
Products and installers must be MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) accredited for installations to be awarded the tariff but only for systems less than 50KW

Questions for the solar developer – “Free” systems
The company installs and pays for the cost of installation, products (modules, inverters, monitoring) and servicing
The roof or land owner benefits from free electricity generated by the system
Export Tariff and Generation Tariff are then assigned to the “owner” of the system which is the installation company.
Different companies will offer various schemes and could include renting roof space or land, or dedicating a proportion of the generation tariff to the landowner.

Questions for developers 1 - General
Who pays for the system?
Who owns the system?
Who gets the generation tariff, the export tariff and the use of the energy?
Will an export meter be fitted? (greater than 50% deemed amount)
Who will address planning issues? Are they experienced in this?
Who is responsible for maintenance of the site? (shading and dirt)
Who is responsible for grid connection? (including the costs associated) And negotiating the export tariff with the DNO?
What happens if I sell my property?

Questions for developers 2 - Equipment
Who pays for maintenance and repairs? (modules warranted for 25years, inverters normally need replacing after 8 years)
Insurance for equipment and what does it cover?
Are there any performance guarantees for the equipment?
What happens if the company that made the equipment (product warranties) or installs the system (performance warranties) goes out of business?
Will the equipment void any warranties on my roof?

Planning considerations
Environmental Impact Assessment
Large scale solar arrays not expressly referred to in Regulations
Apply for Screening – public register
Necessary to judge likely effects of development on environment
Preparing for planning
Collaborative Approach
Landscape impact
Security
Ground maintenance
Ground Anchors
Access tracks
Ecology
Grid connection
Duration

Cornwall Planning

What Could it Look like?

Solar Farm Case Studies

Ground Mounted
SunEdison 4MW solar farm in Davidson County, N.C
Comprised of more than 14,000 solar panels that will generate over 6 million kWh of electricity in the first year of operation.
The farm will generate 115 million kWh of electricity over 20 years.
Energy bought under a PPA with a local electricity provider – providing energy for the local area.

Ground Mounted
20MW solar farm developed by First Solar near Sarnia, Ontario.
Built by First Solar under a fixed-price engineering, procurement, and construction contract and will use more than 370,000 of the company's CdTe thin-film modules.
Expanded to 80MW at a cost of CDN $300 million and completed by the end of 2010 for new owner, Enbridge.

Ground Mounted The 53MW Lieberose solar farm, Brandenburg by First Solar and juwi group
PowerLight’s Bavarian solar park
Set in the heart of Bavarian farmland,
30-acre facility,
Consisting of 57,600 silicon-and- aluminum panels,
Generates 10MW of electricity — enough to power 9,000 German homes.

Roof Mounted
System using Sputnik Engineering AG converters at a chicken farm in Bretagne, France
Second largest solar power plant at a chicken farm in Bretagne
System capacity of 205kW
Integrated on the farm's two chicken-stall roofs are over a thousand solar modules.

Building Integrated
99kWp BIPV installation in Brindisi, Italy on greenhouse on agricultural land
99kWp BIPV greenhouse system
roof-integrated system includes 450 Winsol monocrystalline silicon WXS220S modules of 220Wp connected to two Bonfiglioli RPS450-60 inverters of 60kW each

Dual Purpose Not only are solar panels easily integrated into the natural landscape, they are also proved to work well with grazing animals, offering shade as well as shelter.

The Plug – Need more information
Go to www.solarpowerportal.co.uk
Attend “ Solar Power UK Conference”, 18 th – 19 th October 2010 in London. Next Week. 50% discount for NFU members.
Speakers (31) include Alan Whitehead MP, Royal Bank Scotland, Ray Noble, Jonathon Scurlock, Cornwall Council, National Trust.
Send us any and all UK related press releases to [email_address]

Thank you
David Owen
Managing Director
Solar Media Ltd
[email_address]
+44 (0) 20 7871 0123

Solar Development using Agricultural Land (An introduction to PV technology, key questions for developers and case studies) - David Owen (Solar Media Ltd)

by Farming Futures on Oct 15, 2010

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