Solar Solutions and Large PV Power Plants · Solar Solutions and Large PV Power Plants ... Solar Business of Schneider Electric The Solar Business of Schneider Electric is focused

Solar Solutions and

Large PV Power Plants

Oscar Araujo

Business Development Director -

Americas

Schneider Electric 2- Renewable Energy – Oscar Araujo

Solar Business of Schneider Electric

●The Solar Business of Schneider Electric is focused on designing and

developing renewable energy products and solutions and providing

best-in-class, global customer services and technical support.

●Our innovative products help you to get the most efficient solar harvest

from your installation, and you benefit from having a single supplier for

all of your components. Our products and solutions are present at every

link in the energy chain and contribute to your total energy savings.


Brief history…

●Antoine Becquerel first described the photovoltaic effect in

1839, and Albert Einstein explained the mechanisms in

1912

● When a material is exposed to sunlight, exposed atoms

release electrons

● The « free » Electrons create a continuous low voltage

● In the 1950s teams of Bell Laboratories manufactured the

first crystalline silicon cell

● First commercial applications with space programs

●A real interest born from the second oil shock (early 1980)

for terrestrial energetic applications

● In 1963 the first cells are installed in Japan

● Today, photovoltaic cells are present in various applications


Solar Farms(few megawatt)

General public

applications(few watts)

Installation in the

residential(1 to 5 kW)

Some examples of applications…

Installations in

buildings(few 100 kW)


A cell

Current generation

●A photovoltaic cell is made from a

slice of silicon70 mm

● The electrons will recombine with

holes through the external circuit to

balance the junction :

A direct electrical current

is generated

● The silicon is doped with impurities.

This creates an area with excess

electrons (N zone) and a deficit of

electrons or holes (P zone)

●The energy of photons from the sun

will release electrons

-P doped zone

N doped zone

300 m

+ ++

--

+

-

+

-

Photons

+-

A slice of silicon


The main manufacturing technologies

●Mono crystalline silicon cells ( M-Si )

● Higher efficiency

● Quite high manufacturing costs

●Poly crystalline silicon cells ( P-Si )

● Widely used

● Cheaper than mono crystalline

●Thin film or amorphous silicon cells ( a-Si )

● Lower efficiency but better than crystalline on diffuse radiation

● Cheaper than polycrystalline

● Suitable to large building projects , roof or cladding systems

● Flexible and lightweight


●Energy production

● A photovoltaic generator produces

DC

Junction box

Inverter

Protection enclosure

Raccordement

au réseau

Photovoltaïc

generator

●Energy conversion

● An inverter converts direct current

into alternating current .

●The connection and protection of

continuous and alternative circuits

● Junction boxes

● DC and AC protection enclosures

=

Structure of a photovoltaic system


Off Grid and

Solar Back-up

Power Systems


Residential Grid-Tie Systems


Small Commercial Grid-Tie Systems


Utility Scale

Grid-Tie Systems


Schneider position and offer: leader in

offering the lowest LCOE possible

production

O&M costs investment

Financingcosts

taxes

Increase

O&M efficiency

Offer high level of

Equipment reliability

Decrease

Construction price

Life time

High level of Bankability

By Reduction of risks

Reduction of

Construction time

Decrease

O&M costs


90%

95%

100%

105%

110%

115%

120%

125%

130%

135%

140%

145%

150%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Price (100% for 24 MW)

MW

The Bigger – The Better

Below 10 MW, CAPEX is strongly increased

CAPEX as a function of size

●As an example, cost of electricity is increased by 15% if the power plant

size is 5 MW instead of 50 MW


How is a Solar Farm Built ?


Civil work :

Land leveled if needed,

Screws or piles are positioned to

support structures


Structures :

Aluminum or steel construction

Pre-assembled or easy to put

together on-site



Modules :

Crystalline or thin-film



Array boxes :

Connect strings

Cables are usually trenched



PVBox for Power

conversion

Includes

Inverters

Transformers

MV protection

Cooling equipment

Typical Size: 1MW



Large power plants are made of 1MW

(or larger) blocks


Grid-Tie Substation

Includes

transformers

Circuit breakers

energy meters



Large power plants are just

" Copy-and-Paste " of smaller blocks

Olmedilla, Spain,

60 MW

● 1MW (or larger blocks) 20 000m²


Schneider Electric offers a

comprehensive solution

7 % - Engineering &

Commissioning

15 % - Cables &

Electrical installation

27 % - Schneider Electric

equipment

36 % - Screws, structures

& panel mounting

15 % - Civil works

50 % - Civil work

Structures

Electrical Equipment

50 % - Panels


SE Business Models

Products/Equipment

Inverters

Transformers

Switchgears

Solution Package:

PV Box

Grid Box

Array Box

Monitoring/SCADA

Electrical EPC

Adequate packages +

Project Management

Electrical Engineering

Electrical Installation

Security system

Operations and Maintenance Services

Commitment on availability level

1

2

3


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Solar Solutions and Large PV Power Plants · Solar Solutions and Large PV Power Plants ... Solar Business of Schneider Electric The Solar Business of Schneider Electric is focused