The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Tiruchi, has commissioned a 5 MW captive solar power plant.
The plant with an array of 19,968 photovoltaic modules has been set up on 25 acres in the BHEL campus. The modules have been set up in 832 strings, each with 24 modules. The strings are divided into fours sectors. The plant has generated about 23 lakh units of electricity since the end of June and is expected to help BHEL achieve substantial savings in energy costs in long term, S.Mohan, Additional General Manager, Maintenance and Services, BHEL, Tiruchi, told reporters here on Tuesday.
BHEL is expected to recoup the investment of about Rs.30 crore (including civil work for the plant) in five years. The operational life of the solar plant is expected to be around 25 years. The plant is integrated with the grid and the solar energy meets a portion of the power requirement of the unit.
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The power plant, including the photovoltaic modules, power conditioning units, high tension switch gear panels and the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system were manufactured and supplied by BHEL’s electronic division, Bengaluru. According to officials, BHEL, Ranipet, has installed a 5 MW plant and its Bhopal unit was going in for a 10 MW unit.
He said the plant would require minimum maintenance such as periodic cleaning of the modules. Pipe lines have been laid along the strings for easier and quicker cleaning of the modules. The power conditioning unit, developed by the Electronics Division and BHEL Corporate Research and Development Division, is fully automated with ‘sleep’ and ‘awake’ functions. The plant starts generating power automatically as soon as adequate solar radiation available in the mornings and goes to ‘sleep’ in the evenings.
The SCADA system could pinpoint faults, if any, in a particular string of modules so that appropriate remedial measures could be taken immediately. CCTV cameras have also been installed in the plant for ensuring safety.
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BHEL, Tiruchi, has commissioned two 50 kW and 20 kW on the roof tops of office buildings including the administrative building. Five 30 kW, one 25kW and a 5 kW roof-top solar plants are in operation in the BHEL Township schools.