Tamil Nadu has been witnessing promising growth rates for rooftop solar in India. This is validated by the fact that Tamil Nadu has close to a 100 MW of rooftop solar installations.
In a move to go green, TajSATS, an in-flight catering company, recently installed a solar power plant at its catering facility rooftop in Chennai.
TajSATS Chennai consumes a high amount of electricity for its cooking operations, water heating, refrigeration as well as storage requirements. The 203 kWp solar plant they installed in October 2016 is expected to contribute 10-15% of the total electricity consumption.
The design and installation of the plant have been carried out by Sunshot Technologies, a solar EPC based in Pune with special focus and expertise in executing rooftop solar projects.
Interestingly, the financial model for the solar plant is PPA-based – also called Build, Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT) or OPEX model – for which the client pays the installer a monthly fee for the quantum of energy consumed. Sunshot Technologies is among the few players in India that offer project implementation under BOOT model.
Take a look at some interesting stats of the plant.
| Project Size | 203.2 kWp |
| Panel Make | Renesola, 320 Wp (totally 635 panels) |
| Inverter Type | SMA, 25 kW, 7 Nos |
| AC Isolator, LT Panels | Siemens |
| Financial Model | PPA |
Unique Elevated Structure Design
A stand-out feature of this particular installation is that a large portion of the rooftop system utilizes an elevated structure design.
Figure 1: Elevated Rooftop Structure
The idea is to use the space beneath the elevated rooftop solar system as a cafeteria or as a space for conducting company events. Making the best use of the rooftop area available was a priority for the management. This is an example of a rooftop solar design where the EPC made customized tweaks to cater to the client’s needs.
Design and Installation
Sunshot completed the commissioning of the plant on October 9th, 2016, in a short time frame of around 45 days. Sunshot has gone the extra mile to ensure timely commissioning of the plant by overcoming project execution delays due to rains. Additional features in the plant include a weather station to measure the temperature, wind speed, and irradiation data. At the site, the instantaneous power generation data from different inverters can be viewed on the LT panel.
Figure 2: Conduits for cables, earthing & lightning strips
The monitoring solution employed ensures that the acquired data from the inverters and weather station is stored on the cloud network, which can be remotely monitored by the customer to evaluate various performance parameters.
Figure 3: LT panel displaying power generation from inverters
The installer ensures that the cleaning operations at the plant are conducted every 2 weeks. Being located in an area with high construction activity, the frequency of cleaning is high.
Conclusion
Having worked with over 50 clients across various industries and locations, Sunshot has close to 10 MW of solar installations under its belt. Some of the leading installations include IT companies, malls and auto ancillary. An interesting installation is one where Sunshot executed a solar carport for an International airport in India.
Being a pioneer in setting up a rooftop solar power plants, Sunshot is making rapid strides in the solar sector by implementing unique and high-quality solar plant designs.
Solar Mango wishes Sunshot all the best!
Pingback: Why are rooftop customers keen on putting up solar panels over elevated structures? - Solar Mango – #1 guide for solar