Grid Integration of Distributed Solar Photovoltaics (PV) in India Renewable energy is expected to play an increasingly prominent role in the Indian power sector in the coming decades given its various benefits.We need to view this source of energy as strategic resource which will in the long run form the cornerstone of our energy security. The Government of India has been striving to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix which has resulted in strong growth in large MW-scale grid-connected renewable energy. At present the contribution of renewables to the overall installed capacity of the country stands at more than 12%, not including large hydro. Solar power, especially from photovoltaics, has taken off in the country in a big way after the launch of the National Solar Mission in 2010, leading to an installed capacity of over 2.6 GW in just four years. This was an exciting time for me as Additional Secretary and Special Secretary in the Ministry of Power and as Secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, during which period we laid out the detailed ground work for the policy-regulatory framework under the solar mission. The biggest success of our efforts was to capture the global reduction in PV equipment prices and help reduce the price of solar PV power from INR 18/kWh to INR 7-8/kWh through a competitive price discovery policy in India. However, the solar mission is not only about large power plants, but also about smaller distributed kW-scale solar PV applications (particularly rooftop PV connected to the LT grid) which are expected to grow significantly in the coming years. From a consumer perspective,grid parity is close at hand if one were to compare unsubsidised rooftop PV electricity prices (INR 7-8/ kWh) with consumer tariffs (Rs 7-10/kWh) for the commercial, industrial and high-end residential segments in various states. These are expected to bring along associated challenges of reliably integrating large number of small PV systems in the distribution grid, especially since the grid was not designed for a large share of distributed generation nor a two way flow of electricity Additional features which provide system benefit like reactive power support for an improved voltage profile,power-frequency droop for over-frequency regulation, intentional islanding and fault ride through capabilities like Low/High Voltage Ride-Through (LHVRT) and Low/High Frequency Ride-Through (LHFRT) should be considered bridgetoindia/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PEG_grid-integration_dist-PV_2014.pdf
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 22:10:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015