SOLAR GENERATION - Greenpeace

The other side of the grid-connected domestic market is the
control which PV systems allow the consumer over their power
supply. Not only is electricity generated at the point of demand
but the consumer is effectively transformed into the operator of
his or her own power station. As international power markets
steadily liberalise this is likely to have increasingly important
market implications.
Off-grid electrification
Applications
PV provides vital power for communities in the developing
world who have no access to mains electricity. About 1.7 billion
people around the world currently live without basic energy
services.
Among the uses made of solar electricity in off grid situations
are for domestic lighting, solar lanterns, TV sets, water
pumping, refrigerators and providing lighting for shops, health
centres or small market places.
PV has the potential to deliver much more than just electricity
for lighting or improved health care, however. By providing the
power supply for computers, for example, it can enable people
not just to have access to information through the internet, but
to improve their economic situation through better marketing
of products or buying goods at more reasonable prices.
Market development
Apart from its clear social advantages, the economic
justification for using PV is through the avoided fuel costs,
usually expensive diesel, or by comparison with the cost of
extending the grid. For subsistence level communities the
initial stumbling block is often the capital cost of the system.
But although numerous rural development programmes have
been initiated in developing countries, supported both by multi
and bilateral assistance programmes, the impact has so far
been relatively small.
There is also a major need to provide clean drinking water in
the developing world. The World Health Organisation estimates
that 10,000 children die each day from water-borne diseases.
Solar-powered water purification systems and pumps are
easily transportable, easy to maintain and simple to use and, as
part of rural health initiatives, could be an important tool in the
fight against disease.
Off-grid industrial
Applications
Industrial uses for off grid solar power are mainly in the
telecommunications field, especially to link remote rural areas
to the rest of the country. In India, for example, more than a
third of the PV capacity is devoted to the telecommunications
sector. Repeater stations for mobile phones powered by PV or
hybrid systems (PV/diesel) also have a large potential.
Other applications include traffic signals, marine navigation
aids, security phones, weather or pollution monitors, remote
lighting, highway signs and waste water treatment plants.
Market development
Apart from avoided fuel costs, for example by totally or partly
replacing a diesel engine, industrial PV systems offer high
reliability and minimal maintenance. This can dramatically
reduce operation and maintenance costs, particularly in very
remote or inaccessible locations.
The demand for off-grid industrial PV systems is expected to
continue to expand over the next decade and beyond, especially
in response to the continued growth of the telecommunications
industry. Mobile telephone masts and repeater stations offer a
particularly large potential, especially in countries with low
population densities. Providing communications services to
rural areas in developing countries as part of social and
economic development packages will also be a major future
market opportunity for photovoltaics.
PV Around the World
• A 1.1 MWp solar electricity system was installed on the roofs of
the new trade fair building in Munich, Germany in 2002.
Together with an existing 1 MWp system this now represents
the largest roof mounted solar electricity system in the world,
providing electricity for more than 700 households.
• Senegal’s countryside is being transformed by projects run by
the Senegalese Agency for Rural Electrification, a government
department formed in 2001. With workers busily putting up
solar panels and poles to connect them to the grid, the project
aims to raise the percentage of Senegal’s 324 rural counties
with electricity from nine to 15% by 2005, and to at least 60%
within 20 years.
• If the home team isn’t winning at the new Stade de Suisse in
Berne, Switzerland there will at least be a tour of the
stadium’s PV system to take the fans’ minds off the game. On
the roof, BKW FMB Energy is building a 1.3 MW solar plant and
energy platform to power the building and its surrounding
complex.
• A solar pergola with a capacity of 444 kWp was installed in
Barcelona, Spain to mark the 2004 World Forum of Cultures.
This unique landmark shows the added value which solar
electricity technology can contribute to an urban
environment.
• A 400 kWp ground based systems using thin film modules
was connected to the grid in Waltenhofen near Munich,
Germany in December 2003. A landmark in innovation for the
solar electricity market, only 6 months later a 1 MWp ground
based system with the same technology was installed in
Buttenwiesen, southern Germany, demonstrating the rapid
development in this market segment.
• A 5 MW PV array with 33,500 modules was opened in
September 2004 on a former dump site for lignite coal ash in
Espenhain, Germany. The output will be fed into the grid to
serve 1,800 homes, and will displace the emission of 3,700
tonnes of COc each year
17