Hello friends,
In the previous two years, I was working on a project of solar energy for self-consumption in a vulnerable zone of this country. The government just announce they'll change the Diesel generator of this community for a hydroelectric turbine.
Many ideas were exposed, since my PV system, Biogas solutions, wind turbines but, for this location, the most profitable solution was the Hydrogenerator. A part of San Juan river is providing the water they need and now, it will provide electrical energy.
Next, I expose some aspects what I think Photovoltaic was rejected for this project:
1. The index kWh/kWp anually is about 1,034. Pretty low in comparison with cities in the caribbean coast which this index is about 1,600 kWh/kWp.
2. My PV farm was design for provide about 80 kWh daily. With that index of generation, the size of the system was about 28kW and the area of coverage for this PV farms is about 218 m2. It is hard getting this amount of terrain without any obstacle.
3. The systems would have about 50% of the total capacity in Battery storage. It means, the consumption of this energy should be in the peak hours of the sun but not always this is possible because the reliability of the sunlight. This increment the cost of the project tremendously. I though the idea for combining this two power sources, the river and sun power, in a hybrid PV- hydroturbine, but it requires more specialized equipment.
It was just a step, of many steps in renewable energy in this country. Many communities yet have not access to electrical energy, even in the most sunny towns. It is an opportunity for to change lifes and minds. My next project would be in a town in the North of Colombia. I am developing a smart battery based on Li-ion and an effective way to use in poor homes. I'll write in other time about this.
Finally, I'm glad because the people now have clean energy. The river who calm their thirst now provide them energy.
In the previous two years, I was working on a project of solar energy for self-consumption in a vulnerable zone of this country. The government just announce they'll change the Diesel generator of this community for a hydroelectric turbine.
Many ideas were exposed, since my PV system, Biogas solutions, wind turbines but, for this location, the most profitable solution was the Hydrogenerator. A part of San Juan river is providing the water they need and now, it will provide electrical energy.
Image 1. Hydroelectric Turbine installed
Next, I expose some aspects what I think Photovoltaic was rejected for this project:
1. The index kWh/kWp anually is about 1,034. Pretty low in comparison with cities in the caribbean coast which this index is about 1,600 kWh/kWp.
2. My PV farm was design for provide about 80 kWh daily. With that index of generation, the size of the system was about 28kW and the area of coverage for this PV farms is about 218 m2. It is hard getting this amount of terrain without any obstacle.
3. The systems would have about 50% of the total capacity in Battery storage. It means, the consumption of this energy should be in the peak hours of the sun but not always this is possible because the reliability of the sunlight. This increment the cost of the project tremendously. I though the idea for combining this two power sources, the river and sun power, in a hybrid PV- hydroturbine, but it requires more specialized equipment.
It was just a step, of many steps in renewable energy in this country. Many communities yet have not access to electrical energy, even in the most sunny towns. It is an opportunity for to change lifes and minds. My next project would be in a town in the North of Colombia. I am developing a smart battery based on Li-ion and an effective way to use in poor homes. I'll write in other time about this.
Finally, I'm glad because the people now have clean energy. The river who calm their thirst now provide them energy.
