Unit in operation at Alpine Knits plant in Tirupur
Chemtrols Solar Private Ltd. has unveiled India’s first MW scale PV-diesel hybrid solar power plant in Tirupur. A local spinning mill has the distinction of owning a roof-mounted, grid-connected solar power plant with unique DG synchronization capabilities, the first of its kind in India and only the second in the world.
The one-mw solar plant installed on the sloping roof of Alpine Knits (India) Private Ltd. at Palladam in Tirupur is designed, engineered and constructed on a turnkey basis by Chemtrols Solar Private Ltd. of Mumbai.
The rooftop solar plant synchronizes with the incoming 11 KV utility grid and provides energy to the spinning mill for captive consumption during daytime. Importantly, even when the utility grid is not available during frequent power cuts, the solar plant has the capability to synchronize with the in-house 1.25 MVA diesel generator to provide up to 65 per cent of the energy required by the Alpine Knits factory, thanks to the recent ‘Fuel Saver’ technology developed by SMA Solar Technology AG of Germany, the global market leader in the field of solar inverters and related technologies.
During grid failure when the DG set is put into operation, the ‘Fuel Saver’ device constantly monitors the DG set electrical parameters, the available load at the factory and optimizes the solar power plant output to provide substantial fuel (diesel) saving at any point of time. The Fuel Saver also provides protection to the DG Set and to the solar power plant against reverse power as both are power generating devices.
Alpine Knits not only saves diesel but also earns renewable energy certificates (RECs) that can be traded at the designated power exchanges in Delhi or Mumbai within a price band of Rs. 9,300 to Rs. 13,400 per REC, the price band mandated by CERC until March 2017. Alpine gets one REC for every 1,000 units (KWH) of electricity produced by the solar power plant, the sale of which is estimated to result in an additional revenue of about Rs. 2 crores per year.
Shortage of power has proved a major deterrent for the textile industry in Tamil Nadu. Power accounts for about 30 per cent of the total cost of production in a spinning mill. For factories that suffer power outages and are dependent on diesel generators for their power supply, a hybrid system should be the solution of choice as it increases the utilization of the solar power plant significantly, and thus in terms reduces payback time.
These solar power plants also help in meeting the Solar Power Obligation (SPO) of HT consumers as per the TN Solar Policy.
The one mw plant at Palladam, built in about 60 days with very high quality components procured from SMA, Germany (inverters), Canadian Solar (PV panels) and ABB (power evacuation system), was connected to the grid on March 31 last.
Chemtrols Solar is a part of the 38-year-old Chemtrols Group of Mumbai with interests in process control instrumentation & automation and manufacturing. Having already executed projects in Gujarat and Maharashtra, Chemtrols Solar has established itself as an innovative reliable and quality EPC services provider for PV power plants, and plans to execute projects to the tune of 50 MW this year.
The company also offers various off-grid solutions for rooftops, telecom towers, off-shore platforms, pipelines for cathodic protection & telemetry, and rural village electrification.