Power plant means where bulk energy is produced by a special plan and strategy. Solar power plants are constructed commercially to generate bulk electricity to meet the load demand. But what is the process of solar power plant construction? Or how to construct solar power plant? There are a few more crucial steps for solar plant construction, such as location selection, plant approval, solar plant diagram or design, solar panel selection, PV panel installations, and others. However, let’s go into the deep to explain the PV plant construction process or solar plant setup process.
What Is the Process of Solar Power Plant Construction?
The construction of solar power plant contains a few more essential steps. The first steps can be site selection, making decisions, design, panel estimation and selection, the capacity of generation power, plant installation cost, and many more things. However, let’s go into deep and discuss step by-step about solar power construction process.
1. Identify A Site or Location
Location selection is the first step of the solar energy development process. Solar power plants should be in a location where sunlight is available during the day period. It is a crucial factor and the first step of photovoltaic farm construction. In that case, care and consciousness must be required. However, there are a few more considerations to selecting a site for solar power plant construction.
- Choose low-cost land and land must not be the main place to grow more crops (abandoned place).
- A bit away from the locality and low crowd of humans and other domestic animals.
- Make sure flood and other environmental impact cannot collapse the plant.
- Make sure there is no big tree on that surface.
- Consider the low cost of transmission lines, and electrical substations to connect the national grid with this PV power plant.
- Make sure at least a minimum transportation facility to carry solar panels and other components.
2. Final Approval or Permission
Constructing a PV power plant is a big deal. It requires extensive investment for land purchasing, PV module purchasing, inverter, power transformer, transmission line, and others. That’s why government approval is required. Get approval from the power generation board, government, local government administration, municipal chairman, and local electricity distribution company or power grid company.
However, getting approval and being conscious about environmental, economic, wildlife, cultural, and interconnection studies will be conducted along with decommissioning plans and transportation management. Around 3 to 5 years might be required to receive all sorts of permission.
3. Design or Sketch a Map
Power plant design is a crucial part. Design involves, the structure of a land surface, the number of panels set up or what would look like, additional components, and how to set them, a plant must have a road to inspect solar panel installation. And must have a solar panel cleaning system, an adjacent substation, and others. After completing a design, engineers will start working depending on this design. For this reason, the design of a power plant is very important.
2. Electrical Articulation
The solar panel authority will ensure that they file a regional transmission system operator (RTO) to place the power in the transmission grid. With the advancement of engineering studies and years of coordination. Therefore, they know how projects might work with local transmission systems. If they realize the project could be done in this electrical power transmission system, employees will let you know how much it might cost. This cost includes the delivery of the wholesale power and fixation.
4. Comprehensive Assessment
Whenever the selection of potential sites is done, then needs to be executed initial engineering. Besides that, they will design the subsystems and solar arrays, and conduct environmental surveys. Then they will work to receive state, local, and federal permits. Need to focus on land conditions (is that flat land or hilly area, desert, sunlight falling duration, etc.). Moreover, how to install solar panels, where to install a substation, transmission line, and many more steps should be considered.
5. Community Involvement
The proposed project should be informed by the team members to residents, stakeholders, neighbors, and elected officials. This involvement can encourage the community and society about the benefits of solar panels. PV panel is a major component of a solar power plant construction project.
In that case, there is a chance to involve a PV panel provider sponsor. The biggest area requires landowners should be involved t there to encourage them. However, sending the power to the Grid involves a power generation and distribution company.
7. Power Merchandise
Before the construction process begins, the project needs to contact large companies to sell the power which might be financed. The experienced team workers will promote the solar power panels to long-term power purchase agreements. To secure contract structure they try their best to attract potential customers.
8. Project Establishment and O&M
To execute the project establishment and operation & maintenance (O&M), the construction tasks are done on the road, subsystems, arrays, and fences. Then an electric grid will be placed. Solar power might require full-time staff to maintain the operations and maintenance, whenever the construction is done.
Maintenance is required, like solar panel cleaning service, battery installation and repair, panel repair and installation, reconnecting the panel (if disconnected), and other issues. To avoid these things and ensure a consistent power supply to the grid, continuous maintenance, and inspection are required. Maintenance is required before and after finalizing the project.
Solar Panel Installation Process in PV Power Plant
The solar plant installation process is not difficult. PV panels can be installed in a row with series or parallel connections. Connect another device (inverter, charge controller, battery, etc.) by plant design. However, you need to have basic knowledge about the solar panel installation process. Those who want to install solar panels by themselves should be aware of the size. You might get informed details on many websites. This Step-by-step guideline will meet you’re your expectations.
1. Gather The Solar Panel Items
In the beginning, you need to gather all the important equipment to install the solar panels. Don’t forget to purchase the equipment which will fit and match exactly with the size. The things you might need to install solar panels include batteries, wiring, inverter, and mounting hardware. Make sure you have the appropriate solar power system kits.
2. Place The Inverter and Charge Controller
You can begin by installing a charge controller and inverter. The inverter can transform the DC power into AC. Noted: to avoid the DC transmission system, the inverter is used to convert DC into AC for AC transmission. The charge controller manages the electricity that flows in and out of the battery bank. So, placing the inverter and controller is a crucial thing for a PV power plant (floating solar power plants & ground-mounted PV plants).
3. Support Mounting and Preparing the Solar Panels
Mounting support in a systematic way so that the PV module can be set up to get sufficient sunlight. Organize the solar panels in a row on the support or stand so that direct sunshine falls. Make sure all the panels are correctly placed and have a repair or clean the panels if required. The solar panels should be placed in a weather-hazard-proof zone. In this way, the solar panels could be saved from any damage, and read the manual instructions before you complete it.
4. Lead Your System
In this stage, you can attach the charge controller of the solar panel to the battery bank. Make sure to use the appropriate wire that might disconnect and protect from the overcurrent. Then place the inverter with the electric panel and battery bank. So, connect all the panels by Series or Parallel combination.
5. Secure The Grid
A grid-tied solar power system can provide electricity to the grid safely. It’s crucial to have all sorts of rights and permits before installing a power line grid in the community. It will be wise not to use any off-grid solar systems. This is because the user might not receive any utility connection permission agreement. The guideline local authority will lead the community safe system so make sure you have all the permits and rights to work with it.
6. Examine The System
Once the solar panels are placed it’s crucial to examine them. To avoid any danger, examine with a professional electrician to ensure the system is up to standard. Solar panels can be connected in two ways (series and parallel) and electricians can make a mistake whenever they connect so many panels with connectors, batteries, charge controllers, etc. That’s why to avoid any mistake primary testing is necessary before going for the final operation.
7. Preservation and Restoration
Ensure that the solar panel system is regularly working properly. To avoid any danger, clean the solar panels and ensure that damaged signs are being displayed. There are different types of solar panel cleaning systems. You may adopt any one of them that goes better with you. Take necessary steps whenever you see any danger and try to solve it right away.
Floating Solar Power Plant Construction
All the Floating solar power plants construction is a bit different than ground-mounted PV power plants. However, for the floating PV plants, at first, the floating solar panels will be brought from the solar power plant construction company. Then floating solar panels will be placed on the lake. The power plant can be changed into fire biomass. At first, a crane will be placed on the lakeside construction platform. The solar modules will be secured in the blocks of concrete.
Then the electricians will arrange the solar modules into the square form placed into the floaters. The modules got better and solid connections and their authentic net structure can be balanced with the water movements. To ensure better maintenance work, the connecting elements will be doubled. The PV Modules will be laid down to enhance the sunlight frequency.
Those modules, known as string, have a cable that will pass the floaters. The solar panels will be placed on the shore. With the aid of beams, they will be kept over the water. They will switch their positions with the columns of the modules. Whenever a square of modules is made, they will be on the shore by boat. The solar panels can be kept in a lake beside the power station.
NOTE: A third-fourth of the earth’s surface is surrounded by water. Building solar power panels will save space on land. Its cooling effect will improve the efficiency of solar cells and provide effective outcomes. The floating solar panels should be maintained appropriately to receive better efficiency.
Solar Power Plant Construction Diagram
The photovoltaic solar power plant diagram shows how many equipment is installed in the solar power plant. The solar power plant diagram also shows a full view of the project PV arrays, number of panels, inverters, batteries, connections, transformers, etc. However, take a look at a schematic diagram of a solar power plant (ground-mounted plant).
The solar panel construction diagram also shows how photovoltaic solar panel works or its entire construction and power generation process. However, we know sunlight directly falls to the silicon layers aiming to create improved electron hole pairs. These pairs are powered by an electric field. These electrical field aims to work effectively between p-type and n-type silicon and generate DC electricity by a special process.
Components of Floating Solar Power Plant
Different types of components are installed in the photovoltaic power station. There are some common components, that are required at all the PV power plants. So, take a look at some main components of solar power plants.
- Photovoltaic (PV) Panel.
- DC/AC Inverter.
- Energy storage devices.
- Charge controller.
- System balancing component.
- Blocking diode.
- Voltage regulator.
- Stand to hang panels.
- Wire and connector.
How Long Does It Take to Build a Solar Power Plant?
Building a solar power plant time depends on the power generation capacity, land condition, investment, environment, etc. It might take at least 6 months. It might take some time to build the small-scale system, a land improvement system where the owner may not exceed 50 hectares of territory. The prodigious commercial project can be built within 12 to 18 months.
Within this construction time, the Consumer must plan, permit, site preparation, and install the hardware and wiring. Then need to complete the tasks of plumbing, rooftop, foundation, detachment, framing, and drywall. After that, the tasks of Painting, fencing, and landscaping. The labor hours may vary based on workers, materials given to them to work, regions, the multiplicity of the job, and the large number of workers assigned to complete the tasks.
How much does the Solar Power Plant Construction Cost?
1 MW grounded mounted solar power plant construction cost is estimated at $890,000 and $1.01 million in the USA. Besides that, the floating power plant construction cost is considered US$1 million to 1.2 million for 1 MW. This estimated cost can fluctuate due to several factors, such as location, land condition, land cost, PV module installation cost, transformer cost, length of a transmission line to connect the Grid, and others. However, in most cases 90% to 95% of expenses are considered for a few fields:
- Photovoltaic modules purchasing(40-45%).
- Inverters purchasing (6-10%).
- DC and AC cable lines (5-6%).
- Electrical protective equipment like relay, fuse, circuit breaker, and lightning arrestor (1-2%).
- Metal load-bearing structures (15-17%).
- Electrical substation (15-20%).
- High/medium voltage lines (5-8%)
- Fences, security cameras and security measures (3-4%)
Final Thought
Solar power plant construction is not difficult. PV power plants can be constructed in two zones: ground-mounted and on the water surface (floating). I have discussed solar power plant construction and working, project costs, and others. That can be beneficial for you to know and work on any solar panel construction project. So, stay with OPEN READ get more updated information, and implement it in your real life.