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Free Web-based thin-film solar planning tool released by US group

30th January 2015

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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A free Web-based solar power plant capacity-planning tool offers project planners and developers, as well as governments, a means to assess the solar energy potential of thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) power over an area of land.

The tool was developed by thin-film solar PV company First Solar to enable developers interested in thin-film solar PV power to gain initial estimates and help boost the number of solar thin-film PV projects under development.

The tool is an interactive map on which users can draw polygons over areas of land that represent ground-mounted solar PV power fields. It then calculates the probable power output of the solar fields, based on the area of the fields and historical weather data for that part of the world, and produces a report that can form the basis of a proposal to develop a solar power plant.

During an online demonstration of the energy-capacity assessment tool, First Solar power plant systems global manager David Spieldenner says the tool aims to provide anyone interested in solar power with a user-friendly and free means of estimating the potential for solar in their region.

It also serves as a useful planning tool for city planners, developers and municipal officers investigating the development of solar, with the land area, energy output, carbon dioxide avoided and other information presented to the user for initial planning.

“The tool is easy to use, with a familiar and intuitive interface. For example, users can easily change the shape and size of the areas they designate by clicking and dragging the edges of the polygons. The tool also aggregates the power output from multiple areas, enabling planners to estimate the combined output of multiple solar power fields.

The First Solar energy capacity assessment tool is only an initial assessment tool and does not replace detailed energy capacity assessments, but will lead to an increase in the number of solar projects in the world by making information freely available, says Spieldenner.

The tool is detailed and enables users to change details of the design – such as the density of the rows of solar receivers, which would reduce the peak energy generated, but improve output consistency owing to the panels casting less shade over one another – or change between heliostat and fixed solar panel designs. The information generated helps users to explore the differences between PV power plant designs.

Users can change the estimated price at which they will produce power and the tool gives estimated costs of the plant and estimated revenue generated over a 25-year life-of-plant timeframe.

“The tool can provide a good estimate to users and is based on our own historical data of the solar PV power plant projects we have executed around the world. “The resolution of the weather and irradiance information of the tool is a 20 km × 20 km grid across the world, including global horizontal irradiance and diffuse horizontal irradiance information, but proper assessments must be conducted to determine whether a site is suitable for solar,” Spieldenner points out.

The assessment tool is based on the internal tool used by First Solar consultants to provide estimates to clients. It was released at the recent 2015 World Future Energy Summit, in Abu Dhabi, and can be accessed at First Solar’s website.

First Solar will release a free rooftop solar PV energy capacity assessment tool in future to enable industrial and commercial users to estimate the potential capacity of rooftop solar PV systems.

 

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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