• The successful completion of this work makes it possible to quantify the service life of a 1MW PV plant as 22 years.
• Thanks to the new 260 W Jinko Smart modules, the plant will be returned to its original 1 MW power output, equivalent to the annual consumption of some 350 homes.

Ingeteam has successfully completed the revamp work on the PV modules at the Toledo PV plant, managed by Gas Natural Fenosa Renovables and located in the municipality of La Puebla de Montalbán in Toledo. This was the first plant of this size to be constructed in Europe. In 1994, the year in which the plant was commissioned, it had a power output of 1 MW in standard conditions. However, the latest study conducted in August 2015 revealed that the effective power output had dropped by 37%.

Against this background, the management of Toledo PV requested the contractor, Ingeteam (the current plant operator and maintainer), to carry out revamp work at the plant in order to restore its power output to its original values.

The two-month operation consisted in dismounting the old PV panels (which are to be managed as electronic waste) and replacing them with new ones. 260W Jinko Smart Modules were selected for this purpose. These high-efficiency modules feature an innovative technology that allows the system output to be increased by up to 20% in unfavourable mismatch conditions caused by shading, soiling, ageing, temperature gradients, etc.

As this is the first time that an operation of this type has been performed on a 1 MW plant, the success of this revamp work has allowed us to use actual, quantifiable measures, to determine that the service life of a PV plant is around 22 years. Therefore, by replacing the modules with more efficient ones, it is possible to extend the plant service life and return it to its original, full operating capacity.

The plant has a peak installed power of 1 MW and, with this revamp, it is able to produce up to 1,400 MWh per annum, equivalent to the annual consumption of some 350 homes. The plant is directly connected to the distribution network of Unión Fenosa Distribución through a 15 kV medium voltage substation. Much of the power produced is used for irrigation and distribution to homes in the area.