Design, development and installation of 100 KW utility and grid connected solar PV power plants for rural applications-an Indian experience

Two 100 kW solar photovoltaic power plants have been installed in the State of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, for the Non-Conventional Energy Development Agency (NEDA) of UP. In the absence of prior experience on such large capacity solar PV power plants, an experimental pilot PV power plant of 25 kW capacity was installed to gain hands-on experience; the lessons learnt were made use of while installing the two power plants. This paper briefly describes the features of the two power plants, the developmental approach adopted based on "building block philosophy" with 25 kW system as the basic unit with the attendant advantages. It includes the indigenous design and development effort made for grid connected operation and most importantly the special design features incorporated to ensure a very high degree of safety and protection so necessary in rural areas with predominantly nonliterate users. The paper concludes with some important lessons learnt from both the technical and logistics points of view for guiding the installation of similar such plants in the remote rural areas in India and other developing countries in the future.