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INDIAN
INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Climate Change
Indian Institute of Science
A case study of
3-MW scale
grid-connected solar
photovoltaic power plant
at Kolar, Karnataka
Performance assessment &
recommendations
A case study of
3-MW scale
grid-connected solar
photovoltaic power plant
at Kolar, Karnataka
Performance assessment &
recommendations
H. Mitavachan, Anandhi Gokhale
and J. Srinivasan
0
The Yalesandra power plant is located at a latitude of 12 53' and a longitude of
0
78 09'. The overall area occupied by photovoltaic modules is 10.3 acres. The
plant has 3 segments with each segment having an installed capacity of 1 MWp.
Each segment has 4 inverters with a capacity of 250 kW each. There are 13,368
modules (557 arrays with 24 modules per array) that contain mono-crystalline
Silicon solar cells. The solar photovoltaic modules are connected such that a
voltage of 415 volts is generated at the output of each inverter. This is stepped up
to 11 kV by a step-up transformer and connected to the existing 11 kV grid.
The total electrical energy generated by the Yaleasandra plant during 2010 was
3.34 million kWh and 3.30 million units were sold to the grid. Although the
performance of the photovoltaic modules was good, there were teething
troubles associated with the inverters, which was the main reason for reduced
energy generation. The impact of temperature variation of modules on their
performance was studied both on daily and yearly basis. It is observed that the
efficiency of the plant is more sensitive to temperature than the solar insolation.
Daily datasets of five minute average data have been used for in-depth analysis.
Some of the maintenance and technical related problems faced by the plant
operators have also been discussed.
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Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Site details 4
3. Performance Analysis 9
5. Conclusion 25
6. References 26
7. Acknowledgments 27
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1. Introduction
Karnataka's power sector has three main hydro and other renewable energy sources.
utilities namely; Karnataka Power So, to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels
Corporation Ltd. (KPCL) - the Public Sector and increase the share of renewable energy
generation utility, the Karnataka Power sources, KPCL has started investing in wind
Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) - and solar energy technologies.
the Public Sector transmission utility, and its
regional distribution utilities - Electricity
Supply Companies (ESCOMs). KPCL is the In early 2009, KPCL started the Arunodaya
main power generator in the state with an scheme to demonstrate, popularize and
installed capacity of 5975.91 MW of hydel, increase the usage of solar energy for
thermal, solar and wind energy, with an electricity generation. Under this scheme,
additional 9500 MW in the pipeline. KPCL came up with a proposal for installing
the country's first 3MWp scale photovoltaic
solar power plant near Yalesandra village in
Till 1985, the state's entire capacity had Kolar district of Karnataka. The intent of the
been hydroelectric, but with 2328 MW of project was to provide power to the farmers
coal based thermal power stations (and a to enable pumping and using of the
few diesel and wind-based plants), the hydro groundwater for irrigation. There are around
share of capacity has dropped to about 61%. 450-500 10-HP pumps in about 14
Further, only about 75% of the hydro surrounding villages and farmers were
capacity is available for utilization; the unable to use these at full capacity because
remaining 25% comprises (a) non-firm of inconsistent power supply. The Kolar
capacity (i.e. a part of the water stored in plant was fully completed and
some hydro-reservoirs is also meant for commissioned on 27 December 2009 (see
irrigation), (b) unforeseen outages Figure1). Later, two more plants with the
(necessitating a spinning reserve), and (c) same capacity were constructed in Belgaum
maintenance protection reserve. Also, in and Raichur (see Table1 and Figure2).
years of poor rainfall, the contribution of
hydel plants to annual electricity generation
decreases further [1]. One of the main India has an ambitious plan to build large
reasons for the power crisis in 2008-09 was grid-connected solar power plants, with a
the failure of the monsoon, which reduced cumulative installed capacity of 20,000 MWP
the reservoir levels in the major hydel by 2020, under the National Solar Mission.
reservoirs (viz., Linganamakki, Supa and Hence, it is essential to document the
Mani) by 26% compared to 2007-08 and this performance of the first large-scale
led to a reduction of 29.51% (2261 MU) in grid-connected solar power plant installed
hydro generation [2]. All of these are leading in Karnataka. This report contains the
to an increased dependence on thermal analysis of the performance of the
plants, whose GHG emissions are high and photovoltaic solar power plant in Kolar
pollute the environment more compared to during 2010.
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Table 1 : Mega Watt scale Solar PV Plants in Karnataka State (all are under KPCL)
Yapaldinni BHEL
Raichur Rs. 14.5 crore 3 (yet to be commissioned)
Shivanasamudra -
Mandya 5
-
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Figure 2 : Karnataka map showing the locations of all the three 3MW Solar PV Power Plants
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2. Site details
The Yalesandra plant installation site has a room, substation and other ancillary
steep slope with a level difference of about structures. The general information
15 m and there are rock outcrops in the site. regarding the climatic conditions of Kolar
The structures for the Power Plant district and description of the Plant are given
comprises Solar Arrays, PCUs, control in the Tables 2 and 3.
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Segments
The 3 MW Plant is divided into three single Inverter, and each array consists of 24
independent segments of one MW each. modules connected in series. The power
Each segment is equipped with four generated from 3 MWp PV Plant at 0.415 kV
Inverters of 250 kW each and grouped is stepped up to 11 kV with the help of three
together to form one LT panel. Depending on step-up transformers and connected to
the mix of 225 & 240 Wp modules, 45 to 46 existing 11 kV lines. The simple block
PV Arrays are connected in parallel to each diagram of the Plant is shown in Figure 3.
z LT PANEL 1
=
z
= TRANSFORMER 1 11 kV HT PANEL
z
=
z 11 kV
= TO SCADA HT
KPTCL lines
METERING
z LT PANEL 2
=
CUBICLE
z TRANSFORMER 2
=
z
=
z TO SCADA
=
z LT PANEL 3 SPARE
=
z TRANSFORMER 3
=
z
=
z TO SCADA
=
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Tables 4 and 5 give the general technical details and the module specifications of the Plant.
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Mounting structure
6 x 4 Module Array
Type
(24 modules per Structure)
Material Mild Steel
Overall dimensions (mm) 6780 x 6030
Coating Galvanized
Foundation PCC
Fixing type Nut Bolts
Timelines
Foundation was laid on 9th January 2009 30th September 2009, 2 MWp on 12th
and the site handed over to TITAN on 28th November and 3 MWp on 27th December
May 2009. 1MWp was completed on 2009.
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3. Performance analysis
The total Energy produced by 3 MWp Plant generation during 2010. Since Segment-3
during the year 2010 was 3,347,480 units. was not performing satisfactorily for a few
Out of this, 3,303,200 units were sold to the months, which is evident from the figure, we
grid. Figure 4 shows the contribution of all will restrict our analysis to the first two
the three Segments in the total power Segments only.
400000 Segment-3
Segment-2
Monthly Energy Generation (kWh)
350000 Segment-1
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month
Figure 4 : Contribution of all the three segments in the total power generation during 2010
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6000 Segment-1
Segment-2
Energy Generated per day [kWh/day]
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Time [Daily]
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The highest power generation achieved was temperature and Plant efficiency of 6663
11812.4 kWh on 5th February 2010, with the Wh/sqm/day, 42oC and 12.24% respectively.
recorded insolation, average module
2000000
Energy produced [kWh]
1500000
1000000
500000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Time [Daily]
Figure 6 : Cumulative Energy Produced by Segment 1 & 2 for the year 2010
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The decline in energy generation during number of cloudy days during that period
August to November period in Figure 7 was (see Figures 8 and 9). The declination can
mainly due to the improper functioning of be seen more clearly in Fig. 11 which shows
four Inverters (two in Segment-1 and the the variation of daily efficiency for the 2 MW
other two in Segment-2), and partially plant during the year 2010.
because of higher plant downtime and more
12000
10000
Energy Produced [kWh]
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Time [Daily]
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1.4M
1.2M
1.0M
800.0k
600.0k
400.0k
200.0k
0.0
1.6M
1.4M
1.2M
1.0M
800.0k
600.0k
400.0k
200.0k
0.0
Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov
Inverter 7 Inverter 8 Date
1.6M
EnergyGen (wh/day)
1.4M
1.2M
1.0M
800.0k
600.0k
400.0k
200.0k
0.0
Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov
Date Date
Figure 8 shows the daily performance of all 2, 3, 5 and 7 (which are shown in red) were
the inverters, first four come under malfunctioning during the period August to
Segment-1 and the next four under November, as compared with the remaining
Segment-2. It can be seen that the Inverters four inverters.
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100
Plant Shut Down
Grid-Off Times
80
Downtime (Hours)
60
40
20
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month
Grid-off times: Figure 9 shows the was observed that the grid-offs occurred
cumulative monthly grid-off times during the mainly during the peak hours (11.30 am
year 2010. Out of the 357 days of the Plant's 2 pm), that is, when the availability of solar
operation, there were 75 days on which the insolation is maximal.
grid was off for less than an hour and 57 days
The Plant was shut down for 8 days during
with grid-offs more than one hour. Totally the
November for repairing the faulty cables and
grid was off for about 201.4 hours. Also, it
Inverters.
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Solar Insolation
The Plant is equipped with a Pyranometer mid May to mid June, due to some problem
installed at an angle of 15o, equal to the in the Pyranometer. The highest recorded
inclination of the Modules. The Solar daily insolation was 7199 Wh/sqm on 2nd
Insolation recorded at the site is shown in March 2010. The yearly average insolation
Figure 10. The Insolation data is not on the panels was about 4789 Wh/sqm/day.
available for about 44 days, especially from
8000
7000
6000
Insolation [15 Wh/m2]
5000
o
4000
3000
2000
1000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Time [Daily]
Figure 10: Daily Solar Insolation at the site - 2010 [@15o. inclination]
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Efficiency
The 2-MW plant efficiency is the combined insolation of 2561 Wh/sqm and an average
efficiencies of segments 1 and 2 after the module temperature of 28.630C. The daily
dc-ac conversion by inverters to 415 Volts efficiency of the 2MW plant ranged from 5%
and just before stepping up to 11 kV ac. So, to 13.41% depending on the performance of
this should not to be confused with the arrays, inverters, average module
overall plant efficiency. temperature and the solar insolation. The
yearly average daily efficiency of the plant
Figure 11 shows the efficiency of the 2 MW
was about 10.14%, considering the days
plant, that is combined efficiency of
which have grid-offs for less than half an
segments 1 & 2, over the study period. The
hour or no grid-offs. The abnormal drop in
highest efficiency achieved was 13.41% on
the efficiency during the last few months was
24th July 2010. The total energy generated
mainly due to inverter related problems.
on that day was 4975.8 kWh with solar
16
14
12
Plant Efficiency (%)
10
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Time [Daily]
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60
50
Temperature [deg. Celsius]
40
30
20
10
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
DATE
Figure 12: Daily average temperature of PV modules (During day time) 2010
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Figure 13: Daily variation of average modules temperature, insolation (in Wh) and efficiency of the 2MW Plant
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1600
1400
Inverter-1
1200
Energy Generated (kWh)
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
2
Solar Insolation (Wh/m /day)
Figure 14: Annual plot of daily energy generated by Inverter-1 versus solar insolation
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maximum during peak insolation hours, values) for the year 2010. Due to lots of
0
leading to reduced conversion efficiency. noise below 20 C, the temperature values
Thus, the Plant's capacity to produce were binned between 200C and 550C. Then
maximum power is retarded during peak the efficiency values were binned between
insolation hours, when the availability of 10% and 15% choosing only the maximum
incident solar radiation is highest, because points. The plot shows linear decrease in the
of increase in modules temperature. daily efficiency of modules from 14.5% to
Figure 17 shows the annual plot of daily 11.5% with increase in the daily averaged
efficiency of modules in Inverter-1 versus modules temperature from 25 oC to 50oC.
daily averaged module temperature (binned
1200 17000
Efficiency
1150 Insolation Temperature
Energy Generated
1100 16000 56
12.8
Energy Generated (Wh)
1050
1000
Temperature ( C)
15000
Efficiency (%)
Insolation (W)
950
900 49
14000 12.0
850
o
800
750 13000
700 42
11.2
650 12000
09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00
Time, Jan 21 Time, 21-Jan
Figure A: Insolation and Energy Generation (of Invereter-1) Figure B: Efficiency and Temperature of Modules (of Invereter -1)
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15.0
14.0
1000
900.0
13.5 800.0
Efficiency(%)
700.0
13.0 600.0
500.0
400.0
12.5
300.0
200.0
12.0 100.0
20.00
11.5
11.0
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
0
Temperature ( C)
Figure 16: Efficiency v/s Temperature of modules of Inverter-1 (5 min average values)
on January 21, 2010 (Color scale : Average Solar Irradiance)
Maximum Efficiency
14.0 Linear Fit of Maximum Efficiency
Maximum Efficiency (%)
13.5
13.0
12.5
12.0
11.5
11.0
25 30 35 40 45 50 55
0
Temperature ( C)
Figure 17: Plot of daily maximum efficiency versus temperature of modules in Inverter-1 for 2010
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1200 18000 70 15
Efficiency (%)
1000 60 13
14000
900
12
800 12000 50
700 11
10000
600 10
8000 40
500 9
400 6000
30 8
300 4000
200 7
2000
100 20 6
09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48 09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48
Time (March-24) Time (March-24)
1100
2
16000 14
Efficiency (%)
1000 60
14000 13
900
800 12000 12
50
700 10000 11
600 10
8000 40
500
6000 9
400
300 4000 30 8
200 7
2000
100 20 6
09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48 09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48
Time (May-11) Time (May-11)
1200 18000 70 15
Temp Mod (Deg. C)
Energy Generation (Wh)
Solar Insolation (W/m )
2
1100 16000 14
Efficiency (%)
1000 60
14000 13
900
800 12000 12
50
700 10000 11
600 10
8000 40
500 9
400 6000
300 30 8
4000
200 7
2000
100 20 6
09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48 09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48
Time (June-18) Time (June-18)
Temp Mod (Deg C)
1200 18000 70 15
Energy Generation (Wh)
Solar Insolation (W/m )
1100
2
1200 18000
Temp Mod (Deg C)
70
1100 16000 14
Efficiency (%)
1000
14000 60
900
800 12000 12
700 50
10000
600 10
8000
500 40
400 6000
8
300 4000 30
200 2000
100 20 6
09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48 09:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48
Time (Sept-20) Time (Sept-20)
Figure 18: (Left) Daily plots showing variation of energy generation with insolation;
(Right) Daily plots showing variation of efficiency with modules temperature
3
-
MWs
c
al
egr
i
d-
co
n
ne
c
t
ed
so
l
arp
h
ot
o
vol
t
aic
po
w
er
pl
ant
at
Kol
ar
,K
ar
n
at
ak
a
R
e
p
or
tI
I
Sc-
D
CCC
1
1R
E
1 23
Figure 19: Photo of PV Plant showing the modules mounting structures inclined at 150.
3
-
MWs
c
al
egr
i
d-
co
n
ne
c
t
ed
so
l
arp
h
ot
o
vol
t
aic
po
w
er
pl
ant
at
Kol
ar
,K
ar
n
at
ak
a
R
e
p
or
tI
I
Sc-
D
CCC
1
1R
E
1 24
3
-
MWs
c
al
egr
i
d-
co
n
ne
c
t
ed
so
l
arp
h
ot
o
vol
t
aic
po
w
er
pl
ant
at
Kol
ar
,K
ar
n
at
ak
a
R
e
p
or
tI
I
Sc-
D
CCC
1
1R
E
1 25
5. Conclusion
The performance of the 3 MWp Yalesandra afternoon. The daily efficiency of modules
solar photovoltaic power plant has been varied from 14.5% to 11.5% with the
analyzed for the year 2010. The total variation in the daily averaged modules
o o
electrical energy generated by the temperature from 25 C to 50 C. Hence,
Yalesandra power plant during 2010 was cooling of the solar modules may be
3.34 million kWh and 3.30 million units were desirable to increase the efficiency. There is
sold to the grid. Based on the performance of a need to evaluate if the additional energy
the first two segments we estimate the mean required for cooling the solar modules will be
output to be 6655 kWh per day. This is lower less than the additional energy generated
than expected for a solar power plant and is due to higher efficiency.
on account of teething trouble associated
with inverters and the grid-encountered in
the first year of the operation of the plant. It The daily plots showing the variation of
was found that failure in inverters were the efficiency with modules temperature and the
most frequent incidents. This is mostly variation of energy generation with solar
caused by lack of experience in the initial insolation have been plotted for five different
production stage and some unexplained days of the year. Also, some of the present
inverter failures might be caused by maintenance and technical problems faced
disturbance from the grid and other by plant operators, including the color
interconnected issues [6]. change in PV modules and cleaning issues,
have been discussed.
3
-
MWs
c
al
egr
i
d-
co
n
ne
c
t
ed
so
l
arp
h
ot
o
vol
t
aic
po
w
er
pl
ant
at
Kol
ar
,K
ar
n
at
ak
a
R
e
p
or
tI
I
Sc-
D
CCC
1
1R
E
1 26
6. References
1
.A
n
to
n
et
t
eD'S
aa
ndK
.V.
Nar
a
si
mhaMur
th
y,
Kar
na
t
ak
a'
sPo
w
er
Se
ct
o
r&S
u
g
ge
s
t
ed
Wa
y
s
F
o
rw
a
rd
,I
nt
er
n
at
i
ona
l
Ener
gy
I
ni
t
iat
i
ve,
di
scu
s
si
onp
ap
er
,
200
2
.
2
.K
.
Jai
r
aj,
Ene
r
gys
c
en
a
r
ioi
nKa
r
n
at
ak
a,
pow
e
r
poi
ntp
r
es
e
nt
a
ti
on,
Ene
r
g
yDe
p
ar
t
men
t
,
G
o
ver
nmen
to
f
Ka
rn
a
ta
k
a.
3
.S
o
la
rP
VP
o
w e
r
Pl
ant
s
,co
nt
r
ac
tag
re
em
en
t
fo
rs
u
pp
ly
of
equ
i
pme
n
t
s,
CE(
EI
&TA
)
/
SPV
,
K
P
CLa
n
dT
i
t
anE
ne
rg
ySy
st
e
msLt
d
.,
Sec
u
nd
e
r
aba
d
.
4
.O
p
er
a
ti
onm
a
n
ua
l
,Ti
t
anE
n
e
rg
y
Sy
s
t
em
sL
t
d
.,
Sec
u
nd
e
r
ab
ad
.
5
.C
o
nt
r
ac
ta
g
re
eme
n
t
fo
rE
r
ec
t
io
n,
t
est
i
nga
n
dc
o
mmi
ssi
oni
ngo
f
3MW
S
o
l
arP
Vp
o
we
r
pl
ant
,
K
P
CL
and
T
it
a
nEn
e
r
gy
Sy
st
e
msL
td.
,
Sec
u
nd
e
r
ab
ad
.
6
.M
o
ha
m e
d A.
El
ta
wi
lan
d Z
h
e
ngm
i
ngZ
ha
o,Gr
i
d-
co
n
ne
cte
d
ph
o
to
vol
t
aicp
o
we
r
sy
st
ems
:
T
e
ch
ni
cal
andp
ot
ent
i
al
pro
b
l
ems
-Ar
e
vi
ew,
Ren
ew
a
bl
ean
dS
u
st
a
in
abl
eEn
e
rg
y
Re
vi
ews
,
1
4
,2
01
0,112
1
29.
3
-
MWs
c
al
egr
i
d-
co
n
ne
c
t
ed
so
l
arp
h
ot
o
vol
t
aic
po
w
er
pl
ant
at
Kol
ar
,K
ar
n
at
ak
a
R
e
p
or
tI
I
Sc-
D
CCC
1
1R
E
1 27
7. Acknowledgements
Wew
isht
o t
ha
nkMr.B.R
.Naga
ra
ju
, Ex
-Chi
efEngi
nee
r
, R
EProj
ect
s,K
arn
ata
kaPower
C
orp
or
at
io
n L
td
.
(
KPCL)f
or
par
t
i
cipa
t
ingi
nth
eproj
ectby
giv
i
nga
ut
hori
zat
i
ont
ocol
l
ect
anduse
d
at
af
ort
hi
sre
se
ar
ch.Wet
ha
nkM r
.
A .
V.V.
Reddy,Exe
cut
i
veE
ngi
neer
,i
n-
cha
rg
e of
Kol
arPV
P
l
ant
f
orgi
vi
ngu
st
heper
f
orma
nc
e d
atao
fth
e p
lan
t.Weal
soap
pr
eci
at
e h
iss
pen
di
ngval
uab
le
t
i
mewi
t
h u
sand
sh
ari
ngh
i
scon
cer
nsab
outt
hepl
antdur
i
ngou
rf
i
el
dvi
si
ts.
W e
als
ot
hankMr.
D.
C
.Kr
i
shn
amur
th
y
,Exe
cut
i
veEn
gi
nee
r
,El
ectr
i
cal
Div
isi
on,
KPCLf
or
hel
pi
ngusi
nge
tt
in
gth
e da
ta
a
ndo
t
heri
nf
or
ma
ti
onr
ela
t
edt
ot
hepl
ant
.
W
e
al
soa
ckn
ow
l
edge
Mr
.M
.K.Na
ga
ra
ja
nd
th
eof
fi
cest
a
ff
atD
i
vec
h
aC
en
t
r
efo
r
Cl
i
m a
t
e
C
h
a
ng
e,f
or
t
he
ir
ki
nds
u
pp
o
rt
du
ri
ngt
h
eco
ur
se
of
t
hi
spr
oj
ect
.
3
-
MWs
c
al
egr
i
d-
co
n
ne
c
t
ed
so
l
arp
h
ot
o
vol
t
aic
po
w
er
pl
ant
at
Kol
ar
,K
ar
n
at
ak
a
Satellite image of the 3-MW scale grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plant at Kolar, Karnataka
REPORT IISc-DCCC 11 RE 1
AUGUST 2011