Project:
A 50 kWp photovoltaic installation that no one wanted to undertake due to the very difficult installation conditions.
Challenge:
The owner of a building with office and service premises located in the Lesser Poland Province, asked us to design and install a photovoltaic installation which would supply a strictly defined amount of energy. Other contractors were unwilling to undertake the project due to the complexity of the roof area on which the installation was to be mounted and a number of other difficulties, which we outline below.
Details:
Difficulties arising from the challenge
- The roof is full of skylights, chimneys, external air-conditioning elements,
- sloping inwards, with a significant number of service facilities and elements of lightning protection system,
- facing east-west,
- the load-bearing capacity did not allow for the installation of a classical ballast structure,
- tenants' advertisements sticking out over the edge of the roof additionally shaded the space,
- unfavourable angle of incidence of sunlight caused by non-standard angles and directions of inclination, different for various fragments of the roof,
- the necessity to use a crane to assemble the modules - access road with the permissible load of less than 3.5 tons,
- execution in autumn and winter,
- little space for the installation of modules.
What have we done?
We started with an energy needs audit to determine how large the installation should be to produce the amount of energy the customer needs under these difficult conditions, while ensuring that the installation is no larger than 49.97 kWp, which allows gaining the prosumer status. The production simulation determined the selection of the top performing Longi Solar Hi-MO4 modules. These had to be high power modules, as there was not enough space on the roof for a large number of inferior cells.
The installation proved to be a real challenge. The load-bearing capacity and also the amount of space on the roof surface did not allow for the use of ballast structures, so we decided to use a system glued to the roofing felt, which required the work of a roofer, not just an electrical fitter. Fortunately, we have a specialist with such qualifications and experience in the installation team, which made the installation much easier. The height of the building required the use of a crane, so prior to the installation work we had to obtain permission to drive onto an internal road with a maximum load of 3.5 tonnes.
To minimise the drop in production caused by shading, the system works using Solar Edge power optimisers, where one optimiser is connected to two modules.
What are the effects?
- Launching of a 49.97 kWp photovoltaic installation, producing the amount of energy required by the customer,
- a building supplied with clean energy,
- full monitoring of the installation's operation and viewing of each optimiser (and thus the modules) at any time.
Project Details
- Client Name:
- Company from Małopolska
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